Yelena Shmulenson was born in Belarus, grew up in Ukraine, and emigrated to the US in the 1990s. She's perhaps best known as the icepick-wielding 'Dora' in the Coen brothers' Oscar-nominated film A SERIOUS MAN. Other film and TV credits include ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (recurring), BLUE BLOODS, MADAME SECRETARY, THE KNICK, BOARDWALK EMPIRE (as 'Mrs. Manny Horvitz'), CHICAGO MED, Robert De Niro's THE GOOD SHEPHERD, ROMEO & JULIET IN YIDDISH, and CHINESE PUZZLE (w/Audrey Tautou). Stage credits include THE DYBBUK, THE GOLEM OF HAVANA (Miami New Drama), THE ESSENCE: A YIDDISH THEATER DIM SUM (Fringe/tour), two seasons at the Ellis Island Theatre, COVERS (New York/St. Petersburg/Moscow/ Montreal), TEVYE SERVED RAW (NYC) etc. She has also been a Yiddish coach/translator for numerous projects and has won three Earphones Awards for her recorded books in English. She is also a singer and an audiobook narrator.
