STAR
SEARCH
immediate success. By
1979, Billboard listed the
band as one of the top 10
rock groups in the country.
Mr. Roth wrote lyrics for
one of Van Halen's biggest
hits, "Jump," released in
1984.
Mr. Roth left Van Halen
in 1985. His first solo
record was "California
Girls," the video for which
featured plenty of scantily
clad beauties at the beach.
WINONA RYDER, the
Jewish girl who loves nuns
in Mermaids, was born
Winona (she was named
after a city) Horowitz. Her
parents were highbrow in-
tellectuals whose friends
and frequent guests in-
cluded poet Allen Ginsberg
and LSD guru Timothy
Leary, Ms. Horowitz's god-
father.
Ms. Ryder, engaged to
teen heartthrob and fellow
actor Johnny Depp, was
discovered when she was
13 by a Hollywood talent
scout. She has since ap-
peared in Beetlejuice, Ed-
ward Scissorshands and
the cult favorite, Heathers.
PETER SELLERS, who
walked on water in Being
There, was the son of a
Jewish mother, Peg Marks,
and a gentile father,
William Sellers.
Born in England in 1925,
Peter Sellers played the
drums, served in the Royal
Air Force and had a radio
show before breaking into
show business in the 1950s.
He appeared in his first
American film, Lolita, in
1962. Two years later he
created the character with
which he is most often
identified: Inspector Jac-
ques Clouseau of Pink Pan-
ther fame. Mr. Sellers re-
portedly got the idea for
the inspector's character
from a picture on a match
box.
In addition to his Pink
Panther films, Mr. Sellers
appeared in the cult classic
Dr. Strangelove, in which
he played three roles.
28
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1991
Other films include The
World of Henry Orient and
Murder by Death.
Mr. Sellers died of a
heart ailment in 1980.
JANE SEYMOUR is
the daughter of a Jewish
father and a gentile
mother. Her father, John
Benjamin Frankenberg,
was a physician in Poland
who escaped from Nazi
Germany. Her mother,
Mieke, is Dutch.
Ms. Seymour, who made
her film debut in Oh What
A Lovely War in 1968, was
born in 1951 in Middlesex,
England. She came to the
United States in 1976.
She has appeared in nu-
merous television min-
iseries and films, including
War and Remembrance,
and starred as Wallis
Simpson in The Woman He
Loved. Movie credits in-
clude Live and Let Die and
Oh Heavenly Dog. Ms.
Seymour also appeared in
Amadeus on Broadway.
WILLIAM SHATNER
(beam him up, Scotty) is a
native of Canada whose in-
terest in acting started at
summer camp, where at 6
he landed the role of a Jew-
ish boy in Nazi Germany.
The only son of Anne and
Joseph Shatner, who head-
ed a clothing manufactur-
ing firm, Mr. Shatner mov-
ed to New York after col-
lege and appeared on
Broadway in Tamburlaine
the Great in 1956. He made
his first film, The Brothers
Karamazov, in 1958, and
later appeared in Judg-
ment at Nuremberg.
In 1966, Mr. Shatner
became commander of the
Starship Enterprise, en-
thralling generations of
Trekkies for years to come.
He has appeared in all
subsequent "Star Trek"
films as well as two other
television series, "T .J.
Hooker" and currently in
"Rescue 911."
In his spare time, Mr.
Shatner breeds and raises
quarter horses.
.
NORMA SHEARER,
also a native of Canada,
was born in 1902 to gentile
parents. She found fame in
the 1920s at MGM, her ca-
reer blossoming under pro-
ducer Irving Thalberg.
In 1927 Miss Shearer
married Mr. Thalberg —
but not before she con-
verted to Judaism. Unlike
other Jewish movie moguls
of the day, Irving Thalberg
did not turn his back on his
Orthodox Jewish
background and insisted
his wife convert to his re-
ligion.
Visiting Mr. Thalberg's
parents' home, Miss Shearer
said, "I found peace and
contentment in their
religion. I wanted peace and
contentment in our mar-
riage. I decided I had no
particular religious con-
viction — that I could find it
in the Jewish faith. I loved
Irving so much that I
wanted our children to be
brought up in the same way
he had been."
Miss Shearer's acting ca-
reer continued until 1942,
at which time she returned
to Christianity. Her films
include The Women, which
also starred the late
Paulette Goddard (born
Pauline Levy), and Strange
Interlude.
Irving Thalberg died in
1936; Norma Shearer died
in 1983.
AARON SPELLING is
the producer of such TV
programs as "Charlie's
Angels," "The Smothers
Brothers," "Starsky and
Hutch," "The Love Boat,"
"Fantasy Island" and
"Dynasty," all of which
have made him one of the
wealthiest men in televi-
sion land.
He was born in Dallas in
1928, the child of a Rus-
sian-Jewish immigrant
tailor, David Spelling.
Teased by classmates be-
cause of his foreign
background, young Aaron
spent many hours alone,
thinking up creative
stories and reading.
After graduating high
school, Mr. Spelling served
in the Air Force, where he
received the Purple Heart.
He was discharged in 1945,
and while attending col-
lege wrote several plays.
Mr. Spelling went on to
write scripts for the "Zane
Grey Theatre," "Wagon
Train" and "Playhouse
90." In 1967, he and actor
Danny Thomas produced
what would become Mr.
Spelling's breakthrough
program, "The Mod
Squad," the story of three
hip young police detectives.
The recipient of the 1972
B'nai B'rith Man of the
Year Award, Mr. Spelling
lives in California in a
multimillion dollar home
that includes a bowling
alley and an indoor skating
rink.
ROD STEIGER is the
son of Jewish parents, but
"THANK YOU" I--- v
s
ome information
from this story was
provided by the
Special Interest Class at
Hillel Day School. For the
past five years, the class
has been working on a
"Hall of Fame," profiling
prominent Jews in vari-
ous fields and gentiles
who have helped Jews.
The class, which meets
once a week, is taught by
Shelley Goldberg. She
said the purpose of the
course is to "stress
critical and divergent
thinking, brainstorming
and looking at the world
in many different ways."
This year, the Special
Interest Class will focus
on the U.S. park system.