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Ida Schuster
Ida Schuster
Ida Schuster
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Ida Schuster (28 September 1918 – 9 April 2020) was a Scottish theatre, radio and television actress, theatre director, and a leading figure in Glasgow's 20th-century Jewish theatre community.[1]

Key Information

Early life and education

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Schuster was born in Glasgow, one of nine children born to Jewish immigrants who moved from Vilnius to Glasgow at the end of the 19th century. She attended Abbotsford Primary School in the Gorbals.[2]

Career

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Ida's older sister, Ray, married Avrom Greenbaum, who founded the Glasgow Jewish Institute Players,[3] and her brother, Leon Schuster, was production manager for GJIP, and, later, when it merged with other groups, Glasgow Unity Theatre.[4][5]

Ida began acting at the age of 15, and was a prominent member of both theatre troupes.[6][7][8] Glasgow Unity Theatre, was, she said: “...a particular response to a particular time. These were heady days and after the war we really felt utopia had arrived.”[5] She turned professional in the 1950s.[9][10]

In 1973, she described her feelings about the artist within the community:

Well...the bridge games, the social activities for charities which form so much of the pattern, must be partly rejected if one is to survive with any creative energy. And as one grows older, responsibilities increase and energy decreases. This happens to all of us and youth takes over. Make no mistake, our young folk will be holding the reins with great expertise, well equipped for the battles which lie ahead.[2]

In 2020, Schuster was known as "the world's oldest podcaster", because she hosted Old School, an audio series about her life, introduced by actor Alan Cumming.[11]

Personal life

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Ida was married to Dr. Allan Berkeley until his death in 1990, after 45 years of marriage. At the time of his death, she was appearing in The Steamie and had to leave the cast.[12] The couple had two children, Howard and Peter.[13] Schuster died on 9 April 2020, at the age of 101, from COVID-19.[14][15]

Theatrical productions

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As director

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Amongst her work as a theatre director was the inaugural production (opening 12 May 1981) of Eine Kleine Nachmutze [Eine Kleine Nachtmusik][11] at the Tron Theatre.

Selected filmography

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Television appearances

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References

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Ida Schuster

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Ida Schuster (28 September 1918 – 8 April 2020) was a Scottish actress, theatre director, and podcaster known for her nine-decade career in Glasgow's theatre community, her significant contributions to Jewish theatre in Scotland, and for being dubbed the world's oldest podcaster at the age of 101. Born on 28 September 1918 in Glasgow's Gorbals district to parents who were Lithuanian Jewish immigrants from Vilnius, Schuster was the second youngest of nine children and grew up in a family deeply involved in amateur theatre. She began acting at the age of 15 and became a core member of the Glasgow Jewish Institute Players, an amateur company run on professional lines founded by her brother-in-law Avrom Greenbaum, where several of her siblings were also involved. Widely regarded as the grande dame of Scottish theatre, she received extensive training from Greenbaum and was frequently consulted as an authority on Scotland's theatrical and film history. Schuster served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during World War II and married Dr Allan Berkeley in 1945, with whom she raised two sons. Her professional career encompassed acting, directing, and writing for stage, film, and television, including prominent associations with the Glasgow Unity Theatre and the Citizens Theatre, where she was considered a pillar of the company. In her later years, she launched the podcast series ''Old School'' in 2020 through the Glasgow-based platform The Big Light, sharing her perspectives on love, war, and theatre across the 20th and 21st centuries, with an introduction recorded by actor Alan Cumming; she died shortly afterward from complications of COVID-19.

Early life

Childhood and family background

Ida Schuster was born on 28 September 1918 in Glasgow, Scotland. She was the youngest of nine children of Jewish immigrants Dora and Joseph Schuster, who had moved from Vilnius, Lithuania, to Glasgow in 1899. Schuster grew up in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, in a tenement flat within the south side's established Jewish community. She attended Strathbungo School. Her childhood was marked by the dynamics of a large immigrant family and the close-knit environment of the Gorbals tenements.

Entry into acting and training

Ida Schuster began acting at the age of 15. She became a prominent early member of the Glasgow Jewish Institute Players (GJIP), an amateur theatre group founded in 1936 by Avrom Greenbaum, who was married to her older sister Ray. Her brother Leon Schuster was also integral to the group, serving as production manager for the GJIP and later for the Glasgow Unity Theatre after the groups merged. The Schuster siblings, including Ida, formed a core part of the GJIP's ensemble, with Ida regarded as one of its leading actresses. Although the GJIP was an amateur company, Avrom Greenbaum ran it with professional standards and provided rigorous training and discipline, giving Schuster what has been described as the best possible preparation for her career in theatre. Schuster continued her amateur involvement with the Glasgow Unity Theatre, which developed from the GJIP and other collectives in the 1940s. She turned professional in the 1950s, marking the transition from her formative amateur years to a sustained career on stage.

Career

Early theatre involvement (1930s–1950s)

Ida Schuster began her theatre career in the mid-1930s as a teenager with the Glasgow Jewish Institute Players, an amateur company founded by her brother-in-law Avrom Greenbaum, where she performed in a wide range of European classics and American dramas while working as a trainee hairdresser. She described the experience as her "university" and credited it with shaping her development as an actress, playing diverse roles in the group's ambitious repertoire that included works by Brecht and Ibsen. As a leading actress and founder member of the Players, she contributed significantly to its success on the Scottish amateur drama scene, including participation in community festivals where the group earned accolades during the late 1930s. In the 1940s, several amateur groups including the Jewish Institute Players merged to form the Glasgow Unity Theatre, of which Schuster was a founding member, further expanding her involvement in left-leaning and community-focused theatre during the wartime period. Her activities were interrupted by conscription into the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), where she served with RAF Fighter Command. After the war, she resumed acting while balancing family life and performed major roles in productions such as The Glass Menagerie, Juno and the Paycock, and Long Day's Journey into Night. Schuster's first major role came in 1951 when she appeared in The Dybbuk as part of Glasgow's Jewish Arts Festival, staged by the Jewish Institute Players. In 1952, she received critical praise as a "natural actress" for her performance in Lucrezia Borgia’s Little Party with the same group at London's Scala Theatre. She transitioned to professional theatre during the 1950s, establishing a career in Scotland's expanding professional scene after years of dedicated amateur work. Her long association with the Citizens Theatre began in the following decade.

Professional stage career and major roles

Ida Schuster's professional stage career flourished from the 1950s onward, following her transition from amateur theatre, and she established herself as a mainstay of Scottish theatre for over six decades, remaining active until her final appearance in 2013 at the age of 95 during the Citizens Theatre's 70th anniversary gala celebrations. She developed enduring associations with several prominent Scottish companies, notably the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow—where she performed across multiple directorial eras starting in the early 1960s and was regarded as one of the company's guiding spirits—the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, the Traverse Theatre, the Tron Theatre, and the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. During the Citizens Theatre's 1962–63 season, she appeared in a diverse repertoire that included productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Good Woman of Setzuan, Uncle Vanya, The Birthday Party, and The Importance of Being Earnest. Other major roles in her later career included Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit at Pitlochry Festival Theatre in 1974, Sadie the tea lady in the original 1978 Traverse Theatre production of John Byrne's The Slab Boys, Mrs Culfeathers in Tony Roper's The Steamie from 1987 to 1990 (which she left following her husband's death in 1990), and Maria Josefa in Federico García Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba at the Lyceum Theatre in 1989. She made her directing debut at the Tron Theatre in the early 1980s. Schuster's contributions to Scottish theatre continued well into her later years, cementing her legacy as a versatile and enduring performer on the national stage.

Theatre directing

Ida Schuster directed an early ground-breaking production of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming at the University Arts Theatre to great acclaim. She also directed the inaugural production at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow, titled Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, which opened in 1981. This production marked the official opening of the Tron Theatre as a dedicated performing arts venue in the city.

Film and television appearances

Ida Schuster made occasional but memorable appearances in film and television, typically in supporting or guest roles, across several decades. In film, she portrayed the Old Woman in Bertrand Tavernier's dystopian drama Death Watch (La mort en direct, 1980). She also appeared as Woman on Stairs in Living Apart Together (1982) and as Wee Brenda in the sports drama A Shot at Glory (2000). Other film work included a credited role in Passing Glory (1987), a short film directed by Gillies MacKinnon. Her television credits featured more sustained involvement in certain projects. Schuster played the recurring character of Carla, an Italian café owner, in the Scottish soap opera Garnock Way from 1976 to 1979. In her eighties, she joined the original cast of River City as Lily Fraser for six months in 2002, serving as a foil to Johnny Beattie. She made multiple guest appearances in the long-running crime series Taggart between 1990 and 2005, playing various characters including a memorable scene in which she burst out of a birthday cake dressed in a pin-stripe suit and fedora, pretending to shoot her gangster son. Additional television roles included Mrs. Campbell in Doctor Finlay (1993) and guest spots in series such as Hamish Macbeth. She also had a one-line role as a postmistress in Dr. Finlay's Casebook.

Personal life

Marriage, family, and personal circumstances

Ida Schuster married Dr. Allan Berkeley in 1945, soon after the end of World War II and his release from a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp where he had been held for more than three years. Dr. Berkeley subsequently practised as a family doctor in Glasgow, with Schuster assisting in the management of his busy general practice alongside her acting work. The couple had two sons, Howard, born in 1947, and Peter, born in 1949. Their marriage endured for 45 years until Dr. Berkeley's death in 1990. Following her husband's death, Schuster withdrew from a production of The Steamie.

Later years

Continued work and podcasting

In her advanced years, Ida Schuster remained remarkably active, embracing new media at the age of 101. In 2020, she launched the podcast series Old School, where she shared her personal reflections on life, love, and theatre spanning the 20th and 21st centuries. The series, produced by The Big Light in Glasgow and released on platforms including Spotify and Apple, featured a series of short episodes that showcased her vibrant storytelling and throaty chuckle as she recounted her experiences growing up in a Jewish immigrant family in Glasgow, wartime service, marriage, professional acting career, and insights from over a century of life. The podcast was introduced by actor Alan Cumming, who recorded a trailer introduction and had made his film debut alongside Schuster. Schuster's enthusiastic participation in the project led to her being described as the world's oldest podcaster at the time. This late-career venture highlighted her enduring connection to storytelling and her status as a living archive of Scottish theatrical history. Schuster died on 8 April 2020 at the age of 101, shortly after the podcast's initial episodes were released. A tribute episode featuring memories from friends and colleagues was released posthumously on 4 May 2020.

Death

Ida Schuster died on 8 April 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland, at the age of 101. Her death was attributed to COVID-19.
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