34 | FEBRUARY 11 • 2021 

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, 
REDUX & HORROR/THRILLER 
Clarice, a new CBS series, starts 
Feb. 11 at 10 p.m. It follows FBI 
agent Clarice Sterling a year 
after (1993) the events depict-
ed in the film The Silence of 
the Lambs. Michael Cudlitz, 
56, whose father is Jewish, 
plays a main cast character. 
He was a series regular 
in Band of Brothers and 
Southland. Clarice was 
created by Alex Kurtzman, 
47, and Jenny Lumet, 
53. Kurtzman’s credits 
include co-writing Star 
Trek (2009) and Star Trek: 
Into the Darkness (2013). 
Lumet is the daughter of 
the late, great director Sidney 
Lumet (Dog Day Afternoon and 
12 Angry Men). Lena Horne 
was her maternal grandmother. 

Jenny Lumet is best known for 
writing Rachel Getting Married 
(2008), a critically acclaimed 
film. Her husband is Alex 
Weinstein, an artist she once 
referred to as “a nice Jewish boy.”
If you’ve ever seen The 
Silence of the Lambs, you 
remember Dr. Chilton, the prison 
psychiatrist whom serial killer 
Hannibal Lector detests, played 
by Anthony Heald, now 76. A 
New York native, he graduated 
from Michigan State in 1971 
and began his acting 
career at the Boarshead 
Theater in Lansing.
Chilton was by far 
Heald’s biggest film 
role. He is mostly a 
stage actor, appearing 
on Broadway and at the 
Oregon Shakespeare 
Festival. Around 2007, 
Heald converted to Judaism. 
He and his secular Jewish wife 
were looking for “more,” and 
guided by an Oregon rabbi, 

they became and remain seri-
ous practicing Jews. 
Heald co-stars in Alone, a 
small budget thriller/horror 
movie released to a few the-
aters last September. Most films 
like this get terrible reviews. 
Alone is an exception. Reviews 
have been outstanding and 
Hulu recently began streaming 
it. The film was directed by John 
Hyams, 51. 
Alone is a three-character 
movie. Basic plot: Jessica, a 
young widow, is travelling on 
the highway when she notices 
someone following her. The 
stalker kidnaps her and hides 
her in a cabin in the woods. 
Heald plays Robert, a hunter 
who tries to help Jessica.
French Exit, a new film, opens 
in theaters Feb. 12 and will 
begin streaming on-demand 
shortly after. Michelle Pfeiffer 
plays an aging American social-
ite living on the remains of an 
inheritance. She moves to a 

small Paris apartment with her 
son. The film played the New 
York Film Festival and major 
reviews are already in. Pfeiffer’s 
performance has been widely 
praised, and she will probably 
get an Oscar nod. Reviewers 
were evenly split on the 
film. Critics were also divided 
on how well Azazel Jacobs, 49, 
directed the film. I root for him 
because his father, filmmak-
er Ken Jacobs, 87, was my col-
lege cinema studies professor.
Sports Short: Congrats to 
Strauss Mann, 21, a University 
of Michigan junior, who got 
very good “press” in the latest 
issue of Jewish Sports Review. 
This Connecticut native is the 
first goalie in 78 years to be the 
U-M team captain. Last year, he 
was a finalist for Big Ten Player 
and Big Ten Goalkeeper of the 
Year. Also, last year, the cam-
pus magazine, The Wolverine, 
named him its male athlete of 
the year. 

ARTS&LIFE
CELEBRITY JEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

IMDB

Anthony Heald

T

he late Rabbi Leo 
Franklin, 11th spiritual 
leader of Temple Beth 
El, is one of 20 people spotlight-
ed in an exhibit at the Detroit 
Historical Museum.
The information and artifacts 
from the rabbi’s life are part of the 
display Boom Town: Detroit in the 
1920s, which focuses on commu-
nity luminaries of the decade. 
“Rabbi Franklin has been 
included in the section on ‘Social 
Activism’ because of his inter-
action in the larger community, 
advocating for assimilation and 
non-discrimination,
” said Joel 
Stone, exhibit curator.
Other segments of the 
exhibit designate notables in 
“Technology/Engineering,
” 
“Business,
” “
Arts and Culture” 
and “Entertainment.
”

“These are stories of Detroit 
told through individuals whose 
lives flesh out broader thematic 
concepts,
” Stone said. “They rep-
resent a broad cross-section of 
the people living during a period 
that saw great wealth and great 
poverty at the same time.
”
Three mannequins hold dif-
ferent suits Franklin wore as he 
fostered relationships among dif-
ferent ethnic groups: a business 
suit, formal tails and an outfit 
with some military-type piping 
on the sleeves, all donated to the 
museum by the rabbi.
“The exhibit points out that 
Rabbi Franklin was a member of 
the first executive board of the 
Anti-Defamation League,
” Stone 
said. “Other artifacts brought out 
from museum archives include a 
pair of glasses, an art deco desk 

lamp and a guest lapel identifica-
tion badge from the opening of 
the Edison Institute [now known 

as The Henry Ford].
”
A small replica of the Model 
T sedan complements a panel 
explaining the rabbi’s relationship 
with Henry Ford. After Ford 
began publishing antisemitic 
booklets titled “The International 
Jew,
” Rabbi Franklin tried to 
convince him to stop; when that 
did not happen, the rabbi gave up 
ownership of his Model T.
Two other members of the 
Jewish community also are refer-
enced but not in as much detail. 
Louis Surowitz, in the 
“Business” section, was a teen-
ager in the 1920s working with 
his father selling vegetables in a 
horse-drawn wagon. Members of 
the Surowitz family later estab-
lished Surwin’s clothing stores at 
Northland and Eastland.
Jean Goldkettte, a musician 
and jazz bandleader, brought 
dance music to live crowds 
and radio listeners. He opened 
the Graystone Ballroom on 
Woodward. 

PHOTO BY GARY NORTH

Boom Town Exhibit

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

HISTORY

Rabbi Franklin’s suit

DETAILS
Boom Town: Detroit in the 
1920s is open through 
spring of 2023. Hours are 
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-
Saturday and 1-5 p.m. 
Sunday). Exhibit viewing 
comes with general admis-
sion ($6-$10). (313) 833-
1805. Detroithistorical.org.

