Ida Schuster

Ida Schuster (28 September 1918 – 9 April 2020) was a Scottish actress and a leading figure in Glasgow's 20th-century Jewish theatre community.[1]

Ida Schuster
Born	(1918-09-28)28 September 1918 Glasgow, Scotland
Died	9 April 2020(2020-04-09) (aged 101)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1937–2007

Biography

One of nine children, her parents were Jewish immigrants who moved from Wilno, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania) to Glasgow at the end of the 19th century. Her older sister, Ray, married Avrom Greenbaum, who founded the Glasgow Jewish Institute Players,[2] and her brother, Leon Schuster, was production manager for GJIP, and, later, Glasgow Unity Theatre.[3] Ida was a prominent member of both theatre troupes.[4]

Personal life

Ida was married to Doctor Allan Berkeley until his death in 1990, after 45 years of marriage. At the time of his death, she was appearing in The Steamie and had to leave the cast[5]. The couple had two children, Howard and Peter.[6] She lived in Glasgow.

Schuster died on 9 April 2020, at the age of 101.[7]

Theatrical productions

• Blood Wedding (1952) - A GJIP production, with Schuster playing the role of The Mother[8]
• Morning Star (1959) - GJIP's revival of the Sylvia Regan play[9]
• Strictly for the Birds (1966) - she was cited for her "standout performance".[10]
• Country Life (1979) - Schuster noted for a strong performance of a "painted widow desperate for affection"[11]
• Mary Stuart (1985) - playing the role of Hannah, at the Glasgow Citizen's Theatre[12]
• Lucy's Play (1986) - Noted for portraying a "delightfully wearisome mother"[13]
• The Steamie (1987 - 1990) - Schuster acted alongside Elaine C. Smith, Dorothy Paul and Katy Murphy[14]
• Daughters in Distress (1989) - Schuster was noted for a "tender, funny and uncommonly moving study"[15]
• Musical Chairs (1993) - Schuster's performance noted as "worth an award in itself"[16]

Selected filmography

• La mort en direct (1980)
• Passing Glory (1987) - Gillies MacKinnon's NFTS graduation film, also starring Fiona Chalmers and Alan Cumming[17]
• A Short History of the Glasgow Jewish Institute Players (1996) - Schuster wrote and produced this video documentary[18]
• A Shot at Glory (2000)

Television appearances

• One's Company (1974) - Co-starred with Robert Urquhart and Leena Skoog, broadcast on BBC Scotland[19]
• And the Cow Jumped Over the Moon (1991) - Play by Donna Franceschild broadcast on BBC1[20]
• Doctor Finlay (1993)[21]

References

1. "Citizens Theatre on Twitter". Retrieved 14 October 2018.
2. "Forever young and maternally yours". HeraldScotland.
3. "Biography" (PDF). pure.qub.ac.uk.
4. "Exhibiting Jewish Culture in Postwar Britain: Glasgow's 1951 Festival of Jewish Arts". Shofar. 37 (3): 101. 2019.
5. "Legitimate: Shows Abroad". Variety. 327 (11): 88. 8 July 1987.
6. "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". pressreader.com. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
7. O'Toole, Emer (9 April 2020). "Tributes paid as world's oldest podcaster dies aged 101". The National.
8. "Glasgow's Jewish Institute players and their narratives of Scottish-Jewish identity". Jewish Culture and History. 20 (1): 85. 2019.
9. "From the Gorbals to the Lower East Side: the Cosmopolitanism of the Glasgow Jewish Institute Players". New Theatre Quarterly. 34 (1): 67. February 2018.
10. "Legitimate: Shows Abroad". Variety. 244 (4): 74. 14 September 1966.
11. Billington, Michael (26 March 1979). "Finding the Goldoni touch: reviews the British premiere of Country Life in Glasgow". The Guardian.
12. "AT THE THEATRE: HIT ROOF, COLLAPSING CEILING". Country Life. 177 (4563): 249. 31 January 1985.
13. Hemming, Sarah (12 July 1986). "Arts (Theatre): Review of 'Lucy's Play' at the Traverse, Edinburgh". The Times (London, England).
14. McMillan, Joyce (15 May 1987). "Bulldozed by apartheid". The Guardian.
15. Smith, W. Gordon (9 April 1989). "Daughters in Distress: THEATRE". The Observer.
16. McMillan, Joyce (11 May 1993). "Mayfest Diary: Scottish writing". The Guardian.
17. "Reviews". Screen International. 588: 245. 21 February 1987.
18. "Glasgow's Jewish Institute players and their narratives of Scottish-Jewish identity". Jewish Culture and History. 20 (1): 94–95. 2019.
19. "TELEVISION". The Guardian. 9 April 1974.
20. Hebert, Hugh (16 August 1991). "The fears of a clown: Television". The Guardian.
21. "Production: Production". Screen International (883): 18. 13 November 1992.

External links

• Ida Schuster on IMDb