With 'Liberty' For All RISING SON from page 93 WITH US! • Rollup Trays • Shrimp Trays • Cheese & Crackers Trays • Hummus & Tabbouleh Trays • Imported Champagne • Chocolate & Nut Trays • Etc. • Dine-In • Carry-Out • Wine • Liquors 0 0 • Salads • Sandwiches - • Traditional Food ' , • Soups • . ‘. (248) 855-9463 • Fax: (248) 626-8468 32418 NORTHWESTERN HWY. Between Middlebelt & 14 Mile Rd. • Farmington Hills Ben Foster, as Ben Kurtzman, talks with his film mother (Bebe Neuwirth) and grandmother (Frania Rubinek) in a scene from "Liberty Heights. >I "A • vegetarian treat in West Bloomfield." Bob Talbert, March '99 just had to find out what so man y people were raving about." Raskin, June '99 " I Danny r 1 0 09k/ OFF %. ENTIRE Lunch & Dinner Expires 12/31/99 I. • tha VE=Ah1411 I a 4: (248) 926-671 1 61 75 HAGGERTY • WEST BLOOMFIELD rriT Maar UM M MO IIMM EEO M M OEM MOM MI VIM MOTI MAHAL IS NOW IN OAK PARK! /0 0 SECOND DINNER WITH PURCHASE OF ANOTHER DINNER EQUAL OR GREATER VALUE I • No Other Coupons • Good After 4:30 p.m. • No Holidays • Expires 12.30-99 a. Specializing In Tandoori, Curry and Vegetarian Favorites ME OEM MOM MN MEM e MEM MEM EMI ME MEM ME MEM OM MOM MU MI NEW IN DETROIT? 11 14 1 2/1 7 1999 94 I SHALOM DETROIT WELCOMES NEWCOMERS TO OUR JEWISH COMMUNITY Call the Women's Department at (248) 203-1494 for more information "Iowa is a great place to live and grow up, and we experienced very little anti- Semitism." Although he and his par- ents currently each have apartments in Los Angeles, Foster still pays a visit to Iowa at least once a year to see the rest of his family. His father, Steve, 51, owns a nationwide chain of night- club/billiard parlors called Jillian's, named after his mother, Gillian, who designs the establishments. Foster celebrated his bar mitzvah in Iowa — in an old church that the small number of Jewish families there converted into a synagogue. "They put a Star of David on it and turned it into Congregation Beth Shalom," he says. His first taste of show business was at the age of 6, when he performed in the usual school plays. But he really learned dramatic acting when he attended Michigan's Interlochen Fine Arts Camp for two summers, starting at age 13. His roles there included a crack addict in the play Voices 2000 and a mentally handicapped teenager in juvenile prison in the play juvie. Bitten by the acting bug and admittedly not being much of a stu- dent, Foster dropped out of high school, hired an agent and started auditioning for the TV roles he even- tually secured. But his parents certain- ly are not the typical stage parents. "They never wanted me to be a professional actor, and they keep reminding me I can quit any time I want to," says Foster. "It's a tough business, and it's tough to get good work. Acting even keeps me from dat- ing a lot. It's hard to meet girls when you're always on the set. Foster topped a host of other actors I) Bill Carroll is a West Bloomfield-based freelance writer. to win the Liberty Heights role, but its difficult to do auditions because losing is psychologically damaging to your mind," he says. "I still can't believe I won this part. I've been fly- ing high ever since." He earned his "Dr. No" nickname because he only wants "parts that interest me. I can't participate in any- thing I don't like, so I'm very picky," he says. "Playing the lead in a Barry Levinson film as my first movie has been an unbelievable experience," he adds. "It's especially flattering because I play a mixture of his cousin and a younger version of Barry. He's an extremely focused and generous person. And Bebe Neuwirth and Joe Mantegna were great to work with; no egos there." Filmed in Baltimore last fall, Liberty Heights examines the fabric of life at a pivotal time in American social history, the mid-1950s, cover- ing a variety of issues, including race, class, first love and religious distinction. "Any one of those issues alone could have carried the entire movie, but it's amazing how Barry wove all of them together and balanced them out brilliantly," said Foster. His character is obsessed with Frank Sinatra, so he got every album Sinatra recorded from 1940 to 1954, researched all of the news magazines from that period and grilled his father and grandmother about the era, poring over old pho- tos and zeroing in especially on anti-Semitism. His grandmother, whom he calls "Nana," now in her 80s, was espe- cially helpful. Says Foster, "I even took her to the film's premiere as my date.