David Ellin, a popular actor in the Yiddish Theater who also appeared on Broadway, died Tuesday at Leon Lenox Hill Hospital after suffering a heart attack. He was 61 years old and lived in Manhattan.
Ellin came to New York from his native Montreal to study at the American Academy of Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1946 as the juvenile lead in the Ben Hecht – Charles MacArthur play “Swan Song,” and later toured in road companies of “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” “Death of a Salesman,” and “West Side Story.”
During his career, Ellin and his wife, Ruth Vool Ellin, coordinated and performed in Yiddish and English productions at Jewish-oriented summer camps in up-state New York. Ellin also toured as a one-man show for Jewish centers and organizations, presenting original and standard songs and amusing anecdotes.
On the Yiddish stage, Ellin appeared in “The Jewish Gypsy,” “The Rumanian Wedding,” “Light, Lively and Yiddish,” “The Shepherd King,” “Wish Me MazelTov” and other plays.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
