Ludwig Satz was born in Lemberg, Galicia, which today is Lviv, Ukraine. He began singing and acting at a very young age in local children’s choirs and theatrical performances around Galicia. He was a part of several acting troupes in Europe. It was in London in 1914 where Satz met and married the actress Lillie Feinman, the daughter of Sigmund and Dinah Feinman, who were both also Yiddish theatre actors.
After briefly returning to Lemberg, Ludwig and Lillie moved to the United States in 1914, where Ludwig acted at many of the most prominent Yiddish theatres in New York and Philadelphia with some of the top names, including Jacob P Adler, Maurice Schwartz, Jacob Ben-Ami, Molly Picon, and Celia Adler, his wife’s half-sister. He also performed in English-language vaudeville theaters and on Broadway, most famously as Abe Potash in "Potash and Perlmutter" in 1926. Satz wrote numerous Yiddish songs, made dozens of records and even acted in a few movies, including “The Lunatic” and “His Wife's Lover,” which was billed as the 'first musical comedy talking picture.' In addition, he toured extensively, performing in Yiddish plays and musicals in South America, England, France, Belgium, Poland, and Jerusalem.
A 1925 New York Times article singled him out as the greatest Yiddish comic actor of the time.
