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