He was born on 12 February 1895 in Lodz, Poland.

His father was a weaver.

He received a traditional Jewish education and completed a four-class school.

Due to his beautiful voice he was taken into a provincial troupe in 1915.

From 1917-20 Z. acted with Julius Adler and H. Serotsky as the first romantic singer. In 1920 he went on a tour across Kovno, Lithuania.In 1922 he guest-starred with Joseph Kessler in London, later in Berlin. In 1924 he acted in German, and afterwards until 1928, he was the manager of a Yiddish operetta troupe that traveled across Poland. In 1928 he acted in a Riga comedy -- in operetta theatre (Manager Sh. Kutner).

Specialty: Lover-singer.

Sh. E.