Born Ida Kaminski in Odessa, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). The daughter of a celebrated actor and actress of the Yiddish theater, she began her stage career as a child of five and later played numerous leading roles at the Kaminski Theater in Warsaw. After touring the Soviet Union for three years, she established her own troupe in Warsaw, the Ida Kaminska Theater, and directed many of the productions in which she starred. She spent WW II in Russia and after returning to Warsaw in 1945 she founded the Jewish State Theater of Poland, with which she toured the US in 1967. She remained in this country and later emigrated to Israel. Kaminska, who had appeared in a few Polish films from the 1910s to the late 30s, was nominated for a best actress Oscar® for her moving performance in the Czech film OBCHOD NA KORZE / THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET (1965). She appeared in only a handful of other films: MIRELE EFROS (1912), TKEIS KHAF / THE RABBI'S POWER (1924), ON A HAYM / WITHOUT A HOME (1939), THE JEWISH PEOPLE LIVE / AM YISROEL KAY (1947), ULICA GRANICZNA / BORDER STREET (1949), and THE ANGEL LEVINE (1970).  Nominated for Actress 1966: OBCHOD NA KORZE (THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET) 1 nomination