Category Archives: Arts & Entertainment

Jews in the World of Art & Entertainment

Jew of the Week: Doris Roberts

Doris Roberts, R.I.P (Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com)

Doris Roberts (Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com)

Doris May Green (1925-2016) was born in St. Louis and raised in the Bronx by her single mother and grandparents, who were of Russian-Jewish heritage. After her mother remarried, Doris took on her new stepfather’s last name: Roberts. She began acting as a child, and after studying journalism for a short time, went to acting school. In 1952, Roberts appeared on a TV show for the first time. She would make appearances on another four television shows before starring in her first film in 1961. Roberts went on to play roles in over 30 movies (four of which will be released later this year), and over 60 television programs, including Full House, Grey’s Anatomy, The King of Queens, Lizzie McGuire, Law & Order, Desperate Housewives, and Walker, Texas Ranger. However, she is undoubtedly most famous for her role as Marie Barone, the mother of Ray Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond – a role which brought her four Emmy Awards. Roberts was chosen among 100 women who tried out for the part, and helped to make the show one of the greatest sitcoms in TV history. Roberts also had a successful Broadway career spanning nearly twenty years. She has won a Screen Actors Guild Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sadly, Roberts passed away in her sleep earlier this week.

Words of the Week

Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a Spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe – a Spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is indeed quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.
– Albert Einstein

Jew of the Week: Garry Shandling

Shandling at the Emmy’s (Credit: Alan Light)

Garry Shandling (1949-2016) was born in Chicago and grew up in Tucson. He studied electrical engineering, marketing, and creative writing at the University of Arizona. While working for an ad agency in Los Angeles, Shandling wrote a script for the TV show Sanford and Son, and sold it to NBC. This started a long and prosperous script-writing career. Several years later, Shandling got into a tragic car accident that almost killed him, yet ended up inspiring him to become a comedian. He performed his first stand-up act at LA’s famous comedy club, The Comedy Store. Soon, Shandling would make a guest appearance on The Tonight Show, and become its guest host, filling in when host Johnny Carson was away. In 1985, Shandling created a revolutionary sitcom, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, where the characters on screen are aware that they are actors in a TV show, and even interact with the audience. The show won multiple awards, including a ‘Funniest Male Performance’ for Shandling. In 1992, Shandling created an even more popular program, a mock talk show called The Larry Sanders Show. This show earned 56 Emmy nominations, revived HBO, and is often credited with inspiring Entourage, 30 Rock and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Many comedians and writers (including Judd Apatow) started out working on this program, which has been ranked among the greatest shows of all time by the likes of TV Guide and TIME Magazine. Shandling helped countless younger comedians refine their art, Sacha Baron Cohen among them. Aside from television, Shandling appeared in 17 films, including voicing a character in the upcoming The Jungle Book. Sadly, Shandling passed away last week after suffering a heart attack. Fellow comedian Jeffrey Tambor said of him: “He redesigned the wheel of comedy and was the kindest and funniest of geniuses.”

Words of the Week

“I sold my house this week. I got a pretty good price for it, but it made my landlord mad as hell.”

“I remember learning to drive on my dad’s lap. Did you guys ever do that? He’d work the brakes. I’d work the wheel. Then I went to take the driver’s test and sat on the examiner’s lap. I failed the exam. But he still writes to me. That’s the really nice part.”

– Garry Shandling

Jew of the Week: Emmanuel Lubezki

The Mexican Jew Who Set an Oscar Record

Emmanuel Lubezki, known to most people as "Chivo", ie. "Goat"

Emmanuel Lubezki, known to most people as Chivo, or “Goat” (Credit: Getty Images)

Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki Morgenstern (b. 1964) was born to a Russian-Jewish family in Mexico City. He initially studied history, then switched to film studies and became a cinematographer. He first worked on a film made with a group of 10 friends who pooled together $7000. It brought in enough money to make a second film, which found more success in Mexico, but no profit. His third film brought an invitation to the Toronto International Film Festival, following which Lubezki started getting calls from Hollywood (yet still barely spoke any English). Among his first major productions was a collaboration with his childhood friend and classmate Alfonso Cuaron. The two went on to make 6 films together, winning a handful of Oscars along the way. Lubezki’s work on the 2006 film Children of Men was critically acclaimed for its new cinematic techniques, and got him a fourth Oscar nomination. He finally won an Academy Award in 2013 for Gravity, another trailblazer in 3D cinematography which some have described as “the most technologically impressive film ever” and “the greatest visual achievement in the history of cinema”. (It took over four years of work for Lubezki’s team to make it happen.) He won yet again the following year for Birdman, and took a third Oscar in a row this year for The Revenant. This set a new record, making Lubezki the first cinematographer to win three Oscars in three consecutive years. Among Lubezki’s other highly-praised works are The Tree of Life (starring Brad Pitt) and Ali (starring Will Smith). Alfonso Cuaron has said of Lubezki: “You go to a concert and you are listening to the music… Chivo’s looking at the light. When you’re having dinner with Chivo, he starts moving everything around – he’ll move a candle over here or a light over there – until suddenly the light is just right.”

Words of the Week

The righteous promise little and do a lot; the wicked promise much and don’t do even a little.
– Talmud, Bava Metzia 87a