50 | DECEMBER 14 • 2023 

WHO’S WHO IN MAESTRO; 
A NEW WONKA; TEDDY 
BEARS, A “KOSHER” DOLL

Maestro, a bio pic about 
Leonard Bernstein (1918-
1990), opened in a limited 
number of theaters on Nov. 
22 (to be eligible for Oscars) 
and premieres on Netflix on 
Dec. 20. The reviews range 
from raves to “mixed.”
Here’s “stuff” that will not 
be in most reviews: The 
characters are all “real” 
people — and most were 
Jewish. About half of the 
cast is Jewish, too. I can 
only devote a few words to 
each person. All have bios 
online.
The film covers a 30-year 
period — roughly the time 
of Bernstein’s marriage 
to actress Felicia Cohn 
Montealegre (1951) until 
her death in 1978, age 
56. Bradley Cooper plays 
Leonard. He also directed 
the film, and he co-wrote 
the script with Josh Singer, 
51. Carey Mulligan plays 
Felicia.
The rest of the cast in 
credit order: Matt Bomer 
as David Oppenheim, a 
top music producer and 
Bernstein’s lover for a 
brief time; Maya Hawke as 
Jamie Bernstein, now 71, 
Leonard’s daughter; Sarah 
Silverman, 52, as Shirley 
Bernstein, Leonard’s sister; 
Michael Urie as choreog-
rapher/director Jerome 
Robbins; Brian Klugman, 
48, as “super-star” com-
poser Aaron Copland; 
Gideon Glick, 35, as Tom 
Cothran, radio music 
director and, for a time, 
Leonard’s lover; Sam Nivola 
as Alexander Bernstein, 
now 68, Leonard’s son; 

and Alexa Swinton, 14, as 
Nina Bernstein, now 61, 
Leonard’s daughter.
Do check out the follow-
ing. Jamie Bernstein wrote 
a memoir about her parents 
in 2018. She gave a terrific 
lecture about her parents 
in 2018 at a Connecticut 
synagogue. View it on 
YouTube. The title of the 
video has the same title 
as her memoir. Jamie 
Bernstein — Famous Father 
Girl: A Memoir of Growing 
Up Bernstein.
Bradley Cooper’s Nov. 22 
NPR radio interview with 
New Yorker chief editor 
David Remnick, 65, was 
terrific, too. Search YouTube 
for “The New Yorker Radio 
Hour: NPR.”

Wonka opens in theaters 
on Dec. 15. It is the third 
major Wonka movie. 
 The first was Willie 
Wonka and The Chocolate 
Factory (1971), a musical 
romp for the whole fami-
ly starring the late, great 
Gene Wilder in the title 
role. The 1971 film didn’t do 
well in theaters but became 
immensely popular over 
time. The second film was 
essentially a remake of the 
1971 movie. It was titled 
Charlie and the Chocolate 
Factory (2005) and starred 
Johnny Depp. It made 
money, but many didn’t like 
it.
Wonka stars Timothée 

Chalamet, 27, as Wonka. 
The new film is a prequel 
to the two previous Wonka 
films. It tells the story of 
how Wonka, a young man, 
got into the chocolate busi-
ness. 
Chalamet grew up in 
Manhattan. His father is of 
French Protestant back-
ground and his American 
mother is Jewish. While 
Chalamet is not religious, 
he identifies as Jewish. (The 
rest of the cast is almost 
all British and none are 
Jewish.)
Wonka features new 
songs by two British com-
posers. Chalamet, reports 
say, can really sing and 
dance. However, the two 
trailers didn’t feature any 
musical moments. 
Last week, while shop-
ping for Chanukah, I wasn’t 
surprised to see a teddy 
bear wearing a sweater 
with a Star of David on it. 
Cute, of course. I vaguely 
remembered reading that 
American Jews created 
the original Teddy Bear. 
Right after that, I got the 
December issue of the 
Smithsonian. It laid out the 
origin story, even if it left out 
the Jewish angle. 
Here’s the story: In 
1902, President Theodore 
Roosevelt was on a bear 
hunting trip in Mississippi. 
No bears were found for 
several days. His guides 

procured an old, sick bear 
and chained it to a tree. 
Roosevelt was appalled, 
wouldn’t shoot it and had 
the bear euthanized. A 
newspaper cartoon turned 
the old bear into a cute cub 
that Roosevelt wouldn’t 
shoot. 
Morris Michtom (1869-
1938), an immigrant candy 
and notions store owner in 
Brooklyn, thought a “cub 
doll” would sell and had his 
wife, Rose, sew a stuffed 
version. It sold as soon as 
it was in the store window. 
More dolls sold quickly. 
Michtom named it Teddy’s 
Bear (1903) and he mailed 
a Teddy Bear to the White 
House and asked Roosevelt 
to approve using his name. 
He got that permission.
About the same time, the 
German Steiff Company, 
coincidentally, began mak-
ing stuffed bears. But that 
competition didn’t stop the 
formerly penniless Michtom 
and his wife. He founded 
the Ideal Toy Company. 
By the 1950s, Ideal, which 
remained in family hands 
until 1982, was the world’s 
biggest dollmaker. A big 
hit for decades was the 
Betsy-Wetsy (1934) doll. In 
the 1970s, it had a hit with 
Rubik’s Cube.
Nice to note: The 
Michtoms were generous 
donors to many Jewish 
charities and causes. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

JACK MITCHELL

Leonard Bernstein

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Morris Michtom

HOLLYWOOD FILM ACADEMY/YOUTUBE

Timothée Chalamet