GRAND OPENING
detention, but Diamont was left with
mixed feelings about his heritage.
Because he had been raised in a
secular home, "I didn't know who I
was, or why I should have pride in
who I was," he says. "Part of me was
ashamed because I had been shamed
... I wanted to hide."
Upon his agent's advice, he agreed
to use his mother's maiden name as
his stage name, instead of the more
identifiably Jewish "Feinberg."
The change began around 1987
as his father, then dying of kidney
cancer, lamented raising his children
without a sense of tradition and
history. When Diamont's brother,
Jack, was diagnosed with a brain
tumor two years later, the siblings
decided to study together for a joint
bar mitzvah. They had to stop when
Jack deteriorated from a 210-pound
athlete to an invalid. After Jack's
death, Diamont went on to become
a bar mitzvah, alone, at Stephen S.
Wise Temple in Los Angeles and to
raise his six children Jewish. Temple
rabbis conducted the funerals when
his sister, Bette, succumbed to car-
diac arrest nine years later and his
mother died of emphysema just a
month ago.
apparently hadn't been a specifi-
cally Jewish story arc.
While Latham is not Jeviish,
she has written Holocaust sto-
ries before. She and her husband
created Homefront, an ABC
television series set in the years
immediately following World War :
II, which featured a Holocaust
survivor.
The Y&R story line evolved
slowly, says Latham. "We wanted
to explore Brad Carlton's back
story. The character had been on
the show for some 20 years, but
almost nothing was known about
his past. We started asking our-
selves questions. Was he hiding
something? What was he hiding?
Had he committed a crime?
"Ultimately, we decided he
should be protecting another
person. Finally, we landed on a
story (that) stemmed from the
Holocaust. But we didn't follow
a straight line in developing it. It
took us months to finally solidify
the story before we began to
play it."
The actor, who is as tough and
stoic as his character, came to work
within hours of his mother's death.
That day he broke down only once
— when he had to say the line,
"I just spoke with my mother!" He
recovered several minutes later and
has not missed a shot since.
"It is ironic that as my mother
passed, my TV mother has just been
introduced on the show," he says.
But he's happy about the plot
twist.
"You can't tell the story of the
Holocaust enough, especially since
genocide continues today," he says.
"Given the layer of insulation from
the world I had wanted to not be
immediately identified as a Jew, I'm
`coming out' in a most public way,"
he adds.
Of course, Restless is a daytime
drama, so the plotline will undoubt-
edly involve steamy new love trian-
gles for his character, Diamont says.
And, if we're lucky, perhaps we'll
even get some more glimpses of
those fabulous abs.
The Young and the Restless airs
weekdays at 12:30 p.m. on CBS.
As is customary, the idea was
run by various "suits" – includ-
ing the people at Sony, which
produces the show, and CBS. No
one objected. Barbara Bloom,
senior vice president of daytime
programming at the network,
says she "had no reservations at
all about doing this story. Lynn
is a sensitive character-driven
storyteller, and I knew that in her
hands, the material would reveal
the heart of the character."
Unlike Latham and Bloom,
actor Don Diamont is not as con-
fident there won't be negative
feedback from Y&R's audience. -
"I'm sure that bigotry and anti-
Semitism and racism are alive
and well. So I'm sure there will be
some segment of the viewership
that will be upset," he_ says. "It
doesn't concern me, to be hon-
est with you. You can't tell the
Holocaust story too many times
and in too many ways."
50% OFF
WITH
ONE ENTREE
PRUCHASE OF SECOND
ENTREE OF EQUAL OR
LESSER VALUE.
Lunch Specia
$6.95
Y
lid with any other offer. Expires 8/31/06
valid with any other offer. Expires 8/3
-Iry am am mow um-
• Catering • Private Parties •
6123 Haggerty Rd. just north of Maple
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
248.624.8884 • fax: 248.624.8811
OPEN 7 MI S EEK FOR LUNCH & DINNER
Ja r
4 ,424'4" Announcing
our NEW
91 casual dining menu:
• Jeremy Char-Grilled Burger
• Grilled Chicken Sandwich
• Chipolte Barbecued Duck Quesadilla
• Grilled Salmon Salad
OUTDOOR PATIO NOW OPEN!
J
(248) 681-2124 • 1978 Cass Lake Rd. • Keego Harbor
Dinner: Tuesday-Saturday 5:30-10pm • Sunday 5:30-9pm
• Weekend Reservations Suggested •
J11010011~•1000
Bring in this ad for a complimentary dessert g
when you join us for dinner
Sunday - Friday
*Limit one per table • Not redeemable on holidays • Expires 8/31/06
I I cr,750
August 3 • 2006
47