does, however, have an objection to one
of the nominations — or rather lack of
"I don't understand why Moulin
Rouge director Baz Luhrmann wasn't
recognized," he says. "The movie got
eight nominations, including best pic-
ture, and I think he had more of an
impact on his film than any of the other
directors had on theirs."
As a film critic, Siegel knows that
when he voices an opinion, people lis-
ten. Still, he doesn't believe critics can
make or break all films
"It depends on the movie," he
points out. "Take the new Britney
Spears movie [Crossroads]
her fans
will see it no matter what we say
because that's her type of fan. On the
other hand, Mariah Carey's fans don't
transfer into ticket sales.
"Still, critics have an honest impact on .
movies that can't be defined in one trail-
er. In The Bedroom and Monsters Ball are
perfect examples. They received rave
reviews and audiences went to see them."
As a Jewish critic, Siegel pays atten-
tion to how Jews are portrayed in films.
'For a long time there weren't any
Jews in movies," says Siegel, who was
born and raised in Los Angeles in a tra-
ditional Jewish home.
The studios were run by Jews who
didn't want it known they were Jewish.
Louis B. Mayer, Warner Brothers and
MGM did business with Nazi
Germany until Pearl Harbor, he says.

"There weren't any Jews in movies
until Gentleman's Agreement," he adds,
"and even then, Gregory Peck played
someone pretending to be Jewish.
"Now we have Jews as heroes and vil-
lains and that's OK. After all, there are all
kinds of Jews just as there are all kinds of
Americans. What I would like to see is
characters with Jewish names, where
their religion isn't a part of the plot."
For Siegel, 58, an interest in the cine-
ma began when he was a small child.
The first movie he saw was Song of the
South, and from then on, he was hooked.
At UCLA, from which he graduated
in 1965, he took classes in screenwriting
and film history. After graduation he had
a string of writing jobs, including book
reviewer for the Los Angeles Times and
joke writer for Sen. Robert Kennedy.
In the early 1970s he moved to New
York and landed a job as a feature
reporter for WCBS-TV and hosted Joel
Siegel's New York on WCBS Radio.
In 1976 he joined WABC-TV
Eyewitness News as the entertainment crit-
ic, and in 1981 became a regular on
GMA, where his clever and insightful
film reviews earned him national acclaim.
"The first movie I reviewed was
Magic, starring Anthony Hopkins. It
was about-a ventriloquist, and I gave my
first review as a ventriloquist," he laughs.
While Siegel's career continued to
soar, his personal life had some
tough blows. His first wife, CBS

film editor Jane Kessler, died of a
brain tumor at the age of 31.
In 1996, he married Ena Swansea, a
contemporary artist, and together they
hoped to start a family. Sadly, one week
after he and his wife learned she was preg-
nant, Siegel was diagnosed with colon
cancer. He had to undergo radiation and
chemotherapy during her pregnancy.
His son, Dylan, was born Feb. 11,
1998, and Siegel has since had two
more cancer-related surgeries, removing
small tumors on his lungs.
In a People magazine article last
year, Siegel said: "There's a word in
Hebrew — Dayenu. On Passover, it's a
refrain in one of the songs. It means
`enough already.' That's what I'm feel-
ing
dayenu."
Worried that he won't see his son
grow up, Siegel is writing a book ten-
tatively called Lessons For Dylan. "I
am writing this book for Dylan
because he may not get to know me,"
says Siegel. "I want him to know little
things about me, and what it means
to be Jewish."
The good news is that Siegel is as
active as ever. Not only is he an ador-
ing, hands-on dad, but he still reviews
films twice a week on GMA, hosts sev-
eral annual specials, including a sum-
mer film preview that will air on
WXYZ-TV in Detroit in late May or
early June, and continues to interview
Hollywood's biggest stars. ❑

since his school years in Michigan,
studying trumpet and playing in the
band at Bentley High School, which
has since been torn down.
"There was never any question that
Ira would have a career in music," says
his mom, Anne Hearshen of Oak
Park. "That really was the only thing
he was interested in. When he was in
high school, he wrote music and took
music for orchestra and arranged it for
band."
After earning his bachelor's degree in
1972, Hearshen moved to California
with the intention of finding work
arranging music for records. As he
began his job search, he earned his liv-
ing by playing in wedding and bar
mitzvah bands and extended his skills
by taking classes at the Dick Groves
School of Music in Los Angeles.
Contacts made through one of his
instructors led to his being hired to do
arrangements for dramatic television
shows, with Beauty and the Beast
among his assignments.
As he chalked up more than 50
made-for-TV movies, 15 miniseries
and 20 pilots, he went on to be hired

for films, concerts and finally record-
ings — some featuring music he com-
posed.
The arranger does his initial film
work at a computer, entering, but not
actually playing, one note after anoth-
er as he plans the way the score will be
heard. Later, he works in a control
room with a music supervisor, editor
and mixer to make sure that the per-
formances are what he imagined.
"Currently, I'm working on the film
The Scorpion King, and I did a little
bit of work on Dragonfly, which just
opened in theaters," says Hearshen.
His musical arrangements also can
be heard in the feature films Mr.

Recent orchestrations for records
have connected Hearshen more closely
with his Jewish roots, nurtured at the
Livonia Jewish Congregation, which
met in a small building where he had
his bar mitzvah.
He has worked on the re-recording
of Yiddish Theater music performed
between 1905 and 1950. The sponsor
of that project, the Makin Foundation
for American Jewish Music, is coming
out with a set of 70 CDs.
"I go to the Kaballah Center, and
I've been a Jewish Big Brother for nine
years," says Hearshen, who is married
and has a grown stepson. "I don't get
back to Michigan very often, but I
have given lectures for students
enrolled in music programs at
Wayne."
When Hearshen does return, he
enjoys spending time with his brother,
David, a biophysicist at Henry Ford
Hospital, and sister; Julie Miller, secre-
tary for the WSU Board of Governors.
"I love Detroit, and I think the city
has a lot of soul," Hearshen says. "I
would love to teach at Wayne, and
we're trying to work on that." ❑

—

-

Holland's Opus, Toy Story 2, Rush
Hour, Rush Hour 2 and Cats and Dogs.
"I did some of the principal arrang-
ing for the 'Colors of Christmas' con-
cert tour with Michael McDonald and
Peabo Bryson, and that was performed
with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
last year. I've had composing commis-
sions from the military, and my
Symphony on Themes of john Phillip
Sousa has gotten some play for the Air
Force Band."

—

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