Editing Paul Muni (section)

== Early life and career ==
{{More citations needed|section|date=December 2022}}
Muni was born in 1895 as Frederich Meier Weisenfreund to a [[Jewish]] family in [[Lemberg]], [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]], then [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] (now [[Lviv]], [[Ukraine]]). His Hebrew name was Meshilem. His parents were Salli (born Khaya Tsilke Fishler) and Phillip Weisenfreund.<ref>{{cite news| title=On The Screen| url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/49941616/| date=October 27, 1967| newspaper=[[Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle]]| url-access=subscription }}</ref> He learned [[Yiddish]] as his first language. When he was seven, he emigrated with his family to the United States in 1902; they settled in [[Chicago]].
[[File:Muni Pasteur.jpg|thumb|Muni's makeup skills were used for ''[[The Story of Louis Pasteur]]''.]]
As a boy, he was known as "Moony".<ref name="adler">{{cite book| last=Adler| first=Jacob| author2=Lulla Rosenfeld| title=A Life on the Stage: A Memoir| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E5I6Tw4_f9YC&q=muni| publisher=Hal Leonard Corp| year=2001| isbn=978-1557834584| page=377| quote="... Muni Weisenfreund, now Paul Muni"}}</ref> He started his acting career in the Yiddish theatre in Chicago with his parents, who were both actors. As a teenager, he developed skill in creating makeup, which enabled him to play much older characters.<ref name="Actors">{{cite book| title=International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers: Actors and Actresses| url=https://archive.org/details/International_Dictionary_of_Film_and_Filmmakers_Volume_3_Actors_And_Actresses/page/n873/mode/2up?q=muni| editor1-first=Tom| editor1-last=Pendergast| editor2=Sara Pendergast| publisher=St. James Press| location=Farmington Hills, Mich| edition=4th| year=2000| pages=869–870| volume=3| isbn=978-1558624528}}</ref> Film historian [[Robert Osborne]] notes that Muni's makeup skills were so creative that for most of his roles, "he transformed his appearance so completely, he was dubbed 'the new [[Lon Chaney]].'" In his first stage role at the age of 12, Muni played the role of an 80-year-old man.<ref name="Osborne">{{cite book| author2=Robert Osborne| last1=Miller| first1=Frank| title=Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7X0EAXFR6wC&q=muni| publisher=Chronicle Books| year= 2006| pages=153–155| isbn=978-0811854672}}</ref> He was quickly recognized by [[Maurice Schwartz]], who signed him to perform in his [[Yiddish Art Theater]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Theodore |last=Strauss |title=Paul Muni, Less The 'Mr.,' Returns; Paul Muni, Less The 'Mr.,' Returns To Town |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 17, 1939 |access-date=April 1, 2010 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

A 1925 ''[[New York Times]]'' article mentioned [[Sam Kasten]]'s and Muni's performances at the People's Theater among the highlights of the year's Yiddish theater season, describing them as second only to [[Ludwig Satz]].

Muni began acting on [[Broadway theater|Broadway]] in 1926. His first role was that of an elderly Jewish man in the play ''We Americans'', written by playwrights Max Siegel and Milton Herbert Gropper. It was the first time that he had acted in English.

In 1921, he married Bella Finkel (February 8, 1898 – October 1, 1971), an actress in the Yiddish theatre and daughter of [[Moishe Finkel]]. They remained married until Muni's death in 1967.