Menasha Skulnik

He made many television and Broadway appearances as well, including successful runs in Clifford Odets's The Flowering Peach and Harold Rome's The Zulu and the Zayda.

Born in Warsaw, Poland, Skulnik reportedly ran away at the age of 10 to join a circus.

In 1913 he emigrated to the United States, and sometime after his arrival joined a Yiddish stock company in Philadelphia, where his fellow actors included Molly Picon.

[1] His diminutive stature (5'4"), high nasal voice, mannerisms and appearance, made him a natural for comedy.

[2] He collapsed on stage in New Haven, Connecticut, during a dress rehearsal of a show he was bringing to Broadway, and died several weeks later on June 4, 1970, in New York City.