FEBRUARY 25 • 2021 | 35

Matthew Sklar; and Palm Springs, direct-
ed by Max Barbakow, 35.
There are no Jewish actresses nomi-
nated for best lead in a TV series. The 
best lead actor category has one nominee, 
Josh O’Connor, with an unusual Jewish 
backstory. He’s nominated for playing 
Prince Charles in The Crow. His mater-
nal great-grandmother was Jewish and 
although he is, in common terms, one-
eighth Jewish, he is a “Halachic Jew.” I 
mention him because his domestic partner 
is Margot Hauer-King, 30ish, the sister of 

 
hot British actor Jonah Hauer-King, 25. I 
know these siblings are practicing Jews — 
so who knows where O’Connor will end 
up “religion-wise?”
 Jane Levy, 31, is nominated for best 
lead actress, comedy or musical (TV). 
She stars in Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. 
I know her father is Jewish and her moth-
er is not. But she never talks about her 
Jewish ancestry or any religious practice. 
A “quite” Jewish actress, Israeli Shira 
Haas, 25, is nominated for best perfor-
mance in a mini-series or TV movie. She 
starred in Unorthodox, a series about a 
Hasidic woman who leaves her sect for 
the secular world.
Dan Levy, 37 (Schitt’s Creek) is nomi-
nated for best supporting actor in a series 
and Julia Garner, 27 (Ozark) vies for 
the same award in the actress category. 
Garner’s mother is Jewish, and Garner has 
described herself as Jewish several times. 
She won the 2019 and 2020 Emmy for 
this role. 
The nominees for best mini-series 
include The Queen’s Gambit. It was writ-
ten and directed by Scott Frank, 60. This 
series about a female chess grandmaster 
was a monster ratings and critical hit 

for Netflix. Also in this category are 
The Undoing, a murder mystery, and 
Unorthodox. The Undoing is based on a 
novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz, 59, and 
it was directed by Susanne Bier, 60, a 
Danish Jew. Unorthodox was inspired by a 
memoir by Deborah Feldman, 34, once a 
member of a Hasidic sect. It was co-writ-
ten by Anna Winger, 50.
 The best TV drama series nominees 
include The Crown, which was created 
by, and is written by Peter Morgan, 57. 
His Jewish father fled Nazi Germany for 
England. His mother isn’t Jewish. Also 
in this category is The Mandalorian, a 
Disney fantasy series that was created by, 
and is directed by Jon Favreau, 54.
The best musical or comedy series 
nominees include Emily in Paris, a light 
show about a Midwestern young woman 
who moves to Paris. It was created by 
Darren Star, 59, who also created Beverly 
Hills, 90210 and co-created Sex and the 
City. Emily vies with Schitt’s Creek for 
this Globe. Perhaps because it was on the 
little-watched Popcorn channel, Creek 
languished in relative obscurity during its 
first four seasons (2015-2019). But critics 
and viewers eventually found it and it 
swept the 2020 Emmys. Dan Levy and his 
father, Eugene Levy, 74, co-star in Creek 
and they co-created the show. 

Norman 
Lear

WIKIPEDIA

Sacha Baron 
Cohen

BY JOELLA MARANO, WIKIPEDIA

Ibrahima Gueye 
and Sophia Loren in 
The Life Ahead.

REGINE DE LAZZARIS AKA GRETA/NETFLIX

OVER THE MOON 
WAS WRITTEN BY 
AUDREY LEDERER 
WELLS, WHO DIED OF 
CANCER AT AGE 58.

