Fraydele Oysher
Background information
Born	(1913-10-03)October 3, 1913 Lipkon, Bessarabia, Imperial Russia
Died	January 5, 2004(2004-01-05) (aged 90)
Genres	Hazzan
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer

Fraydele Oysher (October 3, 1913 – January 5, 2004) was an American Yiddish theater actress and musical performer. She was one of the first female singers to publicly perform cantorial music.^[1][2] She was the mother of American actress and comedian Marilyn Michaels and Michael Sternberg, the sister of American actor and cantor Moishe Oysher, and the wife of Harold Sternberg, a Broadway and Metropolitan Opera performer.^[1] Throughout her career, she performed in the United States, Canada, South America, and Cuba.^[3]

Oysher was born in Lipkon, Bessarabia, Imperial Russia, which is now part of Moldova.^[1] She was the daughter of a cantor.^[1] As a child, Fraydele and her brother Moishe were taught synagogue chants^[2] by their father, Selig Oysher,^[3] and were immersed in religious music.^[2] The Oysher family immigrated to the United States when Fraydele and Moishe were children.^[4]

Oysher worked as a child actress, performing in musicals written specifically for her at Yiddish theaters in New York City, among them The Little Queen, The Golden Girl, and Fraydele's Wedding.^[1] Frequently, she played the role of the Yeshiva boy who is later revealed to be a girl.^[1][2]

After moving to New York, Oysher performed in Louis Kramer's acting troupe at the Amphion Theatre, on radio, and in concerts.^[5]

She and Harold Sternberg married in 1935.^[5] Sternberg performed at the Metropolitan Opera as a basso profundo opera singer.^[5] Oysher had two children, daughter Marilyn Michaels and son Michael Sternberg.^[1]

• Guide to the Papers of Fraydele Oysher, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York