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Six-year-old actor
Jonathan Lipnicki is
stealing hearts
on the big— and the
small screen.

MICHAEL ELKIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Jonathan
Lipnicki stole the
show in Academy
Award- nominated
JenyMaguire. He is
pictured here with
Renee Zellweger, who
plays his single mom.

As the child of a sin- hands and knees, talking to Jonathan, eye to eye.
gle mother (newcom-
"He's always been a level-headed kid," says his dad.
er Renee Zellweger)
Level with me, Jonathan. Do you feel like a star?
who is employed and
Without hesitation, without bragging, no pretense, he
courted by Cruise, says, "Yes."
Jonathan plays a
Does it cause problems with his friends? Are they jeal-
mini-matchmaker in ous?
a league of his own.
"No. They know me." .
The stars of this ro-
He stops and thinks. "Except for one. He's jealous."
mantic sports film cer-
Understandable. For star-hungry Hollywood, Jonathan
tainly scored with little is heaven-sent. It is not for nothing that this small-fry
Jonathan.
with the huge talent, who helped spark Jerry Maguire,
"What I want to do was dubbed "El Fuego" — "The Fire" — by the film's
next? Be in another pic- director, Cameron Crowe.
ture with Tom and Re-
Indeed, Jonathan can handle fame — as well as any-
nee!" he says.
one else. He is a student of ninjutsu, with a blue belt in
Not that the kid's hurt- the karate-like discipline.
ing for parts. He's also star-
Anything else he'd like to tackle?
ring in NBC-TV's "The Jeff
"I want to direct," he says, directly, matter-of-factly.
Foxworthy Show," airing Mon- And with that, the well-behaved youngster — a grown
day evenings at 8, playing up in boychik guise — shakes my hand, turns around
youngest son Justin.
sharply and heads for a Hollywood party down the hall
He also took a highly visible part — undoubtedly one of many in this adorable actor's fu-
in a Nike commercial that aired dur- ture.
ing the Super Bowl.
Jonathan's like a
Jewish cream puff, deli-
ciously adorable and all nat-
ural, just waiting to be snatched up
at a recent NBC party.
"I knew we had something spe-
cial early on," says Joe, his proud
dad, a CPA, joining his wife, Rhon-
da, a screenwriter, and their kids
at the party.
"At 3, he was having conversa-
tions with our adult friends."
There's talk that Hollywood will
"show him the money" — that it
has a new male Shirley Temple on
its happy hands, a likable young-
ster who can navigate Hollywood's
waters and bring Tinseltown's ti-
tans to their knees with just a
smile.
Which is where I am, on my

❑

orget the alefs, genug with the gimeIs. For lit-
tle Jonathan Lipnicki, it's "Just show me the
matzah!"
"I was going to Hebrew school, but I quit,"
says the 6-year-old boy/man. Why? "They
wouldn't give any snacks!"
No problem. Hollywood is the kid's meal ticket, al-
though the talented tyke and pint-sized co-star of Jer-
73, Maguire hasn't turned his back on Hebrew class. Far
from it: He and sister Alexis, 9, are in the process of trans-
ferring to another school.
Indeed, being Jewish is a full-time role for the cuddly
kid with pinchable cheeks who takes his religion seri-
ously.
"Judaism isimportant to me, yes," says the living,
breathing little man, a real-life kewpie doll with spiked
gold hair and oval specs who's only missing a wind-up
key.
No need for one. Jonathan winds up stealing every
scene he's in in the hit Tom Cruise movie about a sports
agent who finds his soul between life's goal posts.

F

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Michael Elkin is entertainment editor of the

Philadelphia Exponent.

In "The Jeff Foxworthy Show,"
Lipnicki, left, portrays youngest son
Justin. He is pictured with his TV
family, Haley Jeel Osmert, Jeff
Foxworthy and Ann Cusack.