Julian Rose: “Levinsky’s Wedding”

Julian Rose (1879-1935) was a Hebrew dialect comedian, whose most famous monologue was a speech called “Levinsky’s Wedding” or “Levinsky at the Wedding”. Originally an accountant in Philadelphia, his act originally was a very old-school Shylock “Yid”, with a false beard, etc, although as the photo above demonstrates, as times went on, the act evolved. Still, the act wore out its welcome in the U.S.; his last decades were spent working the British music hall stage, where he was very popular. Numerous comedy records of his various routines still survive. Follow this link to British Pathe’s web site to see a 1932 film of him in action.

To find out more about vaudeville, music hall, and dialect comedians like Julian Rose, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous