arts & Entertainment
Universal Message
Farmington Hills' Jimmy Wolk stars in
inspirational Hallmark Hall of Fame film.
Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News
B
rad Cohen's world
opened up during his
teens in St. Louis, Mo.,
when he became active with the
B'nai B'rith Youth Organization,
but that won't be part of the
Hallmark Hall of Fame film
about his life.
Instead, Cohen's story will be
based on two years — when he
was 12 and 22 — to demonstrate
how he forged ahead while cop-
ing with Tourette's syndrome and
found success as an award-teach-
er in the Atlanta suburbs.
Tourette's, which presents with
vocal and motor tics, subjected
him to ridicule and bullying by
classmates. In contrast, BBYO
members reached out to him with
understanding and friendship.
The made-for-TV movie, Front
of the Class, will be shown 9 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 7, on CBS and is
based on Cohen's book, Front of
the Class: How Tourette Syndrome
Made Me the Teacher I Never Had,
co-authored with Lisa Wysocky.
In the Hallmark production,
Cohen is played by Jimmy Wolk,
who grew up in Farmington Hills
and still returns home to per-
form as a party MC for Star Trax.
"Hallmark really understood
my story and remained true to
it:' says Cohen, 34, who repeat-
edly experienced rejection
because of the involuntary bark-
ing sounds he makes and the
twitches he eventually outgrew.
"With only two hours to tell all
this information, including the
25 job interviews I went through
before being hired [as a teacher],
the facts were squished into a
short time frame.
"My story is really about giving
people a chance, and that applies
to Jimmy, who was chosen to take
my role very early in his career.
The B'nai B'rith kids helped by
taking time to get to know me,
and I eventually was elected to
4,ews
I
Nate Bloom
OE
Special to the Jewish News
411:1 New Flicks
Due to open on Friday, Dec. 5, are
two films, Cadillac Records and
Nobel Son. The former is the story
of Chess Records, a label that first
) recorded many of the great Chicago-
based black blues musicians and
many of the early black rock-and-roll
stars. Chess Records was owned by
brothers Leonard and Phil Chess,
who were born in Poland. Their
impoverished Jewish family moved
to Chicago in 1928 when the broth-
ers were about 10 years old. By the
late '40s, they owned a chain of bars
and a nightclub in the city's large
black community.
Leonard became aware that few
black blues musicians were being
recorded so he bought an existing
record company, eventually giving
it his own name. He had a real ear
and affinity for blues and early rock
GO
ti
C6
December 4 • 2008
leadership posts in the
organization:"
Wolk, a 2007
University of Michigan
graduate who has
had short-term roles
in soap operas, was
cast alongside Patricia
Heaton (Everybody
Loves Raymond) as
Cohen's mom and Treat
Williams (Everwood)
as Cohen's dad.
Jimmy Wolk: "I want my next projects to mean as much to me as this one did,"
"Even though this
says the actor about Hallmark's Front of the Class, airing Dec. 7 on CBS.
film is about Cohen
and his ability to
overcome mean reac-
owner of Sundance Shoes in
interest:' explains Wolk, whose
tions to Tourette's, you can take
West Bloomfield, also run by
religious education was at
out his name and the syndrome
the actor's sister, Katie Wolk
Temple Israel. "High school was a
and substitute anybody coping
Johnston. The actor's early
great time for me because I was
with something serious that puts stage experience was gained at
doing tons of theater and work-
up barriers:' says Wolk, 23, who
Warner Middle School and North ing for Star Trax."
got the part after only two audi-
Farmington High School, both in
During the year after col-
tions."The message is universal:' Farmington Hills.
lege and while living in New
Wolk, who always wanted to
"North Farmington had an
York, Wolk found an agent and
be an actor, was encouraged
incredible theater department
appeared in episodes of As the
by his parents, Edie Wolk, an
run by Dean Cobb, and he was
World Turns and The Guiding
art teacher, and Robert Wolk,
instrumental to my continuing
Light. He accepted some com-
music so he handled the artists and
produced records. Phil handled the
books.
As the movie opens, Leonard
(played by Oscar-winner Adrien
Brody, 35) is mar-
ried to a nice Jewish
woman (played
by the luscious
Emmanuelle Chrigui,
30) and looking to
make records. And
make records he
does over the next
Adrien Brody
two decades with
Chess discoveries
like Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry (Mos
Defy, Etta James (Beyonce Knowles,
who also produced the movie) and
Howlin' Wolf. Leonard was a pater-
nalistic owner who involved himself
in the lives of his artists, even invit-
ing them to his son's bar mitzvah.
Chess brothers' biographer Naomi
Chodas, a Michigan native, says it
was impossible to decide if the broth-
ers "exploited" their black musicians.
Some artists thought they did, while
others sang their praises. Almost
all agreed that Leonard, who died in
1969, had a remarkable ear and was
their bridge to success. (Leonard was
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in 1987.
The other movie due to open
Friday, Nobel Son, is a tale of fam-
ily dysfunction on a colossal scale.
Bryan Greenberg (TV's October
Road) plays a young man whose
father (Alan
Rickman) wins
the Nobel Prize in
chemistry while he
is struggling to fin-
ish his doctorate.
Greenberg is kid-
napped just as his
father is about to
Bryan
get his Nobel Prize
Greenberg
money. However,
Rickman refuses to pay for his son's
ransom, and sets into motion of tale
of intrigue and revenge.
Partridge Family Shabbat
In February, the fourth season of
the hit '60s TV show The Partridge
Family comes out on DVD. It includes
the episode "Danny Converts." In
this show, young Danny Partridge
(played by Danny Bonaduce, then
about 10) is sweet on a rabbi's
daughter, so he lies and tells her and
her father that the Partridge family
is Jewish.
He finally fesses up at a Shabbat
dinner at the rabbi's home with the
whole Partridge family in atten-
dance. (The complete episode can
currently be seen on YouTube).
Ironically, Danny Partridge exclaims
with delight when he is served "real"
wine at Shabbat dinner and asks
for more. Ironic because the adult
Bonaduce has had a decades-long
problem with drugs and alcohol, and
he's been arrested many times while
under the influence.
❑