50 | DECEMBER 21 • 2023
J
N
FAST CARS AND THE
46TH KENNEDY CENTER
HONORS
Ferrari opens in theaters
on Dec. 25. It is set in the
summer of 1957, when
Enzo Ferrari’s Italian “fast
car” empire is close to
bankruptcy. It focuses
on a major race that,
without really spoiling
things, doesn’t go well for
Enzo (1898-1988) and his
company. Adam Driver
plays Ferrari. Driver was
good as a member of the
Italian Gucci fashion family
in the film House of Gucci
(2021).
Ferrari was directed by
Michael Mann, 80. He’s
directed many great or
good films, most of which
he wrote (he didn’t write
Ferrari). They include Thief,
Heat, Last of the Mohicans,
Collateral and Ali. He also
produced the ’80s series
Miami Heat, the first TV
series that incorporated
the “New Wave” style (hip
clothes, a hip soundtrack,
etc.) In 2006, Mann
directed and wrote a Miami
Heat film that got mixed
reviews but made money
and is now a cult favorite.
By the way, bios say that
Enzo Ferrari’s last good
racing year was 1979. That
year, Ferrari team race car
driver Jody Scheckter,
now 73, won the World
Championship (Formula
1). Scheckter was born in
South Africa, but now lives
in England, and his large
organic farm is well-known
in the U.K.
Scheckter is the only
Jew to win the World
Championship. But look out
for Robert Shwartzman,
24, a Formula 1 driver who
was born in Israel, but
grew up in Russia and Italy.
He’s done well since he
began pro driving at 14!
He is now a Ferrari team
reserve driver.
On Dec. 3, the 46th
Kennedy Center Honors
for excellence in the arts
were awarded. There
was a White House
ceremony that was almost
immediately followed by a
gala event at the Kennedy
Center. The honorees this
year are Billy Crystal,
75; pop singer Dionne
Warwick; opera singer
Renee Fleming; Barry
Gibb, the last surviving
member of the Bee Gees,
a pop group; and actress/
musician Queen Latifah.
The gala will be
simultaneously aired
on CBS and streamed
on Paramount+ on Dec.
27 at 8 p.m. This year, I
noticed that “pirate” videos
of many past Honors
programs are popping up
on YouTube and are not
being legally forced down.
This includes the induction
of Leonard Bernstein
in 1980. Lauren Bacall
presented a mini bio of
his life that’s very worth
watching.
At the White House
ceremony, which isn’t
televised, President Biden
said he had just rewatched
Crystal’s 1991 comedy
Western City Slickers
and called Crystal “the
American showman with a
heart of gold.”
Many articles have
been written about the
2023 Honors Gala, and I
know the highlights. If you
want to be surprised by
some of the Billy Crystal
highlights, don’t read the
following three paragraphs.
I will note that no Honors
Gala article mentions that
Crystal has been married
to a Jewish woman, Janice,
his high school sweetheart,
for 53 years.
Meg Ryan, 62, who
co-starred with Crystal in
the huge hit When Harry
Met Sally (1989) took the
Gala stage and talked
about the famous scene in
a Jewish deli in which Sally
(Ryan), sitting at a table
with Harry (Crystal), faked
an orgasm. She said, “It
came really natural to me,
and I really have Billy to
thank for that. I’ve actually
never been around anyone
who made faking an
orgasm easier.”
Rob Reiner, 76, who
directed When Harry Met
Sally, said: “He [Crystal]
can be edgy, but you
always feel the human
side of him and he’s not
afraid to show his emotion,
which is rare for most
comedians.”
Reiner also said, “Not
only was he great as
Harry but Bill wrote what
I believe is maybe the
funniest line in all of movie
history: ‘I’ll have what she’s
having.’” (Two facts: a deli
customer, played by Estelle
Reiner, Rob’s real mother,
uttered the famous line and
Nora Ephron wrote almost
all the film.)
You’ll have to watch the
Honors to hear the nice
things that Lin-Manuel
Miranda and Whoopi
Goldberg said about
Crystal.
Curious, I checked, for
the first time, how many
Jews have been Kennedy
Center Honorees. Only
five awards are given out
yearly; 230 awards have
been given out since 1978.
But there’s a small number
of people who “shared”
an award (three all-Jewish
two-man music composing
teams; husband and wife
actors; four music bands;
and an award to the team
behind Hamilton, the
musical.) I counted the
“sharers” (if all Jewish) as
“one.” One Jew had “half”
of an award, and another
had only a quarter of an
award. I didn’t include their
awards as Jewish.
The bottom line: 51
Jewish honorees; about
22% of all awards.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
GAGE SKIDMORE
Billy Crystal
IMDB
Estelle Reiner
WIKIPEDIA
Jody Scheckter