The Barry Sisters

Lore & Background

Minnie and Clara Bagelman were born in the Bronx, New York, to Ashkenazi Jewish parents from the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Their father insisted they sing Yiddish in the manner of the Old World. They began as The Bagelman Sisters on WLTH Radio's Uncle Norman show, then recorded with Victor Records in the late 1930s. After the Andrews Sisters' hit version of 'Bei Mir Bistu Shein,' Dick Gilbert created and hosted Yiddish Melodies in Swing on WHN, and the sisters joined after changing their stage name to Barry.

From 1937 to the mid-1950s they performed on that program, singing jazz recordings in Yiddish. They performed in the Catskills, toured with Mickey Katz, and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jack Paar Program, and The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. They were one of the few American acts to tour the Soviet Union in 1959. Israel and Zionism were common themes; they entertained Israeli troops during the Yom Kippur War. Their last known album was The Barry Sisters in Israel (circa 1960s), and their recording career effectively ended in the early 1960s.

Merna (Minnie) died in 1976 from a brain tumor; Claire died in 2014 in Aventura, Florida, survived by a daughter. Claire was featured in the 2002 NPR radio show The Yiddish Radio Project.

Reader's Guide

The Barry Sisters were significant as rare American Yiddish jazz singers who brought Yiddish-language music to mainstream audiences through radio, recordings, and television. Their work on Yiddish Melodies in Swing from 1937 to the mid-1950s helped popularize Yiddish swing, and their tours—including a 1959 Soviet Union tour—demonstrated cultural diplomacy. They bridged Old World Yiddish traditions with American jazz, and their glamorous image contrasted with typical Yiddish theater stars. Their legacy includes a substantial discography spanning Banner, Cadence, Roulette, and ABC-Paramount labels, and they remain remembered for their unique fusion of languages and styles.

Did You Know?

• They were one of the few American acts to tour the Soviet Union in 1959.
• Their father told them to sing Yiddish in the manner of the Old World, not with American accents.
• They entertained Israeli troops during the Yom Kippur War.
• Claire Barry survived her younger sister by 41 years, dying at age 94.

From the Bronx to the Airwaves

Minnie and Clara Bagelman grew up in the Bronx, New York, the daughters of Herman and Ester Bagelman, an Ashkenazi Jewish couple whose roots stretched back to the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Herman was born in what is now Berdychiv, Ukraine, while Ester came from the Austro-Hungarian realm. The household also included two younger sisters, Celia and Julia. When the two older girls decided to pursue singing in Yiddish under the name The Bagelman Sisters, their father gave them a crucial piece of direction: they were to perform in the manner of the Old World, shedding any American accent from their delivery. Their first professional opportunity came as young vocalists on WLTH Radio's Uncle Norman show, a program aimed at children. By the late 1930s they had already cut their first recordings for Victor Records, establishing a reputation as Yiddish jazz singers. Before joining a major radio program, the sisters rebranded their stage surname from Bagelman to Barry, a change that would define their public identity for decades to come.

Radio, Television, and the World Stage

The Barry Sisters found their most sustained platform on Yiddish Melodies in Swing, a radio program hosted by musician Sam Medoff, who performed under the name Dick Manning, on New York's WHN station. From 1937 through the mid-1950s, the sisters were a fixture on the show, delivering jazz arrangements of songs in Yiddish. Their repertoire was remarkably wide, extending to English-language pop hits rendered in the Yiddish tongue, such as a translation of Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head. Beyond the airwaves, they performed at Catskills resort hotels and toured alongside comedian Mickey Katz. Their television appearances included the Ed Sullivan Show, The Jack Paar Program, and The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. In 1959, they became one of the very few American acts to tour the Soviet Union. Their music frequently wove in themes of Israel and Zionism, and they even entertained Israeli troops during the Yom Kippur War. Observers noted that the sisters looked glamorous rather than fitting the typical mold of Yiddish theater performers, and they invested heavily in top-tier orchestrations for every production.

A Catalogue of Sound

The Barry Sisters' recorded output spanned more than two decades, from their 1951 debut album on Banner Records through their eleventh and final LP, Our Way, released in 1973. Their discography reflects a remarkable breadth of collaboration and genre. They worked with labels including Banner, Cadence, Roulette, ABC-Paramount, and Saga, and partnered with a rotating cast of musical directors and arrangers such as Abe Ellstein, Joe Reisman, Jerry Fielding, Chico O'Farrill, Jim Tyler, and Jerry Graff. Their albums covered Yiddish jazz, Jewish melodies, and even a Spanish-themed record arranged and conducted by Chico O'Farrill. They recorded a live album in Israel in 1963, a Fiddler on the Roof song cycle in 1964, and a gala concert with the legendary Moishe Oysher in 1973. The collection also includes compilations of their earlier 78 rpm recordings and a best-of volume from 1966, documenting a career that consistently bridged traditional Jewish musical heritage with the swing and pop sensibilities of mid-century America.

Beyond the Stage

Behind the stage names Merna and Claire Barry lay two women whose lives extended well beyond the spotlight. Minnie, born April 6, 1923, and later known as Mrs. Emanuel Pine, passed away on October 31, 1976, at the age of 53, after a prolonged hospitalization at Manhattan's Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital; the cause was a brain tumor. Her age was initially misreported as 51. Clara, born October 17, 1920, and later Mrs. Easton, outlived her sister by 41 years, dying on November 22, 2014, in Aventura, Florida, at the age of 94. She was survived by her daughter, Joy Pargman. Even in her later decades, Claire maintained a connection to the Yiddish cultural world that had defined her career, appearing in the 2002 NPR radio production The Yiddish Radio Project. The sisters' personal stories, marked by a shared creative bond, a long separation in time between their deaths, and a family lineage stretching from the Bronx to Florida, add a deeply human dimension to their legacy as entertainers.

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