Ida Kaminska began a stage career at the age of five. Her first movie role was in 1912 in Mirele Efros, with her mother and her sister in other roles in the film. Her film career was brief, only appearing in four other movies in her entire career. However, in 1965, she starred in the Slovak and Czech movie The Shop on Main Street (Obchod na korze, dir. Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos), and she received a 1966 nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.