Agreement (1947), the first film to
explore anti-Semitism in America.
• Laurence Harvey — Born Lauruska
Mischa Skikne, he made his mark in
important British films like Room at the
Top (1958) and Darting (1965).
• John Houseman — Born Jacques
Haussmann, the son of a Jewish father

and English mother, he founded the
Mercury Theater with Orson Welles
and emerged as a strong actor in the
1970s, winning an Oscar as Best
Supporting Actor for his role in The
Paper Chase (1973).
• Leslie Howard — Born Leslie
Howard Stainer to a Jewish Hungarian
father and Christian mother, he gained
lasting fame for his role as Ashley
Wilkes in Gone With the Wind (1939).
• Al Jolson — Born Asa Yoelson,
he starred in the first talkie, The Jazz
Singer, in 1927.
• Danny Kaye — Born David
Daniel Kaminski, he is considered one
of the all-time great movie comics for
his roles in such films as The Secret
Life of Walter Mitty (1947).
• Bert Lahr — Born Irving
Lahrheim, he'll always be remembered
for his role as the Cowardly Lion in
The Wizara' of Oz (1939).
• Oscar Levant — Famous as a
leading interpreter of the works of
George Gershwin, he made his screen
debut in The Dance of Life (1929), and
played the piano in many films,
including An American in Paris (1951).
• Jerry Lewis — Born Joseph
Levitch, he teamed with Dean Martin
for his screen debut in My Friend Irma
(1949). In France, he is considered a
comic genius on a par with Chaplin.
• Peter Lorre — Born Laszlo
Lowenstein, he'll forever be remem-
bered for his roles in The Maltese

Falcon (1941) and Casablanca (1942).
• The Marx Brothers — Chico
(Leonard), Harpo (Arthur), Gummo
(Milton) and Groucho (Julius)
reached the peak of comic brilliance
with films like Duck Soup (1933) and
A Night at the Opera (1935).
• Zero Mostel
Born Samuel Joel
Mostel, he made his Film debut with a
dual role in Du Barg Was a Lady
(1943) and went on to star in comedy
classics like A Funny Thing Happened
on the Wty to the Forum (1966) and
The Producers (1967).
• Paul Muni -- Born Muni
Weisenfreund„ he won an Academy
Award for The Story of Louis Pasteur
and was nominated for I Am a Fugitive
from the Chain Gang<P> (1932).
• Larry Parks — Born Samuel
Klausman, he starred as Al Jolson in
The Jolson Story (1946) and Jolson
Sings Again (1949).
• Edward G. Robinson — Born
Emmanuel Goldenberg, he was the pre-
mier film gangster, starring in such
films as Little Caesar (1931), but he .
broadened his range to include many
types of roles.
• Peter Sellers — Born Richard
Henry Sellers, he is best known for his
role as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink
Panther (1964) and for his triple role
in Dr Strangelove (1964).
• The Three Stooges — Specializ-
ing in violent, vulgar slapstick — and
featuring in various combinations
Moe, Shemp (Samuel) and Curly
(Jerome) Howard; Larry Fine; Joe
Besser; and Joe DeRita (Curly Joe) —
The Three Stooges appeared in the
longest-running series of two-reel
comedies in the history of film
oetween 1934 and 1958, and ventured
into feature films in 1959.
• Cornel Wilde — Born Cornelius
Louis Wilde, he made his mark por-
traying a sickly Chopin in A Song to -
Remember (1945).
Among the 250 females nominated
as screen legends are the following
actresses with Jewish backgrounds:
• Lauren Bacall — Born Betty Joan
Persky, she made her Hollywood
debut with Humphrey Bogart in To
Have and Have Not (1944).
• Theda Bara — Born Theodosia
Goodman, she was the greatest screen
vamp of her time and became an
overnight sensation in her first starring
role as a femme fatale in A Fool There
Was (1915).
• Claire Bloom — Born Claire
Blume, the British actress achieved

STAR SEARCH on page 90

Actress Lauren Bacall
chats about her life, her career
and her Jewish outlook.

DINA FUCHS
Special to the Jewish News

A

Jewish grandmother and her 'beloved
Uncle Charlie, Bacall learned the
value of work early on. Her mother
worked tirelessly as an executive sec-
retary on Wall Street but never dis-
suaded her daughter from her goal
of becoming an actress.
Even as a child, Bacall was mes-

s she waltzed onto the
stage at Atlanta's Fox
Theatre, Lauren Bacall was
glowing. At 74, wearing a
chic black pantsuit, with her hair
neatly pulled back into a polished
ponytail, she was still the picture of
class. But the Hollywood legend
appeared startled by the montage of
film scenes the audience viewed from
her illustrious career.
"Seeing these clips is a little
unnerving," she admitted in her dis-
tinctive husky voice. "Because it's
the me that was."
Still, those film clips may be
what forever cements Bacall's repu-
tation as one of Hollywood's top
screen legends. On Tuesday, June
15, the American Film Institute
reveals the results of a poll to deter-
mine the top 25 male and female
movie stars whose screen debut
occurred before 1950, or whose
screen debut occurred after 1950
but whose death marked a complet-
ed body of work.
Bacall is nominated in a pool of
250 talented actresses,
Visiting Atlanta recently as part
of the "Unique Lives &
Experiences" lecture series spon-
sored by the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution, the woman formerly
known as Betty Joan Persky spoke
Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart,
about growing up the child of a
circa 1947.
single Jewish mother in the 1930s,
her work and the well-known loves
merized by the acting profession.
of her life. "Laughter has always been
She frequently skipped classes to
the great factor in my life and in all
watch Bette Davis on the screen and
of my relationships," she remarked.
recalled being so taken with John
Born on Sept. 16, 1924, in New
Gielgud's perforrnance of Hamlet
York City's Greenwich Village,
on the stage that she walked smack
Bacall was an only child. Her par-
into a pole when leaving the theater.
ents divorced when she was 6, and
But Bacall would later discover
at the age of 8, she saw her father
that the life of an actor involved a
for the last time.
fair share of rejection. "After you
Raised by her mother (a woman
pass the flavor of the month stage,
she praises as the most influential
it's a fight to the finish line," she
person in her life), her Orthodox
said about her early success.
Dina Fuchs is a senior sta ff'
At 20, she met and married a
writer at our sister publication
TOTAL BACALL on page 90
the Atlanta Jewish Times.

•

6/11
1999

Detroit Jewish News

89

