44 | MARCH 3 • 2022
CATWOMAN
IS JEWISH,
THE ’80S LAKERS,
THERANOS MESS
The Batman opens in the-
aters on March 4. There
is a long backstory on the
production of this new entry
in the Batman odyssey.
Suffice it to say that it pretty
much is a “new start” for
the Batman series. So many
“new starts” probably would
have surprised Bob Kane
(1915-1998), who created the
Batman comic character.
The Caped Crusader is
played by Robert Pattinson
(Twilight Saga films). As
the film opens, billionaire
Bruce Wayne has already
“become” Batman, but is
not yet a seasoned crime
fighter. Here’s the basic
plot: Batman pursues the
Riddler, a major “baddie.”
The Riddler (Paul Dano) is a
serial killer who targets the
elites of Gotham City. While
hunting the Riddler, Batman
uncovers corruption that
implicates his own family. He
is forced to make new allies
to catch the Riddler and
clean up the corruption.
Zoe Kravitz, 33, plays
the Catwoman, a character
“with criminal baggage”
who, nonetheless, has often
helped Batman. Her “real
identity” is Selina Kyle, and
in this film, Kyle is a night-
club worker who moon-
lights as a cat burglar. She
chances to meet Batman
and her desire to help vul-
nerable people leads her to
ally with Batman. Advance
reports say that this film will
emphasize the Selina part
of Catwoman’s life — what
“real-life” emotions lead
Selina to help Batman.
Kravitz says she is “a
secular Jew.” Her father,
musician Lenny Kravitz,
had a Jewish father and
an African American, not
Jewish mother. (Lenny iden-
tifies as a Christian). Zoe’s
mother, actress Lisa Bonet,
54, had a Jewish mother
and a non-Jewish, African
American father.
Kravitz is the first Jewish
woman to play Catwoman.
However, I will note that
African American actress/
singer Eartha Kitt, who
played Catwoman on the
1960s Batman TV show,
was a huge Israel supporter
and recorded some Yiddish
songs. Her only child, Kit
Shapiro, is married to a
Jewish man and I think (but
haven’t confirmed) that she
converted to Judaism.
1980S LAKERS
The eight-episode HBO
series Winning Time:
The Rise of the Lakers
Dynasty premieres on
March 6. It’s about the
“wild ride” of the NBA
team during the ’80s. The
Lakers had the great Magic
Johnson, a very colorful
owner and the first “hot
dancing” cheerleaders.
Jason Segal, 42,
plays Lakers coach Paul
Westhead. He led the
Lakers to a championship
in 1980 and was fired two
years later after clashing
with Magic. Adrien Brody,
48, plays Coach Pat Riley,
who replaced Westhead.
He led the Lakers to three
championships in the ’80s.
(Actresses Molly Gordon
and Lola Kirke appear in
much smaller roles.)
By the way, Segal (6’4”)
and Brody (6’1”) are quite tall
guys. Their casting makes
sense because they are
playing “real life” tall guys.
If the series had been made
in the ’90s, Bob Saget (6’4”)
and Brad Garrett (6’10”)
would have been good
(Jewish) choices.
The Dropout is a six-ep-
isode mini-series that will
premiere on Hulu March
3. The first three episodes
will air then, with the last
three shown on succes-
sive weeks. It tells the
story of the rise and fall
of Elizabeth Holmes, the
now infamous head of the
medical company Theranos
(which falsely claimed it
had a way to test for many
conditions with a single
drop of blood).
Amanda Seyfried stars as
Holmes. The large support-
ing cast includes Stephen
Fry, 64, Hart Bochner, 64,
and Ebon Moss-Bachrach,
44.
Fry plays Ian Gibbons,
a British bio-chemist who
worked for Theranos.
Gibbons committed suicide
(2013) shortly before he
was supposed to testify in
a lawsuit about the compa-
ny’s blood-testing technol-
ogy. Bochner plays Larry
Ellison, 77, the billionaire
founder of Oracle, the
famous software company.
Ellison was an early inves-
tor in Theranos and his
backing helped persuade
others to invest in the com-
pany.
Moss-Bachrach (Girls)
has the best role of his
career. He plays John
Carreyou, the dogged
Wall Street Journal report-
er whose stories about
Theranos were critical to
exposing the company’s
rampant fraud.
By the way, while
Elizabeth Holmes is not
Jewish, she is a remote
descendant of Charles
Fleischmann (1833-1897),
the founder of the famous
Fleischmann yeast compa-
ny. His yeast consistently
makes bread rise. All
Holmes did was deflate
investors’ hopes.
ERRATA
In my Feb. 17 column, I said
that Joanna Merlin, 90, was
the last living credited actor
in The Ten Commandments
(1956). I was wrong. There
are three others, including
Riselle Babette Bain, 75.
She played “Young Miriam.”
She is now a synagogue
cantor. She has a very inter-
esting life story, which I will
share just before Pesach.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
Zoe Kravitz
GAGE SKIDMORE