Popeck: Difference between revisions

The son of Jewish immigrants from EasternPoland Europeand Romania, Judka Herpstu was born in Paris. He was among the children saved from the Holocaust by the [[Œuvre de secours aux enfants|OSE]], but his mother diedwas murdered in [[Auschwitz]].<ref name="lph">{{cite news|language=fr |title=Popeck interview by Guitel Ben-Ishay|newspaper=Le P'tit Hebdo|date=9 April 2011}}</ref> He studied acting at the [[Cours Simon]] and started his career on stage under the name Jean Herbert.

In 1968, Herpstu created the character of Popeck, a grumpy Eastern-European immigrant dressed in a 3-piece suit, wearing a bowler hat and speaking French with a strong Yiddish accent.<ref>{{cite web|language=fr |url=http://www.franceinfo.fr/emission/tout-et-son-contraire/2015-2016/popeck-j-ai-echappe-l-holocauste-26-01-2016-04-25 |title=Popeck : J’aiJ'ai échappé à l’Holocaustel'Holocauste|publisher=[[France Info]]|date=26 January 2016|accessdate=6 May 2016}}</ref> Sketches featuring Popeck made Herpstu known to the larger public, and the actor identified with his character so far as to finally adopt the name Popeck for himself in 1978.<ref name="lph" />

In addition to his work on stage, Popeck has also acted in movies. He had a small role in [[Roman Polanski]]'s ''[[The Pianist (2002 film)|The Pianist]]''.<ref>{{cite news|language=fr |url=http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2015/03/07/2062217-popeck-comedie-toulouse-ai-jamais-eu-peur.html |title=Popeck à la Comédie de Toulouse : "Je n'ai jamais eu peur"|newspaper=[[La Dépêche du Midi]]|first=Nicole |last=Clodi |date=7 March 2015|accessdate=9 May 2016}}</ref>