Actor 1895-1967

Paul Muni, "the man with a thousand faces," was one of Hollywood's finest character actors. Yet he performed in more than 300 Yiddish-speaking roles before uttering a single word in English on Broadway.

Born Muni Weisenfreund, the son of Yiddish actors, he was 13 when his family came to Chicago. His father opened Weisenfreund's Pavilion Theatre, here at 12th Street (now Roosevelt Road) and Halstead Street, in the Maxwell Street neighborhood. Here Muni learned the tricks of the trade — fixing his own makeup, mastering accents and playing a wide range of roles. Neighborhood residents flocked to the 300-seat theater for Muni's Friday night and Saturday afternoon performers.

Muni traveled the theater circuit, eventually making his Broadway debut in We Americans in 1926. Two years later he moved to Hollywood, where the studio promptly changed his name the more accessible Paul Muni. He won an Oscar for The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936). His other Academy Award nominated films include The Valiant, I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, The Life of Emile Zola, and The Last Angry Man.

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