Sara Adler (; changed to Lewis; ; ; May 26, 1858 – April 28, 1953) was a Russian actress in Yiddish theater who made her career mainly in the United States. She was known as the "mother" or "duchess" of Yiddish theater.
She was the third wife of Jacob Adler and the mother of prominent actors Luther and Stella Adler, and lesser-known actors Jay, Julia, Frances, and Florence Adler. The most famous of her 300 or so leading roles included the redeemed prostitute Katusha Maslova in Jacob Gordin's play based on Tolstoy's Resurrection and Batsheva in Gordin's The Homeless. During her teens, she performed in local amateur productions. She grew up speaking Russian, only learning Yiddish through her participation in Yiddish theater.
Early career in Europe
When Adler joined a Yiddish troupe at seventeen, the leader of a provincial Yiddish theater troupe.