Shelley Winters was born Shirley Schrift in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Rose (née Winter), a singer with St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre ("The Muny"), and Jonas Schrift, a designer of men's clothing. Her parents were Jewish;https://www. jweekly.com/2006/02/10/celebrity-jews-90/ her father migrated from Grymalow, Austria-Hungary, in what is now Ukraine, and her mother was born in St. Louis to Austrian immigrants who were also from Grymalow. Her parents were third cousins. Her Jewish education included attendance at the Jamaica Jewish Center and learning Hebrew songs at her public school. Her family moved to Brooklyn, New York, when she was nine years old, and she grew up partly in Queens, New York, as well.1930 United States Federal Census. As a young woman, she worked as a model.1940 United States Federal Census. Her sister Blanche Schrift later married George Boroff, who ran the Circle Theatre (now named El Centro Theatre) in Los Angeles, California. At age 16, Winters relocated to Los Angeles, and later returned to New York to study acting at The New School.
