Courtesy of Corbis-Bettmann

Molly Picon 1898-1992

Born in New York City, Molly Picon began acting on the Yiddish stage at age five and became so popular by the 1920s that many shows she acted in included the name Molly in their title. Picon's most famous film, Yidl Mit'n Fidl (1936), was filmed on location in Poland. On Broadway, she starred in Neil Simon's Come Blow Your Horn and the Jerry Herman musical Milk and Honey, both in 1961. In 1971, she portrayed the matchmaker, Yente, in the film adaptation of the Broadway hit Fiddler on the Roof. At one time, an entire room was filled with her memorabilia at the Second Avenue Deli in New York. Her name remains synonymous with the heyday of New York's Yiddish theater.