52 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 

AUTO, MARKLE’S EX, 
LOVING LEAH

American Auto, the hit NBC 
comedy series about a 
Detroit-based automobile 
company, begins its second 
season (Jan. 24; 8:30 p.m.) 
with two new episodes. The 
series was created by Justin 
Spitzer, 45, and co-stars Jon 
Barinholtz, 43, (the brother 
of actor Ike Barinholtz).
Next week, I may add 
to what I just wrote. The 
Jewish director of the Auto 
third episode (airs Jan. 31) 
just contacted me, and I may 
get some interesting details 
about that episode — and 
more. 
We all have seen the 
news tsunami surrounding 
Prince Harry and his wife, 
Meghan Markle. You might 
already know that Markle’s 
first husband was Trevor 
Engelson, 46, a Jewish 
guy. He’s the founder of an 
entertainment production 
company that seems 
successful. Engelson dated 
Markle for seven years 
and they married (secular 
ceremony) in 2011. They 
divorced in 2014 and Markle 
married Harry in 2017.
Engelson seems to have a 
strict policy about not talking 
to anyone about Markle. I 
thought about it: What does 
he have to gain? People talk 
“dirt” to the press for two 
reasons: revenge and/or 
money. Engelson’s divorce 
seemed to have been 
amicable, and he certainly 
doesn’t need the money 
tabloids would pay him. 
There’s the money he 
earns and the money 
his wife, Tracey Kurland 
Engelson, 36, will or has 
inherited. The couple 
married in 2019 and have 

two children. Tracey, a 
dietician, is the daughter 
of Stanford “Stan” 
Kurland (1952-2021). He 
was a big-time mortgage 
company exec (Penny-Mac, 
Countrywide) and many 
sources say that Tracey has 
or will get millions. 
It was a slog, but I 
confirmed in public records 
that Stan Kurland was 
Jewish. I am 99% sure that 
Stan’s widow, and Tracey’s 
mother, Sheila Kurland, is 
the daughter of a Jewish 
father and a non-Jewish 
mother. 
Engelson and Markle 
re-married very rich 
spouses. I think most people 
would prefer Engleson’s 
“out of the limelight” life. 
Loving Leah, a 2009 
Hallmark film that aired 
on CBS, “reappeared” this 
past week. I liked this very 
Jewish film when I first saw 
it. After its only TV showing, 
Loving Leah mostly 
disappeared. It could only 
be found on pay-per view 
services. 
For some reason, last 
week Leah began streaming 
for free (with ads) on the 
Pluto and Xumo channels. 
Pluto is pretty well known. 
Xumo is a newish streaming 
channel. Both can be 
viewed online, or on Roku, 
Amazon Fire and on some 
Xfinity “options.” Tip: Xumo 
has hardly any ads. 
Here’s the “back-story” 
and just part of the plot: 
P’nenah Goldstein, now 
about 55, wrote a “little” 
play about Leah, a Chasidic 
rabbi’s young wife. As the 
play begins, she is widowed 
when her husband suddenly 
dies. 
Leah is childless, and 
traditional Jewish law 
requires that her husband’s 
unmarried brother marry 
her. The rabbi’s only brother, 

Jake, is a doctor who is 
not religious at all. He is 
informed of this “obligation,” 
and he is also told that there 
is a Jewish ceremony that 
will allow him to be released 
from this obligation. 
A movie script followed 
the play. The script sat in 
“limbo” until Ricki Lake, now 
54, happened to read it. She 
took it to Hallmark and got 
the movie made. Lake plays 
a “very warm” Reform rabbi 
in Loving Leah. 
Natasha Lyonne, now 
42, plays Leah’s devoted 
sister, and Susie Essman, 
now 67 (Curb Your 
Enthusiasm) plays Leah’s 
devout and forceful mother. 
Adam Kaufman, the non-
religious son of a Jewish 
father and non-Jewish 
mother, plays Jake. Kaufman 
relayed his family 
background in an interview 
I did with him just before 
Leah premiered. I recall 
that Kaufman, now 47, was 
a pleasant guy who simply 
recited much of the Leah 

plot, and little more. 
The film’s stand-out actor 
is Lauren Ambrose, who 
isn’t Jewish, but is just 
great as Leah. Ambrose 
got splendid reviews in 
HBO’s Six Feet Under (2001-
05). But, since then, she 
has not got the TV/movie 
parts she deserves. She 
sings beautifully and has 
had success on Broadway 
(lead in My Fair Lady; 2018 
revival). 
Loving Leah isn’t great, 
but it is good. It’s good 
because it exists. A large-
budget Jewish TV film 
like Leah is “super-rare.” 
It’s good because it deftly 
manages to put American 
Judaism and a very sweet 
romance at its center. It 
also manages to be 
respectful toward the 
Orthodox and the Reform 
communities. And it shows 
the struggle of some women 
to remain very observant, 
while being “more in the 
world.” 
If, by some miracle, 
Leah was remade today, 
Timothee Chalamet, 27, 
would be the perfect choice 
to play the adult Jake. 
When Chalamet was 13, he 
acted in Loving Leah. He 
played the “Young Jake” in 
a brief, flash-back scene. 
Chalamet has the “dramatic 
acting chops” that Adam 
Kaufman didn’t have. “Young 
Jake” was Chalamet’s first 
movie role. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

BY MINGLE MEDIATV 

Ricki Lake

BY PEABODY AWARDS 

Natasha Lyonne

IMDB

Adam Kaufman

