ular composition, "Appalachian Spring."
(Other well-known works include "El Sa-
lon Mexico," "The Red Pony," "Rodeo" and
"Billy the Kid.")
In an interview, he said, "I think of my
music as Jewish because it's dramatic,
it's intense, it has a certain passionate
lyricism in it. I can't imagine it be-
ing written by a goy."
Al Jolson was more than just
the man who sang about his
dear old Mammy. This Amer-
ican-born entertainer was a
politician and a showman —
the latter extending long be-
yond his death.
Before his big break-
through in La Belle Paree on
Broadway, Jolson appeared
in circuses and vaudeville.
In 1927, he made history by
appearing in The Jazz
Singer, the first full-length
"talkie" made in the United
States.
Jolson made frequent trips
abroad — to entertain American
troops serving in Korea. He was
generous to charities of all denom-
inations (in his will, he left equal
amounts to Jewish, Catholic and Protes-
tant agencies), and he served in 1937 as
mayor of Encino, Calif He died of a heart
attack in 1950.
Even if you're not a Jolson fan, when
next in California you might want to vis-
it his unforgettable tomb at the Baldwin
Hills Cemetery in Culver City. Showing
Jolson kneeling in song (no doubt singing
in tribute to his Mammy), it is the largest
star grave in all of Hollywood.
DETROI T J EW ISH NEWS
THEATRE
If you're older than 30, no doubt you re-
call the brouhaha that followed the release
of the X-rated Fritz the Cat. But did you
know that the man behind the cat was the
Israeli-born Ralph Bakshi?
Born in Haifa, Bakshi moved with his
parents to the United States when he was
1. They settled in Brownsville, N.Y., a
town so dismal Bakshi would later say it
forced him to develop his imagination in
an effort to escape.
Bakshi's drawing abilities became ev-
ident early on, and he attended the High
School of Industrial Art in Manhattan (to-
day the High School of Art and Design),
where he was honored with a top award
for cartooning when he graduated in 1956.
His first job was with Terrytoons, and
by 1966 he was named director of cartoons
for Paramount Studios in New York.
Bakshi, however, was eager to move be-
yond children's cartoons. In 1969, he start-
ed work on Fritz the Cat which, despite its
sexually explicit material (or perhaps be-
cause of it) became a tremendous hit in
the United States. He followed this with
numerous other films includingAmerican
Pop, Lord of the Rings and Hey, Good
Lookin'.
54
She dated Johnny Depp — sigh — and
she dated "X Files" fox David Duchovny
— double sigh. These days, she is proba-
bly Hollywood's hottest young actress.
She goes by Winona Ryder, but she
was born Winona Horowitz. (We don't
know about that first name, reportedly in-
spired by a town, but she's got a brother,
Avi.)
Winona is the daughter of artists. She
has appeared in such films as Little
Women, Edward Scissorshands and How
To Make an American Quilt.
We kid you not: Michael Kidd was one
of the greatest choreographers in the his-
tory of the theater, winning five Tony
Awards for his work on Finian's Rainbow,
Guys and Dolls, Destry Rides Again, L'il
Abner and Can-Can.
He was born Michael Greenwald in
1917 in New York. He had no interest in
theater (preferring math and chemical en-
gineering) until college, when he began to
study dance.
In 1937, at the urging of a professor, he
joined the School of American Ballet; five
years later he was a member of the Ballet
Theater, where he danced numerous lead-
ing roles and began directing. In 1946 he
choreographed Finian's Rainbow, his first
of many Broadway plays.
Among his honors was his election, in
1981, to the Theater Hall of Fame.
It's tough to get past that nickname, it
really is. But aside from being called
"Toots," Bernard Shor was a man who,
in his own inimitable style, had a profound
influence on the theater.
Born in 1904, Shor was the founder of
a number of restaurants (all bearing his
most unappetizing nickname) where Hol-
lywood's biggest stars mingled through-
out the 1930s-1950s. Countless contracts
were signed and business deals were made
at Mr. Shor's eateries.
Irving Allen's career has been a dis-
aster, and that's just the way he likes it.
This New York-born film producer is the
man who started the country's bizarre
craze for "catastrophe" films, which con-
tinues to this day. In addition to the hor-
rendous The Towering Inferno, his first
work was the equally appalling The Po-
seidon Adventure, the story of an over-
turned ship. Most who saw the movie
prayed that everyone would die so that
the film would finally, finally end.
POLITICS
Ernestine Rose was a woman of tremen-
dous power and determination. Born in
1810, she became one of the leading fem-
inists of the day.
She was a native of Poland who came
to the United States when she was still in
her teens. Among her early friends here
was Susan B. Anthony.
Mrs. Rose quickly became a committed
feminist, serving as a delegate to the first
National Women's Rights Convention.
With Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan
B. Anthony, she established the Women's
National Loyal League.
Mrs. Rose spent much of her life wan-
dering the wild, wild West, where she
spoke on feminism. But she didn't live to
see her dream come true. She died 28
years before passage of the Nineteenth
Amendment, guaranteeing full and equal
rights to women.
We all know Grover Cleveland liked tom
eat, of course. But could it be he gained
some of that girth from the frequent gifts
of matzah he received from Oscar
Straus?