Abraham Hankins was born in Gomel, Russia in 1904. The son of a poor rabbi and brother to many siblings, he began to draw at a young age. Hankins' affinity for art was noted at an early age, and he was sent to the United States in 1914 to live with his cousins. It was here that he studied under Henry McCarter at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art.

Fibbing about his age and lineage, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War I. After being gassed in France and suffering a wounded left hand, he was sent home to Philadelphia. Mr. Hankins then began some singing, partly to rehabilitate his lungs. His singing was soon discovered and a patron sent him to Paris to develop a career as a te...