He was born in Biłgoraj, Poland into an orthodox Jewish family. When his father died six years later his mother emigrated to America leaving the children with grandparents. He got as far as the fire escape where he slept and where his mother gave him food.
In 1920 the family was reunited in the United States and Julius began to work in theater. He played with Julius Natanson, Leon Blank, Boris Thomashevsky, Aaron Lebedeff, Samuel Goldenberg, Jennie Goldstein, and others In 1935, he met Henrietta Jacobson while both were appearing with Herman Yablokoff (Hayim Yablonik) in McKinley Square Theater.
She was a divorcee with a young son from a prior marriage.
Henrietta had deep roots in the Jewish theater community. Julius and Henrietta formed a team and performed together for three years.
When they had an offer to perform in Belgium, Julius proposed by remarking that they could save money on visas and other expenses as a married couple. They then played in Chicago, then at the Hopkonson Theater and made a revue film.
They played with Molly Picon and Jacob Kalich at the Second Avenue Theater in the Yiddish Theater District.
In 1948 they played in London. In 1950 he became director of the National Theater and produced Yiddish vaudeville. The couple also wrote plays.
Their son, Bruce Adler (Borekh Yosl, born 1944) played Yiddish theater when he was young.
He also later worked on Broadway and was nominated for two Tony Awards. The Adler family played the London Palladium with Sophie Tucker in the 1950s.
Adler also did some work in films, beginning in 1926 with Broken Hearts. He had an uncredited role as the High Priest in the 1935 film, She.
Adler was cast as Aleksei (the priest) for the film Tevya (1939).
The musical Fiddler on the Roof was based on this film, though this early version of the story was non-musical. His last film role was as a comedian in the 1950 Catskill Honeymoon,
In 1973, they were the stars of a Saint St. Petersburg, Florida production of Come Blow Your Horn. Their son, Bruce, was also cast in the play as the younger brother.
The couple is buried in the Yiddish Theatrical Alliance section (Block 67) of Mount Hebron Cemetery.
The section is reserved for those who were part of New York"s Yiddish theater and is maintained by the Alliance.
