Zero Mostel - Early Life

Early Life

Mostel was born to Israel Mostel, an Eastern European Jew, and Cina "Celia" Druchs, also from a Jewish family, who was born in Poland and raised in Vienna. The two immigrated to the United States (separately: Israel in 1898 and Cina in 1908), where they met and married. Israel already had four children from his first wife; he had four more children with Cina. Samuel, later known as Zero, was Israel's seventh child.

It is said that Samuel Mostel got his nickname "Zero" since his parents were not kind with words and always told him that he would only ever amount to "gornisht", (גאָרנישט, gornisht or gurnisht) which is Yiddish for "zero" or "nothing".

Initially living in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, the family moved to Moodus, Connecticut, where they bought a farm. The family's income in those days came from a winery and a slaughterhouse. The farm did not do well. When, according to Zero, an unyielding bank president with fierce mustache and long whip foreclosed the mortgage on the farm, the ten Mostels trekked back to New York and settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where the boy attended public school, his character was shaped, and his father was employed as a wine chemist. While not at poverty level, the family had to struggle financially. As a child, Mostel was described by his family as outgoing and lively, and with a developed sense of humor. He showed an intelligence and perception that convinced his father he had the makings of a rabbi; however, Mostel preferred painting and drawing, a passion he was to retain for life. According to Roger Butterfield, his mother made a practice of dressing the boy in a velvet suit and sending him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to copy masterpieces. Zero had a favorite painting, John White Alexander's Study for Woman in Black and Green, which he copied every day, to the delight of the gallery crowds. One afternoon, while a crowd was watching over his velvet-clad shoulder, he solemnly copied the whole painting upside down, delighting his audience.

Already at a young age he developed the duality of character that baffled critics years later: when alone he was studious and quiet, but when observed he felt he had to be the center of attention, which he invariably did through use of humor. The fact that at home he spoke English, Yiddish, Italian and German helped him reach out to audiences of many ethnicities in New York.

He attended Public School 188, where he had been an A student (this is in contrast to his later claim that he was nicknamed Zero after his grade average). He also received professional training as a painter through The Educational Alliance. He completed his high school education at Seward Park High, where his yearbook noted: "A future Rembrandt… or perhaps a comedian?".

Mostel attended the City College of New York, a public college that allowed many poor students to pursue higher education. Mostel belonged to the swimming team and the R.O.T.C., where he distinguished himself by clowning. The story goes that at the College's Charter Day exercises, the R.O.T.C. unit held a review in honor of the occasion. When he was commanded by the captain to stand at attention, the future comedian "started to crumple like an airless accordion." "Attention!" barked the officer, "not at ease." "Mon capitaine", Mostel replied, "it's not me at ease, it's my uniform." Legend also has it that the R.O.T.C. situation became so critical that on inspection days the staff officers tried to get the youth out of sight. They attempted to detail him on special duty. "Private Mostel, would you be so good as to go to the gymnasium with a message for Corporal S?" they would demand uneasily. "I gotta drill", Mostel, professing not to understand, is supposed to have said. "But we excuse you from drill", pleaded the staff. "I gotta drill", persisted Mostel. "I gotta get hard. I gotta get strong. I gotta get ready to die for dear old City College."

As only beginner classes were available in art, Mostel took them repeatedly to be able to paint and receive professional feedback. During that time he worked odd jobs, and graduated in 1935 with a bachelor's degree. He then continued studying towards a masters in arts, and also joined the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), which paid him a stipend to teach art.

In 1939 he married Clara Sverd, and the couple moved to an apartment in Brooklyn. The marriage did not last, however, since Clara could not accept the many hours Mostel spent in his studio with his fellow artists, and he did not seem to be able to provide for her at the level to which she had been accustomed. They separated in 1941 and divorced in 1944, Clara only agreeing to the divorce in return for a percentage of Mostel's earnings for the rest of his life.