44 Febraury 14 • 2019
jn
NOTEWORTHY TV
AND STREAMING PROGRAMS
Starting on Feb. 15 on Fox (9 p.m.) is the
legal drama Proven Inno-
cent. It stars Rachel
Lefevre, 39, as Madeline
Scott, a fi
erce attorney who
leads a team to exonerate
the wrongly convicted. The
back story is that Scott was
the defendant in a high-pro-
fi
le case, was wrongly con-
victed, spent 10 years in jail,
and eventually was proved
innocent. In court, she
frequently jousts with the
prosecutor (Kelsey Gram-
mer) who put her in jail.
Leferve, a Montreal native,
is the daughter of a Jewish
mother and a non-Jewish
father. While she’
s secular,
she identifi
es as Jewish.
Her stepfather is a Cana-
dian rabbi. By the way, the
series is shot in Chicago
and fi
lming of episodes was
halted on Jan. 30 due to the
incredible cold wave. It has
resumed.
Sammy Davis Jr.: I’
ve
Got to Be Me, is the title of
a new American Masters
series program about the
late Sammy Davis Jr.
It will premiere Tuesday,
Feb. 19, at 9 p.m. (PBS).
His multi-faceted life and
career will be covered,
including his conversion to
Judaism. American Masters,
in my opinion, is the best
biographical series on TV or
on any other outlet.
The Feb. 19 (Tuesday, 8
p.m.) episode of the PBS
ancestry show, Finding Your
Roots, titled No Laughing
Matter, traces some of
the family lines of three
comedians: Tig Notaro,
Sarah Silverman, 48, and
Seth Meyers, 45. I just had
an opportunity to view this
program in advance.
As I have noted before, Meyers had
just one Jewish grandparent (his paternal
grandpa). So, until I saw the program, I
wasn’
t sure whether his Jewish ancestry
would be covered at all. I am happy to
say it was. Silverman’
s “basic” ancestry
story is not that exciting because it is so
similar to the family history of so many
Jews whose grandparents came from
Eastern Europe. But it is
made much more personal
when Silverman learns
about the hard road her
maternal grandmother
trod as a youngster fl
eeing
to America — and that
hardship may explain
much about her grandma’
s
personality. Silverman is
eloquent when she talks
about what it was like to be
the only Jewish kid (besides
her sister) in the small New
Hampshire town where she
grew up.
Meyers, by coincidence,
also grew up in New
Hampshire. In the last few
years, he’
s often said that
people assume he is Jewish
because of his “look,” his
last name and because he
is a comedian. Years ago,
his brother, Josh Meyers,
46, also a comedian, said
something that anyone
would understand that he
was referring to himself as
Jewish. I followed Josh’
s
lead and described Seth
as Jewish in print. Well, his
publicity people contacted
me via email and said,
“Seth is not Jewish.” This
is the only time that has
happened to me.
Well, since then, life has
intervened. Seth is now as
Jewish as a non-Jew can
be. He married his wife,
attorney Alexi Ashe, in a
Jewish ceremony and they
are raising their two kids in
his mother’
s faith. Maybe
that’
s why Jake Tapper
wished him a “happy Cha-
nukah” on-air last Decem-
ber and Seth just returned
the greeting. Now, via Roots,
Seth knows that his Jewish
great-grandfather came to America with
nothing, settled in Pittsburgh and did
amazingly well. ■
NATE BLOOM
COLUMNIST
Rachel Lefevre
Sara Silverman
Sammy Davis Jr./1972
Jake Tapper
celebrity jews
arts&life
WIKIMEDIA/GAGE SKIDMORE
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