Born in 1882 in Yedinietz, Bessarabia.

His father was a kosher meat tax collector.

Until the age of fourteen he learned in a cheder. Afterwards he traveled to his father in England, where he became a choirboy and later with the local actors (Emanuel and Yosef Chizhik, Ch. Feinberg, Jennie Kaiser, Y. Goldshmidt, Kempner and Zaks), he acted for several years in the Yiddish theatre in auditoriums, debuting as “Markus” in Goldfaden’s “Di kishufmakerin”. Then he acted in Yiddish vaudeville in Wonderland in Whitechapel and in Princess’s Music Hall.

Circa 1908 Doctor came to America, where he has acted since then in various vaudeville troupes. D. has specialized in writing “lyrics”, for which eighty-six were published in various publishing houses, and fifty-five were from either D. or from other singers who sang on the gramophone.

Doctor’s popular songs were: “Mister bay vos arbet ir?”, “Ikh benk nokh mayn shtetele”, “Oy, oy, di vayber”, “Ikh bin a border bay mayn vayb”.

Ruven Doctor died in 1940.