Special Invitation

tage. screen and TV
actor Sol Frieder has
accepted six invitations to
Michigan — three profes-
sional and three social.
The career invitations
were from the Jewish
Ensemble Theatre (JET),
whose October-November
production of Today I Am
A Fountain Pen features
Mr. Frieder in the role of
Ardenshensky.
The personal invitations
were from individuals he
met while working for
JET.
"I've had a warm rela-
tionship with the people in

Actor
Sol Frieder has
a habit of being
invited to
Detroit.

the theater," Mr. Frieder
said. "I came here for spe-
cial occasions because I
made friends with them."
He attended the bar
mitzvah of Daniel Kahn
and the bat mitzvah of
Jamie Newman, both
young performers in A
Rosen By Any Other Name.
He also was a guest at the
adult bat mitzvah of
Marcia Kahn, Daniel's
mother.
"I'm glad to be back here
to do a part that is enjoy-
able and entertaining and
which has proven its
value," Mr. Frieder said

SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

about the character he
originally played at
the American Jewish
Theatre in New York.
"Ardenshensky is not just
all sweetness. He has a lot
of toughness and humor
and relates well to the
audience."
Playwright Israel Horo-
witz, who has worked often
with Mr. Frieder, created
two additional scenes espe-
cially for the seasoned
actor to perform for JET
audiences, giving more
dimension to the narrator
role.
To prepare for any new

productions — which have
included Fiddler on the
Roof and Cabaret on
Broadway, Crimes &
Misdemeanors and Music
Box on film and Naked
City and The Defenders on
TV — Mr. Frieder tries to
eliminate distractions.
"The main thing is con-
centration," Mr. Frieder
explained. "I have to know
my lines, watch my col-
leagues and cues and try
to be as perfect as I can.
"For me, it's like instant
coffee. When I do a part, I
just take the words and
try to read them as well as
possible and as close to
what the author intended.
I want to make them alive,
understandable, clear and
believable."
Mr. Frieder, who earned
a doctorate in social sci-
ence from the University
of Lausanne, Switzerland,
studied acting at the
Conservatory of Berne,
Switzerland, where his
teacher was Margarethe
Schell, mother of actor
Maximilian Schell.
During World War II, he
endured 30 months in
Swiss labor camps. A
native of Germany, he was
interned with all other
non-Swiss citizens. He
worked on road construc-
tion and irrigation pro-
jects. In the midst of this
most difficult time, he
talked with other workers,
former directors and writ-
ers, who learned of his
interest in acting, encour-
aged him to perform with
a visiting troupe and
cemented his resolve to
achieve recognition on
stage.
After deciding there was
no future for him in
Europe, he came to the Cr,
United States in 1949.
While taking acting
classes in New York, he
worked as a secretary and
typist. A former student of
,,,
renowned psychologist c°
Jean Piaget, he never pur-
sued professional opportu-
nities in his academic
field; instead, he audi-
tioned for the theater. His
first role was off-Broadway

INVITATION/page 86