Before WICKED:Tracing the Roots of Screenwriter Winnie Holzman
Everyone seems to have caught Wicked-fever! As audiences around the world flock to the new Wicked movie, few may realize that its celebrated screenwriter Winnie Holzman, the acclaimed American playwright, screenwriter, actress, and producer, comes from a family narrative every bit as compelling as the world she helped bring to the screen. While information about her career and immediate family is readily available online, the details of her early life are far more elusive. Her Wikipedia page offers only the briefest glimpse:
“Holzman was born in Manhattan, New York, but grew up in Roslyn Heights, New York, on Long Island in a Jewish family. Although she was shy, she wanted to become an actor. At 13, she attended the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York.”
These few lines raise more questions than they answer. Who was Winnie Holzman before her rise to fame—and who were the ancestors whose lives and journeys helped shape the woman behind Wicked?
WINNIE’S PARENTS
Winnie was born on 18 August 1954 in Manhattan, New York City, to Herbert Holzman and Edith Sue Miller.[1] Her parents married six year earlier on 3 December 1948 in Manhattan.[2] Her parents would eventually have three children, including Winnie.[3]
In 1950, Herbert Holzman and his wife Sue E were living at 182B Central Avenue in Bergen, New Jersey.[4] Herbert was aged 28, born in Nebraska, and working at a commercial wholesale printer company. Sue, also aged 28, was born in New York, with no occupation. The apartment complex where they lived is still standing.
Winnie’s mother, Sue, received a “B.A. in Fine Arts from Brooklyn College and later studied with sculptors Henry Van Loen and Lorrie Goulet. She also studied ceramics at the University of Georgia and in Cortona, Italy. Her sculpture, paintings and pottery have been exhibited widely over the years and are on permanent display at such institutions as The American Film Institute in Los Angeles, as well as the Fletcher Free Library.”[5]
Remarkably, after turning 80 she began a new career as a teacher, teaching drawing and sculpture at Champlain College. She died from lung cancer on 13 September 2009 in Burlington, Vermont.
Less is known about Herbert Holzman. He died on 5 Jun 1991 in New York City.[6] He was buried in Shelter Island Cemetery in Suffolk County, New York.[7]
WINNIE’S HOLZMAN GRANDPARENTS
Herbert Holzman was born on 27 Apr 1921 in Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska, to Morris Holzman and Minnie Stern.[8] Morris and Minnie would eventually have at least six known children: Harry (b. about 1910), Bertha (b. about 1915), Nathan (b. about 1917), Helen (b. about 1919), Herbert (b. 1921), and Florence (b. about 1929). Give the gaps in some of the children’s birth years, there were probably more children who did not survive long past birth.
Morris and Minnie were both Jewish immigrants from Poland. In 1920, the family rented at 1424 North 16th Street in Omaha.[9] Omaha was home to a growing Jewish immigrant population in the early twentieth century, drawn by employment opportunities and established communal networks that helped newcomers secure housing, work, and religious life.
By 1930, they were renting at 2222 Burton Street in Omaha.[10] Unfortunately, neither home is still standing. Morris worked in a hatchery with chickens.
Sadly, Morris died quite young after being hit by an automobile, passing away on 7 Dec 1932. Although his situation after the accident was not considered serious, having only sustained a broken hip, he developed pneumonia and other complications, resulting in his death. His obituary was published in “The South Omaha Sun.” His address was given as 4334 South 25th Street. This residence no longer exists, and an apartment complex is there instead. “For some years he has been an owner and manager of the Mid-West Hatchery and Poultry Products company of South Omaha.”[11]
Morris Holzman was found in the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry.[12] He died 7 Dec 1932 and was buried in Bnai Abraham Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska. His Hebrew name was Menachem Mendil ben reb Leib Holzman.
Sometime before 1940, widowed Minnie had moved her family across the country to the Bronx, New York. They were renting at 741 Hunts Point Avenue.[13] She had four children living with her, including Herbert who was working as shipping clerk. The apartment complex is still there today:
By the 1930s, the Bronx had become one of the most vibrant Jewish neighborhoods in the United States. For widowed women like Minnie Holzman, living among extended family and within established ethnic communities provided both economic survival and social support. Her son Herbert’s work as a shipping clerk reflects the type of steady, modest employment that sustained many second-generation Jewish families during the Great Depression.
Minnie filled out her Declaration of Intention to become a citizen on 1 March 1939.[14] In this document, her address was 741 Hunts Point Avenue, Bronx. She was 5’2” and weighed 175 lbs. Her race was Hebrew and her nationality was Polish. Remarkably, a photo of her was attached!
Three years later, Minnie’s Petition for Naturalization (dated 4 Nov 1942) said her residence was 320 Empire Boulevard in Brooklyn. She was born 3 May 1887 in “Wickoff,” Warsaw, Poland. She was white with a dark complexion, hazel eyes, and gray hair, standing at 5’ 1’’ and weighing 165 lbs. She was widowed, but previously married to Morris, whom she married in August 1908 in Wickoff. He, too, was born in Wickoff in February 1890. He came to the United States in July 1910. She listed her five children and their birth dates (son Nathan was missing, so he may have died). She emigrated from Rotterdam, Holland, under the name Michle Holzman on 22 Jun 1914 on the ship Rotterdam.
The 1914 passenger list was located for Michle [Minnie] Holzman, age 28, and her son Gersch [Harry], age 3.[15] They were from the city or town of Wiszkowe [Wyszkow], where Minnie’s mother Catharina Paraszyska still resided. They were headed to Omaha. Minnie was 5’2’’ with fair complexion, brown eyes, and grey eyes. She and her son were born in Wiszkowe.
Morris Holzman immigrated four years earlier, at the age of 21, traveling through Pennsylvania and then on to Galveston on the ship Frankfurt.[16] He traveled under the name Mendel Holzmann, and was traveling to Omaha, Nebraska. His named his wife Michla Holzmann as his nearest relative back in Wyschkow. He was 5’3” with a fair complexion and dark blond hair.
Minnie and Morris Holzman’s emigration from the Polish town of Wyszków occurred during a period of profound instability for Jewish families in the Russian Empire. Jews living in Congress Poland were subject to legal restrictions, economic hardship, and recurring violence, including pogroms that intensified in the years leading up to World War I. For many families, emigration was not merely an opportunity but a necessity. Minnie and her young son arrived in the United States in June 1914, just weeks before the outbreak of war in Europe. Had they delayed their journey, their departure might have been impossible for years. Their timing placed them among the final wave of Eastern European Jewish migrants who escaped before borders closed and communities were irrevocably disrupted.
Minnie applied for Social Security on 21 Jan 1954, and a 1968 newspaper article in “The Westbury Times” announced that “The Minnie Holzman Family,” was sponsoring Florence Loretto, a 16-year old Indian girl of the Jemez-Tribe, in Pueblo, New Mexico, through the Save-the-Children Federation, of Norwalk, Conn.[17] Her death has not yet been located.
WINNIE’S MILLER GRANDPARENTS
According to her obituary, Sue Miller was born 6 October 1921 in New York City. Just before Sue was born, her parents, Nathan and Gussie Miller, lived in a rented apartment at 499 East 176 Street.[18] They had no children with them and were living with Gertrude’s mother Bessie Sophia and her husband Morris, and her grandmother Lena Stern. Nathan was born in Russia, and Gussie was born in New York. Both Gussie’s mother and grandmother were born in Romania, whereas Morris was born in Jerusalem.
In 1930, the Miller family lived at 498 E 175 St (a home they owned worth $10,000) in the Bronx, New York.[19] They also owned a radio set. The home is no longer there. Nathan was aged 38 (born about 1892) and worked as a jeweler. He was from Russia and had immigrated in 1903 and spoke Yiddish in their home. His wife, “Gussie,” was born in New York about 1898, but her father was from Russia, and her mother was from Romania. Edith “Sue” (age 8) had two siblings: Jacob Miller (age 12) and Florence (age 6). Living next door was Gussie’s mother, Bessie, with her husband Morris Saphir, and Gussie’s grandmother, Lena Stern.
In 1940 Nathan Miller and his family had moved to a nicer neighborhood at 211 West 136th Street in New York where they were renting for $55 a month.[20] Nathan still worked as a jewelry manufacturer. That home is still standing. Nathan’s highest level of education was 8th grade – the same as his wife’s, who was working as an office clerk.
Sue’s sister Florence Bryan Miller married Jonas Shaprio on 27 Nov 1947. Her brother Jacob Miller went by Jay Wolf Miller. He married Sylvia Gottlieb on 7 Sep 1940.[21]
In 1950, Nathan and Gussie had moved again, this time to 32 Monroe Street, Apartment #5C, which is a very large apartment complex, still standing.[22] Nathan now owned his own jewelry business and his wife wasn’t working; they were empty-nesters, the children having all married and moved out.
Gertrude Bryan was born on 13 May 1896 in Manhattan to Joseph Bryan and Elizabeth Stern.[23] Joseph was a fruiter, age 20, from Russia. Elizabeth was age 19, from Romania, and lived at 151 Attorney Street. In the 1910 census, Gussie Saphir was living with her mother Bessie Saphir, but her father was listed as Morris Saphir. In the 1920 census, Nathan and Gussie were living with Gussie’s mother, Bessie Saphir, and her grandmother, Lena Stern.
It appears that Gertrude was born to Elizabeth and Joseph Bryan, and then Elizabeth later married Morris Saphir about 1902. Bessie Stern, born Oct 1878, was living with her mother Lena in the 1900 census of Manhattan, single, age 21. Surprisingly, Morris Saphir names “Gussie” as his child in his naturalization record.[24]
Nathan Miller died 15 Oct 1969 in New York.[25] Gertrude “Gussie” Miller died 17 years later, on 21 Apr 1987 in New York.[26]
Winnie Holzman’s story does not begin on a Broadway stage or in a Hollywood writers’ room. It begins with immigrants navigating upheaval, widows rebuilding families, parents valuing education, and communities shaped by movement, resilience, and adaptation. Her ancestors crossed oceans, rebuilt lives after loss, and carved out stability in unfamiliar places – from Polish shtetls to Midwestern cities and New York neighborhoods alive with culture and ambition. Seen through this lens, Holzman’s creative voice emerges not in isolation, but as part of a much longer family narrative grounded in survival, reinvention, and the enduring power of storytelling itself.
Do you know the stories of your own ancestors that have shaped you into the person you are today? Price Genealogy can help you uncover them today!
Emily
Photos:
- Winnie Holzman, Producer, Writer, Actress (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0392848/?ref_=mv_close: accessed 1 December 2025).
- Headstone for Morris Holzman (1889-1932), Bnai Abraham Cemetery, Omaha, Nebraska (https://data.jewishgen.org/imagedata/jowbr/USA-02367/A152.jpg: accessed 1 December 2025).
- SS Rotterdam, Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Rotterdam_(1908): accessed 18 December 2025).
- SS Frankfurt, Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Frankfurt: accessed 17 December 2025).
[1] New York, New York, U.S., Birth Index, 1910-1965, Manhattan, New York City, Winifred Holzman, b. 18 Aug 1954; index only, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61457/records/6875214: accessed 25 November 2025).
[2] New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018, Manhattan, New York City, Herbert Holzman and Edith S Miller, mar. 3 Dec 1948; index with images, image 942 of 2205, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61406/records/2150615: accessed 25 November 2025).
[3] “The Burlington Free Press,” Burlington, Vermont, Wednesday, September 16, 2009, Page 16, Obituary of Sue Miller; index with images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/412005682/?match=1&terms=Herb%20Holzman: accessed 25 November 2025).
[4] 1950 US Census, Englewood, Bergen, New Jersey, Herbert Holzman household; index with images, image 17 of 34, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/records/167328390: accessed 25 November 2025).
[5] “The Burlington Free Press,” Burlington, Vermont, Wednesday, September 16, 2009, Page 16, Obituary of Sue Miller, 16 Sep 2009; Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/412005682/?: accessed 1 December 2025).
[6] U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, New York, New York, Herbert Holzman (b. 27 Apr 1921), d. 5 Jun 1991; index only, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3693/records/28506142: accessed 1 December 2025).
[7] Shelter Island Cemetery, Suffolk County, New York, Hebert Holzman, (1921-1991), Memorial ID 120548268; headstone with image, FindaAGrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120548268/herbert-holzman?: accessed 1 December 2025).
[8] U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, Herbert Holzman (b. 27 Apr 1921), d. 5 Jun 1991; index only, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60901/records/32030006: accessed 25 November 2025).
[9] 1920 Census, Omaha Ward 3, Douglas, Nebraska, Morris Holzman household; index with images, image 21 of 40, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/records/65836767: accessed 18 December 2025).
[10] 1930 Census, Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska, Morris Holzman household; index with images, image 29 of 35, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/106972735?: accessed 1 December 2025).
[11] “The South Omaha Sun,” Omaha, Nebraska, Friday, December 9, 1932, Page 1, “So. Omaha Business Man Died Wednesday,” Obituary of Morris Holzman; index with image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/739723366/?: accessed 1 December 2025).
[12] JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR), Morris Holzman (b. 1889), d. 7 Dec 1932; index only, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1411/records/2013171: accessed 1 December 2025).
[13] 1940 Census, New York, Bronx, New York, Minnie Holzman household; index with images, image 4 of 22, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/records/14106061?: accessed 1 December 2025).
[14] Brooklyn, Kings, New York, Naturalization Records Jun 1906-Nov 1942, Declaration of Intention (1 Mar 1939) and Petition for Naturalization (4 Nov 1942) for Minnie Holzman, 1 Mar 1939,; index with images, image 569-571 of 1904, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSML-N3BV-F?: accessed 17 December 2025).
[15] New York, US, Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, ship: Rotterdam, 22 Jun 1914, Michle Holzman and son Gersch Holzman; index with images, images 111 & 112 of 162, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7488/records/4014912201?: accessed 1 December 2025).
[16] Texas, U.S., Arriving and Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1963, Mendel Holzmann, arrival 24 Jul 1910, ship Frankfurt; index with images, image 522-3 of 976, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8722/records/13614?: accessed 17 December 2025).
[17] “The Westbury Times,” Westbury, New York, Thursday, 19 Dec 1968, Page 36, Notice regarding The Minnie Holzman Family; index with image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1025128704/?: accessed 17 December 2025).
[18] 1920 Census, Bronx Assembly District 7, Bronx, New York, Lena Stein household; index with images, image 12 of 19, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/records/31933430: accessed 17 December 2025).
[19] 1930 Census, Bronx, Bronx, New York, Nathan Miller household; index with images, image 9 of 34, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/31096284: accessed 17 December 2025).
[20] 1940 Census, New York, New York, New York, Nathan Miller household; index with images, image 22 of 48, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/records/5918276: accessed 17 December 2025).
[21] Amy Shapiro Family Tree, Ancestry Public Trees (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/20517172/person/960477304/facts: accessed 18 December 2025).
[22] 1950 Census, New York, New York, New York, Nathan Miller household; index with images, image 89 of 93, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/records/288280141: accessed 17 December 2025).
[23] New York, New York, U.S., Index to Birth Certificates, 1866-1909, Gertrude Bryan, b. 13 May 1896, Manhattan; index only, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61779/records/342341: accessed 17 December 2025).
[24] New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943, Morris Saphir; index with images, image 22 of 277, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2280/records/453903171: accessed 17 December 2025).
[25] U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, Nathan Miller (b. 7 Jul 1893), d. Oct 1969; index only, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3693/records/42497924?tid=20517172&pid=960140720&ssrc=pt: accessed 18 December 2025).
[26] U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, Gertrude Miller (b. 13 May 1896), d. Apr 1987; index only, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3693/records/42370703?tid=20517172&pid=960449168&ssrc=pt: accessed 18 December 2025); Amy Shapiro Family Tree, Picture of Gertrude Bryan as a Young Girl, Ancestry Public Trees (https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/20517172/person/960449168/media/233ddd0b-e3a8-451b-9324-124255b4c74b: accessed 18 December 2025)..