Two-Part Interview with Fyvush Finkel Begins 1/26 on CUNY TV

Actor and entertainer Fyvush Finkel - who moved in a remarkable career trajectory from Yiddish theatre and the Borscht Belt to Broadway and an Emmy® Award-winning role on TV's "Picket Fences" - is the subject of a two-part interview on CUNY TV's BuildingNY: New York Stories series.

Hosted by Michael Stoler, BuildingNY is a series of interviews with men and women who have devoted their careers to the people and institutions of New York. Fyvush Finkel - Legendary Performer Extraordinaire - Pt. 1 begins Monday, January 26 (2015) at 10:30am and 10:30pm* on CUNY TV - and beginning on that date is available for viewing anytime on www.cuny.tv.

Mr. Finkel shares the highlights of his life, including his birth in Brooklyn in 1922 as the third of four sons to immigrant tailor Harry Finkel from Warsaw, and his wife Mary, from Minsk. Named Philip, he adopted the Yiddish translation - Fyvush - for his career. He talks about his long stint with Yiddish theater, begun when he was 9 years old. Multi-talented, Mr. Finkel played the Catskill Borscht Belt; won an Obie for off-Broadway's Cafe Crown; appeared in such films as Q&A, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and A Serious Man; and on television, won an Emmy for his work in Picket Fences, also appearing in Boston Public and Harry's Law, among others.

Part Two of Fyvush Finkel - Legendary Performer Extraordinaire will premiere on Monday, Feb. 2.