Seen here (right) in 1979 with Raymond Ariel outside of New York's Town Hall, Carey was starring in and helping to produce "Rebecca, the Rabbi's Daughter" alongside Mary Soreanu. Carey was born in Boston in 1942 to the well-known Yiddish actress Leah “Leyke” Post, who was herself the daughter of Yiddish singer Frahdl Post. The celebrated Russian Jewish singer, Isa Kremer is said to have wanted Leah Post to be her protégé because she felt that she had the same musical style. Carey's career in the Yiddish theater owes much to his mother and what she exposed him and his brother Henry to growing up. She sent her children to Yiddish school, Yiddish summer camp and they attended many of her concerts. Besides performing, Carey also helped produce numerous plays and co-found the Shalom Yiddish Musical Theater in 1978. Like many public figures, Carey was not technically able to be out of the closet, but many in his circle knew him to be gay. As one of the few LGBTQ members of Yiddish theatre in the 1970s and 80s, he broke ground for later generations Yiddish artists across diverse artistic fields.

During his career, he frequently played the romantic lead opposite Israeli-Romanian Yiddish multi-talent, Mary Soreanu. In their plays together, David both acted and carried out many functions that were typical to a producer — doing publicity, scouting locations, hiring staff — but Soreanu’s husband actually funded the shows. Some of the plays he both produced and acted in include "Di rumenishe khasene" (“The Romanian Wedding”), “The Girl from Tel Aviv” and “Wish Me Mazel Tov.” He also acted in numerous plays at New York’s famed Town Hall including "Shver tsu zayn a yid" (“Hard to Be a Jew”), “Glickl Hameln,” "Rebecca, the Rabbi's Daughter,” "The Rebbetzin from Israel" and “Mirele Efros.”

Yiddish theatre in New York, had no mazl in terms of finding a permanent location. Shows like the 1979 Soreanu/Carey vehicle "Girl From Tel Aviv" opened in the ballroom of the Hotel Diplomat, that split time between operating as an SRO, a disco and home to many funky musical acts including even Grandmaster Flash.

"Girl From Tel Aviv" then toured “out of town'' at Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School on Ocean Parkway. His New York Times obituary stated that Carey helped bring Yiddish theater to second-generation Jewish audiences who spoke little Yiddish. “Without compromising the Yiddish dialogue and songs, Mr. Carey and his associates provided summaries for theatergoers who spoke only English and inserted lines in English as the plot permitted.” Besides Mary Soreanu, Carey worked alongside a myriad of Yiddish acting royalty including Joseph Buloff, Ben Bonus and the great Ida Kaminska.

Carey also worked for a time as the social director of the Workers’ Circle's Camp Kinder Ring in the Catskills. Carey was a longtime member and co-executive secretary of the Hebrew Actors’ Union, located at 31 East 7th St. in Manhattan’s East Village. The historic building is currently seeking to transform into a Yiddish theatre venue and cafe. Carey's social circle was a veritable who's who of the Yiddish theater world. He invited many celebrated actors and actresses to his home frequently to play cards and sing along while he played piano. According to his brother, Henry, Ida Kaminska, Reyzl Bozhyk, Rokhl Relis and MIna Bern were regulars, among others.

Carey helped run his onetime partner Tsion's kosher Moroccan restaurant in Manhattan’s West Village alongside Tsion's family. Among the first venues in the city to offer authentic middle-eastern delicacies, it was located across from the Bleecker Street Cinema, seen here. The restaurant was called Marrakesh West and featured menu items such as couscous, pastilla, cigars and merguez. The business was a family affair, with his mother Leah doing the bookkeeping for a period of time. During his brief, inspired life, Carey was a member of multiple synagogues, including the historic LGBTQ synagogue, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, a synagogue that historically, during the AIDS crisis was among the only ones to provide pastoral care and ritual end of life care for Jewish members of the LGBTQ community. It continues to be a landmark house of worship for the LGBTQ community. Carey later joined another more traditional one, the Lincoln Square Synagogue.

David Carey died of AIDS in 1985 at Manhattan's Beth Israel hospital, one of the earliest hospitals to recognize and treat the disease at the beginning of the epidemic.

Decades passed without any memorial to those we lost to AIDS. Finally, over four decades into the fight against AIDS, a memorial was dedicated in NYC. The image above shows its beginnings. May the memory of all those lost to AIDS be a blessing. David Carey is survived by his actor brother, Henry Carrey continues their family’s Yiddish theatrical tradition, and preserves their history. Like many an actor, David Carey had at times, different ages. And while the NYTimes obituary states his age at death at 41, his brother Henry confirms, from David's birth certificate, that he died at 43. א ליכטיקן גן עדן זאל ער האבן. Rest in creative Yiddish power David Carey.