Casbah

John Berry was an American film director, who went into self-exile in France when his career was interrupted by the Hollywood blacklist. John Berry was born Jak Szold in the Bronx, New York, the son of a Polish Jewish father and a Romanian mother. He began his entertainment career by as a child... performer in vaudeville, first going on stage at the age of 4. In his teens, he briefly worked as a boxer under the name Jackie Sold. Berry's father was a restaurateur, and at one point he owned 28 restaurants around New York City. His father went out of business during the Great Depression, and Berry sought to support himself by working as a comedian and actor. His first big break came when he was hired by the Mercury Theater for a presentation of Julius Caesar that was produced by John Houseman and directed by Orson Welles. Berry acted in other roles with the theater and assisted Welles in directing the 1942 production of Native Son. In a late-life interview with the New York Times, Berry spoke positively of his association with Welles and Houseman.
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