Born Harold Ribotsky to Polish-Jewish emigres in Brooklyn, New York, Hal E Chester, the youngest of seven children, took his stepmother's maiden name as a young actor and carved a niche for himself playing disadvantaged and usually discontented teenagers. In Sidney Kingsley's 1935 Broadway play Dead End, he caught the attention of film producer Sam Goldwyn and travelled to Hollywood to appear in the 1937 film adaptat…
SOURCE: The Stage at 02:03PM on May 30, 2012