historical persons

  • Cast of Characters

    Cast of Characters in Order of Appearance

    The Pilot

       Reb Meyer Ben Harav Yosef Moishe Dov Levy

     A fifty-year-old man, pious and prosperous, Jewishfactoryin The Jewish Pale of Settlement. Husband of Rochele Bas Tamara Poliakov – He will die of wounds suffered in the Pogrom which begins our story.

     
       Dmitry Kolisnychenko -  Local Chief of Police in the district in which Reb Meyer lives. 
       Rochele Bas Tamara Poliakov -   48-year old wife of Meyer Levy, niece of both Samuel and Lazar Poliakov, two of the wealthiest Jews in Russia. She will be raped and murdered in the Pogrom.
       Yosef Levy 20 years old. Eldest of Reb Meyer’s children - He will die trying to defend his family in the Pogrom. 
       Boris Oliynik  Meyer Levy’s Ukrainian business partner.
       Hannah Levy  Youngest of Reb Meyer’s children – 11 months old. She will be killed in the Pogrom.
       Moishe (Morris) Levy   Reb Meyer’s headstrong built like a bull, 18-year-old son. He’s a brawler and has already been in trouble with the law. Reb Meyer threatens to send him to the wilds of Western Canada. He will survive the Pogrom and be sent to his Uncle Hyman’s Ranch in Alberta, Canada.
       Leah Levy  Nine-year-old, brilliant daughter of Reb Meyer. She is a firebrand, already intoxicated by the 1905 Revolution, notions of a worker’s paradise and the overthrow of the imperialists who have enslaved not only the Jews of Russia, but all the poor. She will survive and be sent to St. Petersburg to live with her aunt Rasa Poliakov.
      Pinchas Levy Twelve years old and already an ardent Zionist who dreams of being a pioneer in the Land of Israel. He will survive and be sent with his brother-in-law to Jerusalem
      Dovid Levy Eleven years old, enchanted with the idea of America from looking at his Uncle Abrash’s postcard with a picture of Coney Island. He will survive and be sent to his Uncle Abrash in New York.
      Danil Levy Fourteen years old, a dreamy boy with the soul of a poet. He will be killed in the Pogrom.
      Dvorah Levy The beautiful fifteen-year-old daughter already dreaming of the matchmaker bringing her a handsome young bridegroom. She will be raped and murdered in the Pogrom.
      Tamara (Levy) Rabinovitch Reb Meyer’s 19- year-old married, daughter. She will be raped and murdered in the Pogrom.
      Basya Rabinovich Tamara’s two-month-old daughter. She will be killed in the Pogrom.
      Menachem Rabinovitch 24-year-old Rabbi, and husband of Tamara. He will survive his wounds and take Pinchas to Jerusalem.
      Sarah (Levy) Litvak 17-year-old daughter of Reb Meyer. It is her wedding which opens our show. She will be raped and murdered in the Pogrom
    .
      Baruch Litvak 23 year old groom of Sara Levy. He will be murdered trying to protect his bride.
      Chaim Leibovitch Wedding photographer. He will narrowly escape being murdered in the Pogrom.
      Reb Yisrael Ben Shmuel Dov Kahan “Der Blinder Rebbe” – 85-year-old Rabbi, Chief Justice of the Rabbinical court of Kabalyeke. Baruch is his secretary and has been sent to accompany the old man to Jerusalem so the Rabbi can die in the Holy Land.
      tmbBen avi Itamar Ben Yehuda (Ben Avi) The “first native Hebrew speaking child” in 2000 years, son of Eliezer Ben Yehuda. He is a dashing and handsome, 26-year-old Don Juan in Jerusalem, where he is editor of his father’s newspaper
      Eytan Ben David Pinchas’ friend and fellow soldier. They meet while being deported from Jerusalem.
      tmbleah abused Leah Abushedid the beautiful fifteen year old, wealthy Sephardic girl with whom Itamar Ben Yehuda falls in love. Their love story will divide and inspire and unite all of pre WWI Jerusalem.
      Reina Abushedid Leah’s wealthy mother who refuses to give permission to her daughter to marry Itamar.
      Dr. Avraham Abushedid Leah’s older brother who, since their father’s death is the man of the house.
      Hyam Levy sixty year old brother of Meyer Levy, wealthy rancher in Alberta, Canada.
      Mah Sam Chinese Restaurant owner who will befriend Morris (Moishe) Levy.
     DrSuninLondon Dr. Sun-Yat Sen First President of China, the George Washington of China.
      Rasa Poliakov Leah Levy’s aunt on her mother’s side. Wealthy niece of Lazar and Samuel Poliakov, two of the wealthiest Jews in Russia.
     701px 1904 1905peterhof Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Romanov Grand Duchesses of Russia and daughters of the Tsar.
      Abrash Levy 54-year-old brother of Meyer Levy - Uncle of Dovid Levy.
      Dora Levy wife of Abrash Levy
     Kid Twist Kid Twist 24 year old Jewish American gangster whose actual name was Max Zwerbach, part of the Eastman Gang on Manhattan’s Lower East Side
      Kid Slyfox Daniel Zwerbach, Kid Twist’s younger brother, also part of Eastman gang.
     Jack Zelig NYWTS Big Jack Zelig Jewish gangster in Eastman Gang.
      Cyclone Louie real name Sammy Pristrich - also part of Eastman gang.
      Charlie Greenwich Gangster in the Five Points Gang.
      Carol Terry Kid Twist’s girlfriend.
     Louie the Lump Louie The Lump Real name Louis Piaggi - Italian gangster in Five Points Gang.
     Harry Horowitz mugshot 1912 Harry “Gyp The Blood” Horowitz Jewish Gangster in Eastman Gang – will die in the electric chair.
     Whitey lewis Jacob “Whitey Lewis” Seidenscher Jewish gangster in Eastman Gang – will die in the electric chair
     Lefty Rosenberg “Lefty“ Rosenberg Jewish gangster in Eastman Gang - will die in the electric chair.
     Dago Frank Cirofici “Dago Frank” Cirofese Italian gangster in Eastman gang- will die in the electric chair.
     Charles Becker ca. 1912 Charlie Becker Corrupt NYPD Lieutenant who engineers the murder of Jewish book maker Herman Rosenthal. 


    Hour 1: "Into the Breach"

     image06  Yosef Trumpledor  Highest decorated officer and only Jewish soldier in Tsarist Russian army – 34- year-old veteran of Russo-Japanese War and second-in-command of Zion Mule Corps.
     image03  Ze’ev Jabotinsky 34-year-old Zionist, poet, writer – championed the idea of a Jewish Legion. 
     Gen Sir John Maxwell  General Sir John Maxwell General Officer commanding British Troops in Egypt.
     image07 Lt. Col John Henry Patterson Commanding Officer Zion Mule Corps, fervent Irish Protestant who believed in rebirth of a Jewish Army as a stepping stone to the rebirth of a Jewish nation in its ancestral homeland. 
      Tony Malatesta   Eighteen Year Old Italian Gangster in Five Points Gang.
       Maggie Dowd  Eighteen year old , drop-dead gorgeous, red-headed prostitute.
       Colm O’Shaughnessy Italian Gangster whose original name was Carlos Sangiovese, changed his name to seem Irish, head of Five Points Gang

    Hour 2

       Major Martin “Muggsy” Hyde-Percival  40-year-old British Major who will be drowned in the mud of France by Lieutenant Morris Levy
       Lt. Colonel Avery Cooke  45-year-old British Lieutenant Colonel, Battalion Commander of Lieutenant Morris Levy.
    630px Император Николай II   Tsar Nicholai II  Emperor of all Russia King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland, last of the Romanov Emperors.
       Captain Yevgenei Grinkov  28-year-old Russian Captain, soon to marry Leah Levy.
     Photo of Mikhail Rodzianko  Michael Rodzianko   Chairman of the Duma
    634px Paul Alexandrovich Grand Duke of Russia   Grand Duke Paul Aleksandrovich  One of the two signers of the March 1 Manifesto, on behalf of the Romanoffs, recommending the Tsar institute a constitutional government in Russia.

    591px Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich Romanov    		  Grand Duke Kiril Vladimirovich  Second signer of March 1 Manifesto.
     636px Рузский Николай Владимирович Nikolai Ruzky Chief of Staff of Russian Army under Nicholas II. He, together with Vassily Shulgin and Aleksandr Guchkov, advise the Tsar to abdicate.
     MihailII Grand Duke Michael Aleksandrovich Brother to Nicholas II. Refuses to succeed Nicholas II, thus ending the Romanoff Dynasty.
     678px Alexandra Fyodorovna LOC 01137u Tsarina Aleksandra Feodorovna Wife of Nicholas II

    Hour 3

      tmbLord Kitchener Field Marshal Lord Kitchener  British Secretary of War.
    David lloyd george  David Lloyd George  Prime Minister of England during WW I.
     687px Lord Derbyy Edward Stanley, 17th Lord Derby  Successor to Lord Kitchener as British Secretary of War.
       General Woodward Director of Organization at the British War Department. 
     641px Gws balfour 02  Arthur Lord Balfour Foreign Secretary of British Government during WW I, author of the Balfour Declaration.
       General Edward Chaytor  OC of the ANZAC Mounted Division
     602px Flickr Government Press Office GPO President Chaim Weizmann Dr. Chaim Weizmann President of the World Zionist Organization, and noted chemist.

     

    Hour 4

    LeninEnSuizaMarzo1916 barbaroussovietr00mcbr   Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Leader of Russian Communist Party and first leader of the USSR.
     Karenskiy AF 1917  Aleksandr Kerensky  

    Head of Russian Provisional Government. He will be overthrown by the October Revolution.

     
      Rachel Hannah Dvorah Tamara Grinkov   Daughter of Leah Levy Grinkov and Yevgeniy Grinkov.
       Tsarevich Alexei Romanoff  Youngest child of Tsar Nicholas II and heir apparent of Russian Empire.
     Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky 1918  Yakov Yurovsky  Commandant of the House of Special Purpose, who commanded the execution of the Romanov family.
    tmbPeter Ermakov at the bridge on Koptyaki Road  Pyotr Ermakov   Military Commissar for Verkh-Isetsk. Participated in the execution of the Romanovs.
      Rachel Bat Zion (nee Eisenberg) 21-year-old Jewish pioneer. One of the founders of Kibbutz Giladi, and soon-to-be wife of Pinchas Levy.
      Kamal Effendi

    Muktar of the Bedouin village of Harras

    Hour 5

       Yin-Ching Huang  Arms purchaser for Sun-Yat Sen.
       Filipo Ugati   Shady partner of Morris Levy.
      Li Annchi “Annie Li”  Beautiful, 22-year-old daughter of an upper-middle-class Chinese family, soon to be married to Morris Levy.
     Huang Jinyong Huang "Pockmarked" Jingrong  Lead detective of French Concession police force, and leader of the notorious Green Gang of Shanghai.
     SoonChinLin Soong Ching-lin  Wife of Dr. Sun-Yat Sen.
      Li Zhimou Father of Li Annchi.
      Sergeant Jean-Pierre Duguay Head of flying squad, French Concession Police.
     Zhang Chongchan Zhang “Dogmeat General” Zangchong Commander of a large army under Zhang Zuolin, Military Commander of Fengtian Clique
     Chiang Kai shek young Chiang Kai-Shek Military leader under Sun-Yat Sen, who will succeed Sun-Yat Sen and marry Sun’s sister-in-law, Soong Aie-lin, who will become Madame Chiang.
    國共內戰時期周恩來 Ching Jeongming General under Sun-Yat Sen, who will lead a rebellion against him.
      Joey Chao Manager, Chinese Opera House in New York.


    Hour 6 

      Zhou Shanpei   Emissary of Duan Qiri, an ally of Zhang Zuolin and Fengtian Clique.
      Li Xiaolin  Emissary of Zhang Zuolin
      Vittorio “Vic” Bonetta  Remnant of Five Points Gang, soon to be assassinated by associates of Davey Boy Levy and Tony Malatesta.
       Tip O’Reilly  Remnant of Five Points Gang, soon to be assassinated by associates of Davey Boy Levy and Tony Malatesta.
      Paulie Manzarella  Remnant of Five Points Gang, soon to be assassinated by associates of Davey Boy Levy and Tony Malatesta.
      Frankie Napolitano   Remnant of Five Points Gang, soon to be assassinated by associates of Davey Boy Levy and Tony Malatesta.

     
      Sean O’Halloran Remnant of Five Points Gang, soon to be assassinated by associates of Davey Boy Levy and Tony Malatesta.
      Joey Palermo Associate of Tony Malatesta, who will become a new leader of the modern-day Mafia.
      Pepino Ananas

    Associate of Tony Malatesta, who will become a new leader of the modern-day Mafia.

     
      Carlo Minetti Associate of Tony Malatesta, who will become a new leader of the modern-day Mafia.
      Vito Caligari Associate of Tony Malatesta, who will become a new leader of the modern-day Mafia.
      Enrico Ciccarelli Associate of Tony Malatesta, who will become a new leader of the modern-day Mafia.
      “Lefty” Berkowitz Associate of Davey Boy Levy, who will become a head of the Jewish Mafia, together with Davey.
      Benny Berman Associate of Davey Boy Levy, who will become a head of the Jewish Mafia, together with Davey.
      Haya Berko

    The midwife at Kibbutz Deganya.

     
      Hong Pei Emissary of General Cheng Jiongming, who gives ultimatum for Sun-Yat Sen to surrender.
    Bundesarchiv Bild 183 R15068 Leo Dawidowitsch Trotzki Leon Trotsky People’s Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs under Vladimir Lenin.
      Lieutenant Philip Cochrane Captain, HMS Moorhen.
      Wallace McCreary Justice of the Peace who performs the wedding ceremony of Davey Levy and Maggie Dowd.
      Mayer Yisrael Levy son of Pinchas and Rachel Levy, born 1920, Deganya, British Mandatory Palestine.

Morris Levy

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Moshe "Morris" Levy

Bodyguard and General to Chinese Nationalist Army

Two-Gun Levy was a real person named Morris Cohen and given the nickname "2-Gun" because he always carried two guns. He protected both Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Kai-Shek from 1911 until his death in the 1950s.

Pinchas Levy

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Pinchas Levy

Poet and Warrior

Pinchas Levy participated in a love battle that became the talk of Ottoman Palestine. He fought with the Jewish Legion in WWI and then settled down at one of the first Kibbutzim.

Dovid "Davey Boy" Levy

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Dovid "Davey Boy" Levy

Head of the Freedman Gang and Mobster

David Levy joined one of the lower East side New York City gangs and eventually became head of one of the most notorious mobs in the US.

Leah Levy

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Leah Levy

Bolshevik revolutionary

Leah Levy was a member of the wealthy and influential Polyakov family who became disillusioned and radicalized. She joined the Bolsheviks and through much suffering remained a member of the Communist party until her death in the late 1950s.