Anna was born in May of 1888 in Bucharest Romania. She studied in a high school, which in Romania was called a gymnasium, and she also studied the Yiddish language with private tutors.
Her parents were hotel owners. As such, when actors used to travel past the hotel, Anna became acquainted with the theatre in her childhood. She would imitate the actors and sing their songs, so she was called the "concert maker."
In 1902 she immigrated with her mother to Montreal Canada. At the age of fourteen she joined a dramatic club of amateur actors. Later on, she started to perform in vaudeville.
The actress Penny Schwartz saw her perform and brought her into her troupe. Anna Appel's family accepted this news with little satisfaction. They even sat shiva for her, according to her account.
In the troupe she became acquainted with the actor Isadore Appel, whom she would marry. She became a soubrette and later started playing the roles of grandes dames.
For fourteen years she performed with Appel in variety shows, then a season each with Max Gabel and Jacob P Adler. She performed for many years with Maurice Schwartz and his famed Yiddish Art Theatre and also acted in four Yiddish-language films.
