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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, July 6, 1984 11
For 'Moscow on Hudson' co-star,
film struck very close to home
BY HERBERT LUFT
Hollywood — Ellya Bas-
kin, a former member of the
Moscow Comedy Theater
whose life story sounds like
the escape of Robin
Williams in Paul Mazurs-
ky's Moscow on the Hudson,
talked recently about his
portrayal of the film's
melancholic clown who
backs out of a chance to de-
fect to the United States at
the last minute.
Baskin is a 34-year-old
Jewish boy from Riga —
in his own life showing
more courage and determi-
nation than did the char-
acter of Anatoly who lacks
courage to sever ties with
the past. Baskiri mentioned
his traumatic experience
when struggling to learn
English to start anew, just
like Williams does in Mos-
cow on the Hudson. Shaking
off the nightmarish thought
that he may never be able to
do the things he cherished
so much on the Russian
stage, Baskin found jobs in
cliche roles in Hollywood,
such as the Soviet diplomat '
in Raise the Titanic.
Born in 1950, Baskin
studied theater arts in Mos-
cow, after four years of col-
lege, spent one year in a
variety show and at the age
of 22 joined the comedy the-
ater. He went to Vienna in
1976 on immigration papers
for Israel; arriving in New
York, he was sent by the
HIAS to Phoenix, Ariz.
where he first-worked for
four months at the Biltmore
restaurant. By chancp, he
met producer Paul Mas-
lansky, who had been in
Russia for the shooting of
the motion picture Blue
Bird. Through Maslansky,
Baskin obtained employ-
Detainees from Cypriot ship
• released after Israel probe
Tel Aviv (JTA) — Israel
Five were scheduled to be
will release five of the nine turned over the Interna-
passengers taken off a tional Red Cross this week
Beirut-bound Cypriot car for transportation to Beirut.
ferry that was intercepted
According to reports, the
by the Israeli navy on the ferry was intercepted on the
high seas Friday and es- basis of information that
corted to Haifa in what the • one or more terrorists were
Foreign Ministry said was
bound for Beirut.
an anti-terrorist operation.
Meanwhile, the south
The vessel, the
Panamanian-flag Alisur Lebanese ports of Tyre and
Blanco, was released late Sidon were reopened Mon-
Friday and completed its day after being shut down
'voyage to Beirut, begun a for the better part of a week
day earlier at Larnaca, by the Israel Defense Force.
Cyprus. Israeli security The IDF said the closure
agents screened all 63 was necessary to tighten se-
passengers and held nine of curity against arms
them over the weekend for smuggling into south Leba-
non.
questioning.
■
ment in Hollywood, starting
with feature -roles in Gene
Wilder's The World's
Greatest Lover (1977),Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid—the latter years (1978)
and the Peter Sellers pic-
ture, Being There, portray-
ing in the latter a Russian
ambassador. He has been in
a number of television
episodes. When meeting
Mazursky, he suggested to
him to enlarge the role of a
circus musician to the one of
the clown, a part of a love-
able but weak character.
In his latest role, Baskin
portrays a Soviet cos-
monaut in MGM's
2010, joining two col
leagues from Moscow on
the Hudson,
Savely
Kramarov and Oleg Rud-
nik, in the search for
American astronaut David
Bowman bound for the
planet Jupiter.
•
Film director Robert Wise
has been awarded the Torch
of Freedom by the State of
Israel at the annual Salute
to the Film Industry, an
event for Israel Bonds in Los
Angeles. A leading member
of the motion picture indus-
try, who has visited Israel
on several occasions, Wise
has been most supportive in
strengthening the economic
infrastructure of the Jewish
state.
.Born Sept. 10, 1914, in
Winchester, Ind., a gradu-
ate of Franklin College, he
went to Hollywood in 1933
seeking a job in the movie
industry. At 19, he started
modestly as a messenger in
the RKO film editing de-
partment. In 1936, he was
promoted to assistant cut-
ter. He became a full film
editor in 1939 and was
privileged to work on two
classic Orson Welles pic-
tures of the period, Citizen
Kane and The Magnificent
Ambersons, among other
top features for RKO. He
became a film director in
1943 and was busy at RKO,
Twentieth Century-Fox,
the Mirisch Company and
MGM Studios.
Wise became a double
Oscar winner twice; as best
director and as producer of
the best picture, for West
Side Story (1961) and The
Sound of Music (1965), both
adapted to the screen from
Broadway musicals.
The director devotes
much of his time to serve
organizations of his craft,
such as the Academy of Mo-
tion Picture Arts and Sci-
ences, the American Film
Institute and the Director's
Guild of America, having
been the president of the
latter from 1970 to 1974.
.
Equal access amendment
scored by B'nai B'rith
Washington — B'nai
B'rith International as-
sailed the passage of the
Equal Access Amendment
by the U.S. Senate and
urged the House of Repre-
sentatives to resist it.
B'nai B'rith President
Gerald Kraft declared that
the legislation "represents a
fracture in the wall separat-
ing church and state." Kraft
added that it also is "a set-
back for the right of all
Americans to practice their
religion free of pressure."
The B'nai B'rith leader
acknowledged that efforts
were made in the Senate to
make the amendment "less
odious" to the Jewish com-
munity and other groups.
However, he said, "we are
deeply concerned that the
legislation will result in
school premises being
thrown open to cultists and
extremist political groups
seeking respectability and
greater acceptance."
Kraft said that even
though the amendment
does not allow religious
clubs to meet during the
school day, "this mingling of
religion with the public
schools still gives the im-
pression of official sanction
and, together with peer
pressure, could unduly
influence students to par-
ticipate. We continue to
maintain that religion be-
longs in the home, the
church and the synagogue,
not in our public schools."
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