42 | JULY 22 • 2021 

FEAR 3X; BIG HIT 
BACKSTORIES
Perhaps because I’m not 
a huge horror fan, I didn’t 
flag in advance the Netflix 
release, this past month, of 
a trilogy of original horror 
films based on some of 
the Fear Street novels of 
R.L. Stine, 77. Stine is most 
famous as the author of the 
very popular Goosebumps 
scary novels for children. 
The first Netflix film, Fear 
Street Part One: 1994, takes 
place in a small Ohio town. 
After some brutal slayings, 
a group of teens take on 
an evil force that’s plagued 
their town for centuries. 

The cast includes Fred 
Hechinger, 21 (Simon), 
Jordana Spiro, 44 
(Mrs. Lane) and Ashley 
Zukerman, 37, (Nick). 
Hechinger had his break-

out role last year in News 
of the World; Spiro has 
worked steadily since 
2000. You may remember 
her as the star of the TBS 
series My Boys (2006-
2010); Zukerman, a hand-
some “Aussie” landsman, 
has recently had a recur-
ring role on Succession 
(HBO) and a big role in 
the Hulu mini-series A 
Teacher. These three actors 
also appear in the other two 
Fear Street films, which are 
now streaming (Fear Street 
Part Two: 1978 and Fear 
Street Part Three: 1666). 
Stine grew up quite 
poor in a small town near 
Columbus, Ohio. But he 
began writing very young 
and, by the early 1970s, he 
was a bestselling writer. 
His editor is his wife of 52 
years, Jane Waldron (who I 
am virtually sure is Jewish). 
Based on quite recent Stine 
interviews, I can report that 
the couple survived the 
pandemic in good spirits 
— aided by their son and 
grandkids, who live near 
them. 
The six-part original Hulu 
documentary McCartney 
3, 2, 1, began streaming on 
July 13. It is a series of con-
versations with nine-time 
Grammy winning producer 
Rick Rubin, 58. McCartney 
describes the “origin” of 
many of his most famous 
songs (Beatles’ tunes most-
ly). NPR says that many of 
the stories McCartney tells 
have been told before, but 
the documentary is enter-
taining and informative. By 
the way, McCartney has 
more “Jewish ties” than any 
other Beatle. Two of Paul’s 
three marriages “went well,” 
and the spouses in those 

marriages were/are Jewish: 
Linda Eastman, who died 
in 1998, and Nancy Shevell, 
now 61, Paul’s wife since 
2011. 

BLOCKBUSTER 
BACKSTORIES
On July 21, Netflix began 
streaming The Movies 
That Made Us (Season 
2). It is the latest entry in 
a series of smart, nostal-
gic Netflix documentaries 
made by Brian Volk-Weiss, 
45. Season 2, like Movies, 
Season 1, provides the 
“backstory” on four block-
buster hit movies. This time 
it’s Pretty Woman, Forrest 
Gump, Jurassic Park and 
Back to the Future.
Here are the Jewish con-
nections: Pretty Woman 
had Jason Alexander, now 
61, in a supporting role as 
Richard Gere’s snooty attor-
ney; Forrest Gump was writ-
ten by Eric Roth, now 76; 
Jurassic Park was directed 
by Steven Spielberg, now 
74, and costarred Jeff 

Goldblum, now 68; and the 
script for Back to the Future 
was co-written by Bob 
Gale, now 70. 
I recently saw Back to 
the Future again, and I 
noticed how the movie was 
artfully filmed to hide how 
short (5’4”) star Michael J. 
Fox is. I then noticed that 
his co-star, Lea Thompson, 
was part of a pattern. She’s 
a short, but well-propor-
tioned pretty woman. A 
perfect romantic match for 
Fox. The actor, I realized, 
had “like” partners in many 
other roles and at least 
three are Jewish (Tracy 
Pollan in Family Ties; Julie 
Warner in Doc Hollywood 
and Helen Slater in Secret 
of My Success). Fox married 
Pollan in 1989 and their 
four children were raised 
Jewish. Thompson has a 
similar story. She wed direc-
tor Howard Deutch in 1989 
and their two daughters 
— actresses Madelyn and 
Zoey Deutch — were raised 
Jewish. 

CELEBRITY NEWS
ARTS&LIFE

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

GAGE SKIDMORE, WIKIPEDIA

R.L. 
Stine

FLIPCHIP / LASVEGASVEGAS.COM

Jason 
Alexander

