Mike Burstein

Burstein was born in New York City, the son of the late Yiddish-language actors, Pesach Burstein and Lillian Lux. He started performing on stage at Yiddish theaters from childhood, in musicals and melodramas produced by his father Pesach Burstein, especially as part of the Four Bursteins (he and his twin sister were billed as Motele and Zisele), in standard Pesach Burstein productions like A Khasene in Shtetl (A Wedding in the Village). He headed out on his own after reaching adulthood, in a bid to reach audiences bigger than the Yiddish stage.