60 | FEBRUARY 23 • 2023 

COKEY THE BEAR, LEVY 
TRAVELS THE WORLD, 
BARINHOLTZ NEWS, 
MORE

Cocaine Bear, a black com-
edy-thriller, opens in the-
aters on Feb. 24. It is based 
on a real story. In 1985, a 
pilot working for drug deal-
ers dumped tons of cocaine 
over a Georgia forest. Later, 
a forest bear was found 
dead. It had eaten about 
75 pounds of cocaine. The 
“real” bear didn’t scare or 
hurt anyone. In the new 
film, the bear goes on a 
murderous rampage. 
Alden Ehrenreich, 33, 
has a co-starring role. He 
was “discovered” (about 
age 13) when Steven
Spielberg watched — at a 
bat mitzvah reception — a 
short comedy film that 
Ehrenreich made. Since 
then, his career has been 
kind of “star-crossed.” Two 
“big” films he starred-in, 
which were supposed to be 
big hits, flopped (Beautiful 
Creatures and Solo: A Star 
Wars Story.) 
The only hit film he’s 
been in is Hail, Caesar! 
(2016), another black com-
edy. Ehrenreich turned in a 
good performance in this 
Coen brothers’ film. 
Cocaine Bear was direct-
ed by Elizabeth Banks, 48. 
She is best known as an 
actress (Hunger Games
and Spider-Man films. Many 
others). Bear is Banks’ third 
film as a director (Pitch 
Perfect 2 and Charlie’s 
Angels). 
Banks married (2003) her 
(Jewish) husband before a 
rabbi and they now have 
two sons. Around the time 
of the wedding, credible 
sources said that Banks had 

converted to Judaism, and I 
reported that until 2013. 
In 2013, Banks said 
that she studied Judaism 
before marrying, practices 
Judaism, but didn’t quite 
formally convert (“all but the 
mikveh,” she said). There 
have been no conversion 
“updates” since 2013 and 
Banks may have taken that 
“dip” in the last decade. (If 
there is an update, I’ll let 
you know). 
The Reluctant Traveler, 
an eight-part “globe-trot-
ting” series, premieres on 
Apple TV+ on Sunday, Feb. 
26. Eugene Levy, 75, is the 
host. The show’s publicity 
says: “We follow Levy as he 
visits some of the world’s 
most beautiful destinations 
in Costa Rica, Finland, 
Italy, Japan, the Maldives, 
Portugal, South Africa and 
the U.S.A.”
Levy was born and 
raised in Hamilton, Ontario. 
Few know that his father 
was of Sephardi ancestry 
(Bulgaria). His mother was 
born and raised in Scotland, 
the daughter of Polish 
Jewish immigrants.
Levy became well-known 
for his roles on SCTV, a 
Canadian/American sketch 
comedy (1976-84). His 
fame exploded when he 
co-starred as a Jewish dad 
in the mega-hit teen come-
dy American Pie (1999). In 
2015. he co-created Schitt’s 

Creek, his biggest hit. This 
series ran until 2020, and 
it found a worldwide fol-
lowing on Netflix. In 2020, 
Levy, who was a Schitt’s
co-star, won the Emmy for 
best lead performance in a 
comedy.
Do watch Waiting for 
Guffman, a 1996 “mocku-
mentary” co-written by Levy 
that got great reviews. Levy 
plays a Jewish dentist in a 
small Missouri town who 
wants to entertain people. 
Another Canadian, Linda 
Kash, now 62, is “perfect” 
as his Jewish wife. It is now 
streaming on HBO Max. 
Trust me, you’ll laugh. 
In case you haven’t 
heard: On Feb. 2, Ike 
Barinholtz, 45, won the 
Celebrity Jeopardy tourna-
ment and earned $1 million 
for his designated charity. 
Beyond him being 
Jewish, I didn’t know any 
“Jewish details” about 
Barinholtz. Well, that ended 
last week when I read 
an interview with David 
Stassen (not Jewish). He 
is the co-writer, with Mel 
Brooks, of History of the 
World, Part 2. 
Part 2 begins streaming 
on Hulu on March 6, and 
I will cover it next week. 
Meanwhile, do watch the 
hilarious Part 2 trailer 
(YouTube, etc.)
Stassen said that 
Barinholtz (who will be in 

Part 2) is often his writing 
partner and that they have 
been best friends since 
they were 7 years old. 
Stassen also mentioned 
that Barinholtz attended a 
Chicago Jewish day school 
until he transferred to the 
(secular) high school that 
Stassen went to.
Andrew Zimmern, 61, 
is best known as the 
star and host of several 
Bizarre Foods series on the 
Travel Channel. In 2021, 
he launched a “more nor-
mal” show — called Family 
Dinner — about food that 
regular folks eat. It pre-
miered on the little-seen 
Magnolia Network.
Recently, major streaming 
channels realized how 
good Family Dinner is and 
picked it up. All the series’ 
episodes (three seasons, 
to date) are now available 
on HBO Max, and the first 
season can be streamed on 
Amazon Prime.
Zimmern grew up in 
a middle-class Brooklyn 
Jewish home. He graduated 
from college, but mental 
problems led him to drug 
and alcohol abuse. He 
even did jail time. But he 
found help at a Minnesota 
treatment center. He 
learned to cook, and he 
opened a very successful 
restaurant in Minnesota — 
and then showbiz came 
calling. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

PUNCH PIZZA

Andrew Zimmern

JESSE GRANT

Eugene Levy

GAGE SKIDMORE

Elizabeth Banks

