62 Friday, February 12, 1982
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Husband-Wife Team Backbone of 'Butterfly'
By HERBERT LUFT
(Copyright 1982, JTA, Inc.)
HOLLYWOOD — The
career of Meshulam Riklis,
head of the Rapid-American
Corporation and the pro-
ducer of "Butterfly," a mo-
tion picture starring his
young wife, actress-singer
Pia Zadora, reads like a
Horatio Alger story.
Born 57 years ago, on a
train from Russia to Istan-
bul, Turkey, he was two
months old when he arrived
in Israel. His father had
been in Palestine before
WWI, served in the Turkish
army, studied in Liverpool
and went back to Russia
where he married his
mother. Both parents, Pin-
kus and Betty Riklis, are
still alive and reside in Tel
Aviv. Meshulam Riklis
completed his high school
years in Heitliya and joined
the British Army in Pales-
tine in 1942. He was 18
years old when he partici-
pated in the North African
campaign, in the Allied in-
vasion of Italy up to Rome
and the bloody Anzio beac-
hhead.
In 1947, the young man
came to the U.S. to study at
Ohio State University to re-
ceive his BA in math-
ematics in 1950 (and to re-
turn in 1966 to earn his
Masters).
In 1952, Riklis began
his financial career as a
broker with an invest-
ment banking house, and
formed a company with
three investors to take
_ MDA Training Exercise
over "Gruen Watches."
He split with his partners
who went broke after six
months.
In 1955, he became the
chief executive officer of
Rapid-American and has
remained at the helm of the
privately owned company
for 26 years. In that time,
the annual business of the
conglomerate has risen
from $2 million to a record
of $3 billion.
Included in his vast
enterprises are also tire and
supply stores; toy and bicy-
cle factories, • real estate,
shopping centers and a
leathergoods manufactur-
ing plant in Israel. Person-
ally, he owns 51 percent
interest in the Riviera Hotel
in Las Vegas.
Riklis also organized the
"Celebration 33" drive to
raise funds for cultural in-
stitutions in Israel and
is a leading figure in the
United Jewish Appeal, an
organization which honored
him as Merchant of the
Year in 1970.
Pia Zadora, his wife of
four and a half years, in
real life is the epitome of
effervescent friendliness
— a far cry from the self-
ish, calculating heroine
in the filmization of
James Cain's novel,
"Butterfly."
She had started as a child
actress on Broadway with
Tallulah Bankhead, then
did a play with the late
Katina Paxino-ii, and "The
Gift of Time" with Henry
Fonda.
From Broadway shows,
she started to go into musi-
cals, among others portray-
ing the youngest daughter
of Tevya in "Fiddler on the
Roof." Night club and
cabaret appearances fol-
lowed. After completing
"Butterfly" Mrs. Zadora
starred in another film, also
produced by Riklis and his
Par-Par Productions, "Fake
Out," which is currently in
the editing stage. Riklis
terms it a kind of "cops and
robbers" love story, very
contemporary, embellished
with a great deal of auto-
mobile stunts.
Ex-Envoy Gazit Criticizes
Current M.E. Negotiations
Israeli firemen and Magen David Adom medics
are shown rescuing an "accident victim" during a
joint exercise at the Bnei Brak firestation.
r
To: The Jewish News
1 75 1 5 W.9 Mile Rd.
Suite 865
Southfield, Mich. 48075
wEuE JUST
An interesting discovery
RAMAT-GAN — The dis-
covery of Glucose 1,6 is that hunger and an insuf-
Diphosphate in muscles as a ficient oxygen supply re-
regulator of sugar duces the level of the reg-
metabolism to provide ulator. However, after fast-
energy has given added im- ing the level rises sharply
petus to research into Mus- when food is again con-
cular Dystrophy. The dis- sumed, even in muscles af-
covery, made at Bar-Man fected by dystrophy. Ad-
University by a team led by renaline also raises the
Prof. Rivka Beitner, follows level of the regulator and
seven years of research. the resultant sugar utiliza-
This "regulator" appears tion.
in reduced quantity in mus-
Prof. Beitner- and her
cles affected by dystrophy or team are concentrating on
chemical substances, such ways to increase the
as snake and bee poisons, amount of the regulator in
and because of lower sugar affected muscles.
utilization there is weak-
ness of the muscle. It has
also been found that pro-
longed use of certain local
JERUSALEM (ZINS) —
anaesthetics can adversely Former Israeli Premier Yit-
affect metabolism of mus-
zhak Rabin participated on
cles.
a radio program with the
Prof. Beitner has found Saudi ambassador during
that the hitherto un- Rabin's fall visit to the U.S.
Paste in old label
To
A Saudi View
NAME
Effective Date
general of the Israeli Minis-
try for Foreign Affairs, goes
on to say, "As a result, many
mediators repeated past
mistakes and their per-
formance can best be de-
scribed as mediocre."
In his article entitled
"Mediation and Mediators,"
he says, "The Arab-Israel
conflict has been subjected
to mediation efforts more
than any other dispute.
Thus, scrutiny of the differ-
ent methods employed by
over a dozen inter-
mediaries, each with his
own personality and tech-
nique, should help future
envoys- to avoid their pre-
decessors' mistakes."
Bar-Ilan U. Studies MD Tie
From
L
JERUSALEM — "It is a
sad reflection on diplomacy
as a profession that all too
often mediators have acted
with supreme indifference
towards the experiences
and conclusions gained
from earlier efforts," Mor-
dechai Gazit writes in the
latest issue of the
Jerusalem Journal of Inter-
national Relations, pub-
lished by the Hebrew Uni-
versity's Leonard Davis In-
stitute for International Re-
lations.
Gazit, who himself was
involved in Arab-Israel
peace negotiations and is a
former Israeli ambassador
to France and director-
J
known regulator is pre-
sent in small quantities in
the undeveloped muscles
of children, increases
with the growth of the
child and so raises the
rate of sugar utilization
and energy in adult mus-
cles,"dropping again in
old age.
The ambassador, Feisal
el-Iglin, was asked if his
country was ready to make
peace with Israel. He said,
"We have no problems with
Israel; you must solve your
problems with the PLO and
then peace will reign in the
Middle East."
OBITUARIES
MAURICE BALBES,
95, former Detroiter of Los
Angeles, Calif., died Feb. 6.
Survived by his wife, Fan-
nie; four sons, Henry and
Montague of Southfield,
Edward Davis of Chicago
and Sidney Davis of Los
Angeles; two daughters,
Mrs. Joseph (Selma) Rosen-
feld and Mrs. Bernie (Lil-
lian) Schneirow, both of
California; 21 grandchil-
dren and 15 great-grand-
children. Interment
California.
** *
LEWIS BERNSTEIN,
80, of Detroit, died Feb. 5.
Survived by his wife, Ann;
two sons, Herbert and Irv-
ing; two brothers, Sidney of
Mountain View, Calif., and
Charles of Palm Springs,
Fla.; two sisters, Mrs.
Charles (Gertrude) Bayles
of North Miami, Fla., and.
Mrs. David (Hannah)
Levitt; five grandchildren
and one great-grandchild.
* * *
SYLVIA • BLOOM-
FIELD, 67, former De-
troiter of Sarasota, Fla.,
died Feb. 8. She leaves her
husband, Victor; two
daughters, Mrs._ Robert
(Judy) Marans of Ann Arbor
and Mrs. David (Carole)
Caplan of Birmingham;
three sisters, Mrs. Bertha
Rosenthal, Mrs. Anne
Grossman and Mrs.
Raymond (Pearl) Jacobs-
tein; and four grand-
children.
* * *
LOUIS
JULIUS
BLUME, 77, of Southfield,
died Feb. 5 in Tucson, Ariz.
Survived by a son, Dr.
Michael J.; a sister, Mrs.
Sophie Madoff of Daytona
Beach, Fla.; and three
grandchildren.
* * *
BECKY BRAUN, 88, of
Southfield, died Feb. 8.
Survived by a son, Oscar; a
daughter, Mrs. Sidney
(Celia) Cohn; seven grand-
children and four great-
grandchildren.
* * *
JOSEPH CLINTON, -
former Detroiter of Delray
Beach, Fla., died Feb. 6.
Survived by his wife, Mary;
three daughters, Mrs. Les-
lie (Barbara) Frank of Or-
mond Beach, Fla. Denice of
Oak Park and Mrs. Laur-
ence (Linda) Folkoff of
Southfield; hig father,
Charles S. Climstain of Oak
Park; and four grand-
children.
* * *
LOUIS COHEN, 96, died
Feb. 9. He leaves a daugh-
ter, Mrs. Samuel (Florence)
Klegon; a sister, Dorothy
Levy; two grandchildren
and one great-grand-
daughter.
* * *
BENJAMIN DANE-
MAN, 88, died Feb. 8. He
leaves .a son, Raymond; a
daughter, Mrs. Alex (Ella)
Kraft; three brothers,
Harry, Isadore and Max, all
of Tennessee; a sister, Mrs.
Annie Shorr of New York;
five grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren.
** *
DAVID DWORMAN,
88, and SYLVIA DWOR-
MAN, 81, died Feb. 5 and
Feb. 9, respectively. They
leave a son, Dr. Sheldon of
Chicago, Ill,; a daughter,
Mrs. Al (Carol) Lerer of
Fremont, Calif.; and three
grandchildren. Mr. Dwor-
man also leaves two sisters,
Mrs. Meyer (Hannah) Zacks
and Sarah. Mrs. Dworman
also leaves a sister, Ida Phil-
lips of Chicago.
* * *
ESTHER GASTMAN,
70, of Oak Park and North
Miami Beach, Fla., died
Feb. 5 in Miami, Fla. Sur-
vived by her husband, Hy-
man; and a sister, Mrs. Sam
(Pauline) Lefton of Oak
Park. -
* * *
PHILIP E. GOODMAN,
89, died Feb. 7. He leaves a
son, Philip E., Jr.; a daugh-
ter, Mrs. George (Rene)
Vernick of Lansing; two
brothers, Harold and Dr.
Max; five grandchildren
and one great-grandson.
* * *
JACOB GRODMAN,
90, of West Bloomfield, died
Feb. 5. Survived by two
sons, Irving and Harold; two
daughters, Mrs. Jack
(Mary) Tanzman of
Evanston, Ill., and Mrs. Irv-
ing (Hilda) Appelblatt; a
brother, Abe of Los Angeles,
Calif.; 10 grandchildren and -
four great-grandchildren.
* * *
SAM HIGER, former
Detroiter of Phoenix, Ariz.,
died Jan. 29. Survived by
his wife, Ruth; and nieces
and nephews. Interment
Phoenix.
* * *
SARAH H. KAR-
MAN,73, died 'Feb. 9. She
leaves her husband, Peter
P.; a brother, Harry Loomis;
and a sister, Barbara
Winokur.
** *
ROSE KLEIN, 84, died
Feb. 7. She leaves a son,
Stanley; a daughter, Mari-
lyn; a brother, Arthur Sher-
rin of Petrolia, Canada; two
sisters, Rae Sherrin and
Mrs. Jean- Clark, both of
Petrolia; and two grerid-
children.
* * *
ANNETTA FELD LIP-
TON, 58, former Detroiter
of Chicago, Ill., died Feb. 5.
Survived by her husband,
Dr. Samuel D.; a son, Mark
D. of Champaign, Ill.; two
brothers, Dr. Dravid Feld of
Detroit and Dr. Julius Feld
of Farmington Hills; a sis-
ter, Mrs. Marvin (Beatrice)
Howard of Birmingham;
and one grandson. Inter-
ment Chicago.
* * *
IDA MILLMAN, 86, of
Detroit, died Feb. 3. Sur-
vived by two sons, Leo and
Willard of Plano, Tex.; a sis-
ter, Mrs. Mollie Diamond of
North Miami Beach, Fla.;
five grandchildren and one
great-grandchild.
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