60 | JUNE 30 • 2022
KING SOARS, A TWO-
SERIES CANADIAN,
JIM AND A.J. CROCE
Joey King, 22, has made
the difficult transition from
a star child actor to a suc-
cessful young adult actor.
This was obvious when she
was Emmy-nominated (2019)
as best actress in a limited
series (The Act on Hulu).
King has the title role in
Princess, a comedy fan-
tasy action film that will
start streaming on Hulu on
July 1. Here’s the capsule
plot: When a strong-willed
princess refuses to wed
a cruel sociopath, she’s
kidnapped and locked
in a remote castle tower.
With her vindictive suitor
intent on taking her father’s
throne, the princess must
protect her family and save
her kingdom.
King will also co-star in
Bullet Train, an action/thriller
starring Brad Pitt. It opens in
theaters in August.
It was recently announced
that King would star in We
Are the Lucky Ones, a lim-
ited Hulu series. It is based
on a bestselling book by
Georgia Hunter, 35. She
traced how some members
of her Polish Jewish family
successfully fled from the
Nazis.
Maggie, a new Hulu
series, begins streaming on
July 6. Rebecca Rittenhouse,
33, stars in the title role.
The series’ central “hook”
is that Maggie is a genuine
psychic. Maggie’s “powers”
allow her to see into the
future of her friends, parents
and random people on the
street. But when she begins
to see glimpses of her own
future, her romantic life sud-
denly gets complicated.
Adam J. Korson, 42,
has a large recurring role
as Daniel. He is described
in advance publicity as “a
sweet and self-deprecat-
ing Crossfit dropout who
charms Maggie with his witty
and thoughtful demeanor.”
Daniel helps Maggie have
fun in the present, despite
her constant anxieties about
the future.
Korson is a Canadian
actor who grew-up in
Thornhill, Ontario (about
240 miles from Detroit).
All his grandparents on his
father’s side are Ashkenazi
Jews who were born in
Poland. His mother’s fam-
ily are Sephardi Jews. His
maternal grandmother was
born in Algeria. His mater-
nal grandfather was born in
Morocco and, records say,
he had one of those charm-
ing, almost biblical names
that many Sephardim have.
His name was Salomon
BenHaim (the son of H’Dan
BenHaim).
Korson also co-stars in the
Canadian TV sci-fi series
SurrealEstate. The series
centers on a real estate
agent who rids “unsalable”
properties of paranormal
infestations. Korson and
Sarah Levy play associates
of the agent who help him
with his work. Levy, 35, is
the daughter of Eugene
Levy, 75, and the sister of
the now-famous Dan Levy,
38 (thanks to Schitts Creek).
The first season (2021) of
SurrealEstate was reshown
by the (American) SyFy
channel, and it got a big
enough audience that it was
just announced that SyFy
would “adopt” the show and
produce a second season in
2023.
The June 19 episode of
CBS Sunday Morning coin-
cided with Father’s Day, and
they profiled a famous father
and his son. The father
was singer/songwriter Jim
Croce, who died in a plane
crash in 1973, age 30. In
1973, Croce was “red-hot,”
having released a string of
hits in the two years before
his death (“Time in a Bottle,”
“You Don’t Mess Around
with Jim,” “Operator” and
“Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”). He
wrote all these songs. One
hit song, “I’ve Got a Name,”
released a day after he died,
was written by two other
Jewish songwriters, Norman
Gimbel and Charles Fox,
now 81. This song was writ-
ten for a TV show and ABC
hired Croce to sing it.
Yes, Jim Croce was
Jewish. He converted to
Judaism just before he mar-
ried (1966) Ingrid Jacobson,
now 74. They wed before a
rabbi. Croce is buried in a
Philadelphia Jewish ceme-
tery.
Sunday Morning inter-
viewed Jim and Ingrid’s
only child, A.J. Croce, now
50. He was only 2 when his
father died. A.J. has had a
pretty good music career in
his own right. He has played
with leading musicians for
decades and also writes
songs. Until recently, he very
rarely performed his father’s
songs. He told CBS Sunday
Morning that now he is “in a
place” where he can finally
comfortably sing his dad’s
songs.
In 2012, the Jewish News
interviewed A.J. Croce.
Here’s one interesting
quote: “When I was studying
for my bar mitzvah, I had
doubts about my religion
[and having a bar mitzvah].
The rabbi explained that
questioning is what Judaism
is about even as questions
are answered with ques-
tions. When I understood it
was all about carrying on a
tradition, I fully embraced it.
I love that quest for knowl-
edge. The conversation
helped form my faith.”
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
TWITTER
Adam J.
Korson
BY CONDÉ NAST (THROUGH VOGUE TAIWAN)
Joey
King
BY PHILKON PHIL KONSTANTIN
A.J.
Croce
JIMCROCE.COM
Jim
Croce