Tag Archives: Russian Jews

Jew of the Week: Bill Goldberg

World Champion of Wrestling

Bill Goldberg

William Scott Goldberg (b. 1966 ) was born in Oklahoma to a Jewish family of Romanian and Russian heritage. He grew up going to Tulsa’s Temple Israel, where he had his bar mitzvah, and playing football from a young age. Goldberg studied at the University of Georgia on a football scholarship, and was drafted into the NFL by the Los Angeles Rams in 1990. He played for several teams over the next five years, but his career was cut short with a serious abdominal injury. While doing rehab for this injury, Goldberg started mixed martial arts training. He was soon spotted by some wrestlers who suggested he take up the sport, so he began training at the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) school, called the Power Plant. Goldberg had his first match in the summer of 1997, and went undefeated for nearly 80 matches before winning the US Heavyweight Championship. By the summer of 1998, he defeated Hulk Hogan for the World Heavyweight Championship. Goldberg continued to mesmerize audiences around the globe, and became the world’s highest-paid wrestler, making $2.5 million a year. In 2001, while he was recovering from another injury, the WCW was bought out by WWF, and the new company did not take on his contract. Goldberg went on to wrestle in Japan, then came back to the US and joined the WWE. He had his last match in 2004 at WrestleMania XX, which he won. In 2006, Goldberg began working as a commentator for various mixed martial arts events. Meanwhile, he has starred in eleven films, and made appearances on 26 television shows. Goldberg is also a big advocate for animal rights and welfare, and has even addressed Congress on behalf of this cause. Goldberg has always been proud of his Jewish heritage, and refused to wrestle on Yom Kippur. Today, he runs a mixed-martial arts gym in California, and visits sick children in the hospital in his spare time.

Words of the Week

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.
– Aldous Huxley

Jew of the Week: Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford (Photo Credit: Georges Biard)

Harrison Ford (b. 1942) was born to a Russian-Jewish mother and Irish-Catholic father, but was raised in a secular home. (He would later say that “As a man I’ve always felt Irish, as an actor I’ve always felt Jewish.”) He grew up a devoted Boy Scout, which later helped him immensely in his role as Indiana Jones. It was in college that Ford first became drawn to acting. In 1964 he did some acting at a local theatre, and then moved to LA. For several years he worked as an uncredited film extra, then had minor roles in a number of TV shows. To support his family during this time, Ford worked as a carpenter. His big break came in the early 70’s when he was cast for a role in American Graffiti and met director George Lucas. Lucas gave Ford a couple more small roles until finally casting him as a lead in his new Star Wars film, playing the role of Han Solo. He went on to play Han Solo in both Star Wars sequels, and will reprise his role again in the latest Star Wars film, to be released next month. Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg, too, was eager to work with the rising star, and pushed to have him cast as Indiana Jones (despite Lucas’ initial protests). By the time he was done starring in all three Indiana Jones films, Ford was a Hollywood superstar and a household name. Since then, he has starred in over two dozen more films, among them the classic Blade Runner (which also has a sequel on the way). Ford’s films have grossed over $6 billion, making him among the highest-grossing actors in history, and he has been ranked first among the Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time. Ford is also a pilot and owns both airplanes and helicopters, which he has used for emergency rescue services. He is a member of the humanitarian organization Wings of Hope, and vice-chair of the environmental group Conservation International. He is also on the governing board of the Archaeological Institute of America. The Calponia harrisonfordi spider and the Pheidole harrisonfordi ant are named after him. Ford has also been a peace activist (particularly for Tibet, where he is now barred from travelling to), and has criticized Hollywood for its portrayal of violence in film (he even turned down the lead role in The Patriot because he felt the film was too violent). Among his many other awards, Ford has won three Golden Globes for Best Actor, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has also won several aviation awards and was ranked among the “Heroes of Aviation” by Flying magazine.

Words of the Week

Fix yourself first, and then fix others.
– Talmud, Bava Kamma 107b

Jew of the Week: Louis B. Mayer

The Man Who Defined Hollywood

Louis B. Mayer (Photo Credit: LA Times)

Louis Burt Mayer (1884-1957) was born Lazar Meir in Minsk, Belarus, to a Jewish family that immigrated to the US when he was just three years old. Unable to find prosperity in the States, the family moved to Canada and settled in New Brunswick, where Mayer grew up. At age 12, he dropped out of school to help in his father’s scrap metal business. Meanwhile, he spent most of his free time at the local theatre and opera house. At 19, Mayer set out on his own, moving to Boston and starting his own scrap metal business. After several years of struggling to make a living, he purchased an old, forgotten auditorium and turned it into a modern movie theatre. Business boomed, and several years later, Mayer partnered up with another company to form the biggest chain of theatres in the region. He soon started a film distribution agency and a talent booking agency, too. In 1918, Mayer made his way to Hollywood, founding his own film production studio. In 1924, he joined forces with Metro Pictures and Goldwyn Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, aka. MGM, which went on to become the most successful film production studio in history. Mayer himself became America’s highest-paid man, with a salary of over $1 million (which also made him the first person in American history to officially earn a 7-figure income). Under his direction, MGM made some of the greatest films of all time, including Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. In 1927, Mayer co-founded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which inaugurated the Academy Awards, better known as “the Oscars”, two years later. Mayer is also credited with giving rise to the modern “movie star”, and personally handpicked and developed some of the greatest actors of his day, many of which saw him as a father figure. After World War II, MGM’s business slumped, and by 1951, Mayer resigned from the company. He continued to work in film until his passing from leukemia in 1957. Mayer was also a noted philanthropist, devoted much of his time to the Jewish Home for the Aged, and to LA’s Wilshire Temple. Variety magazine considered him “the greatest single force in the development of the motion picture industry” while his biographer would go on to write: “Mayer defined MGM, just as MGM defined Hollywood, and Hollywood defined America.”

Words of the Week

There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them.
– George Orwell

The Famous MGM Logo