Sali Neff, actress, artist, comedian, gemologist, and entrepreneur, has died at 96
She appeared in several small movies, tried her hand at standup comedy, and was a multi-talented entrepreneur. “She could captivate a roomful of people,” her family said in a tribute.
Sali Neff, 96, of Philadelphia, spirited actress, lifelong artist, comedian, gemologist, and tireless entrepreneur, died Sunday, Oct. 2, of heart failure at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Witty, charming, talented, and industrious throughout her life, Mrs. Neff was a natural-born entertainer and entrepreneur. She appeared with actor Donald O’Connor in a USO show during World War II, performed with actress Martha Raye in The Solid Gold Cadillac at Miami’s Coconut Grove Playhouse in 1964, and earned small supporting roles in several films, including 1967′s Mundo Depravados, alongside burlesque star Tempest Storm.
“She could captivate a roomful of people,” her family said in a tribute. “She was energetic, elegant and glamorous yet also very practical. She was a self-made woman and ahead of her time.”
An engaging storyteller, people gravitated to her, and she often turned routine events into memorable experiences. “She won fans wherever she went,” said her granddaughter, Rachel Heller.
As an energetic entrepreneur, Mrs. Neff operated a sandwich shop in Vineland, shoe store in Levittown, greeting-card store in Upper Darby, thrift shop in Ardmore, and antique shop on City Avenue. She also taught dancing at the Arthur Murray studios, worked as “bunny mother” at the Miami Playboy Club in the 1960s, and became certified by the Gemological Institute of America.
As an artist, she drew and sold caricatures on the Atlantic City Boardwalk as a teen, worked as an engineering draftsman during and after World War II, and painted constantly. Her painting Doorway in Malta was featured in a 2016 calendar and exhibition at the Watermark at Logan Square retirement community.
Impressed with Mrs. Neff’s comedic skills during their stage time together in the 1960s, Raye, a popular comedian from the 1940s through the 1980s, encouraged Mrs. Neff to pursue her own stand-up comedy career. “I figured why not give it a try,” Mrs. Neff told the Trenton Times in a 1964 profile.
She then met Sol Weinstein, a humorist, novelist, radio talk-show host, and comedy writer from Trenton, and he helped her develop routines she honed in the 1960s at nightclubs in New York and elsewhere. Her act featured a satirical take on life, love, families, and other universal topics, and Weinstein told the Trenton Times: “There’s no female comic working in this vein. She’ll be the first.”
Born Aug. 8, 1926, in Atlantic City, Selma Green graduated from Atlantic City High School and, interested in engineering, attended classes at both Drexel and Rutgers Universities. But a career in engineering was not to be.
“I didn’t make engineer, but I did learn to shoot a good game of pool” at Drexel, she told the Trenton Times. She married Lennie Heller in the late 1940s, and they lived in Levittown, and had sons Steve, Michael, and Andrew.
She refined her acting skills on stage in Lower Bucks County with the Levittown Players and other groups in the 1950s, and told the Trenton Times after she took up comedy in the 1960s: “I do feel a bit guilty when I have to go to New York for a couple of days and leave my family.”
After a divorce, she left the comedy circuit, met Philadelphia jeweler Louis Neff through her antique business, and they married in 1980. She became a gemologist, worked alongside her husband, and they traveled the world on business and pleasure. Her husband and former husband died earlier.
An avid reader, Mrs. Neff taught herself French and became an expert in Asian antiques and period jewelry. She supported local artists, various causes in Israel, and shelters for victims of domestic violence. She especially liked to visit the Atlantic City casinos.
In addition to Philadelphia, Miami, and Levittown, she lived in Vineland, Bala Cynwyd, and Elkins Park. She founded and directed the Yiddish Club at the Watermark and enthralled others with her creativity, humor, and energy.
“She was happiest in a crowd,” her family said. “The more, the merrier.”
Her son Andrew said: “She was a good mother.”
In addition to her sons and granddaughter, Mrs. Neff is survived by a grandson and other relatives. A sister and brother died earlier.
Services were private.