44 | JULY 1 • 2021 

WHO’S THE BOSS?
BETTING ON MICHIGAN
The animated film The Boss 
Baby: Family Business opens 
on July 2. Lisa Kudrow, 57, 
again is the voice of the 
Templeton brothers’ mother, 
and Jeff Goldblum, 68, is the 
voice of Dr. Armstrong, a busi-
ness rival of the Templetons.
Then there’s Lady Boss.
A documentary about writer 
Jackie Collins (1937-2015) 
began streaming on CNN 
on June 27. Check listings 
for encore showings, and it’s 
available on demand. Her first 
novel, The World is Full of 
Married Men (1968), was much 
“steamier” than other romance 
novels of the day.
Collins was born in the U.K., 
the daughter of a Jewish father 
and a non-Jewish mother. Her 

sister is actress Joan Collins, 
now 88. Jackie and Broadway 
producer Oscar Lerman (1919-
1992) were wed in 1969.
Last week, it was announced 
that an original Paramount+ 
film Jerry and Marge Go Large
will begin filming this month. 
It is based on the true story of 
Jerry and Marge Selbee.
The Selbees, now retired, 
have long lived in Evart, Mich., 

south of Cadillac. The couple, 
who have six children, made 
a modest living from their 
convenience store. Then, in 
2003, Jerry became aware of 
Winfall, a new Michigan lottery 
game. Jerry has an undergrad 
degree in math, and he quickly 
realized there was a “quirk” in 
the game that virtually guaran-
teed “net” winnings if you bet 
enough.
There was nothing illegal 
about what he planned to do, 
and he enlisted local friends in 
a “betting club.” In two years, 
they netted over $300K. Later, 
Jerry found a similar game in 
Massachusetts and the club 
played for next seven years, 
making another $7.7 million in 
profits before taxes. 
The film stars Bryan 
Cranston and Annette Bening 
as the Selbees. David Frankel, 
62, will direct. Frankel has 
helmed some really big com-
edy hits, including The Devil 

Wears Prada and Marley and 
Me. His father is Pulitzer Prize 
winner Max Frankel, now 91. 
Max and his family fled Nazi 
Germany in 1940. He began 
working for the N.Y. Times in 
1952. He was a top correspon-
dent and retired (1996) as the 
Times’ executive editor.
David married (1998) adver-
tising executive Jennifer 
Beber, 62-ish, in the Spanish 
Synagogue in Venice, Italy. 
Their children Phoebe and 
Jake Beber-Frankel are 
19-year-old twins. Last April, 
Jake was profiled by a 
Stanford University publication. 
 
 
A top high school golfer, Jake 
recently joined the Stanford 
golf team. Jake is not “just” a 
golfer; his father says he’s also 
a “funny writer.” The profile 
notes that Max took Jake and 
Phoebe on a b’nai mitzvah 
trip to Europe. They visited his 
hometown in Germany and 
several concentration camps. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

Lady Boss Jackie Collins

