60 | DECEMBER 28 • 2023
J
N

ROCK HALL OF
FAME, CELEB ROOTS,
COBEN’S ‘CHANGING’
CHARACTERS

On Jan. 1, ABC will
broadcast (8 p.m.) a
heavily edited video of the
2023 induction of persons
into the Rock Hall of Fame.
The ceremony happened
on Nov. 3, 2023. Disney,
which owns ABC,
streamed the whole 2023
ceremony live (a first!). You
can watch a video of that
live event on Disney+ or
you can watch the edited
version on ABC.
The influential and
popular four-man band
Rage Against the Machine
was inducted. Their
drummer is Brad Wilk,
now 55. Rage was formed
in 1991 and, after 2000,
they had several “break-
ups” and reunions. They
currently are together and
playing concerts. Nice to
note: When Rage played in
Israel in 2000, Wilk recited
a Shabbat blessing before
his Israeli audience.
Al Kooper, 79, was
inducted in a Hall category
called the “award for
musical excellence.”
Basically, this means
persons who may or may
not be musicians (but
usually are) who have
helped create great music
for a long period.
Kooper plays guitar,
horns and keyboards.
Here’s some Kooper
highlights: He has
occasionally backed Bob
Dylan. In 1965, he was
almost unknown when
he created and played
a now-famous organ riff

on the first recording of
Dylan’s great song “Like a
Rolling Stone”; he played
piano, organ and French
horn on the Rolling Stones
classic “You Can’t Always
Get What You Want;” he
founded Blood Sweat and
Tears, but left before their
big hits (I think his one
LP with BS&T is better
than their “hit stuff”); he
discovered Lynyrd Skynyrd
and produced their first
three albums. He played
organ on Skynyrd’s iconic
song “Free Bird.”
On Jan. 2, the
10th season of the hit PBS
ancestry series Finding
Your Roots, begins. (Check
local schedules). The date
when a celeb will appear
on Roots is currently
incomplete on the PBS
site. As I write this, the
date Michael Douglas
(below) will appear is not
yet announced.
Here are this season’s
Jewish celebs: Lena
Dunham, 37, is best known
for starring in and writing
the hit HBO series Girls.
Her father isn’t Jewish,
and her mother is Jewish.
She identifies as Jewish
(appears in episode 9;
April 2); Iliza Shlesinger,
40, is a standup comedian
and author. She’s had
several Netflix specials
and she’s appeared in a
few acting roles. She wed
(2018) her husband, Noah

Galuten, 40, a prominent
restaurant owner and food
writer, in a “very lovely”
Jewish ceremony (appears
in episode 5, Jan. 30); and
Michael Douglas, 79. Of
course, he is the son of
the late Kirk Douglas.
Michael’s mother wasn’t
Jewish and Michael wasn’t
religious most of his life.
However, for reasons that
are too involved to detail
here, about 10 years ago
he began identifying as a
Reform Jew.
I will just note that
his son, Dylan, wanted
to study Judaism and
have a bar mitzvah, and
that influenced Michael.
Dylan, now 21, had his
bar mitzvah (2015) in
Jerusalem and, in 2015,
Michael received the
prestigious Genesis Prize
for Jewish achievement.

Fool Me Once is an
eight-episode original
series that premieres on
Netflix on Dec. 31. It is
based on a novel of the
same name by bestselling
author Harlan Coben,
60. His first novel, Play
Dead (1990) was the first
in a series of big-selling
mysteries and thrillers.
Coben, who had a bar
mitzvah ceremony, grew
up in New Jersey.
Recently, Coben’s books
have been made into
successful mini-series. In
2021, his novel Gone for

Good (2002) was turned
into a Netflix mini-series
and, in 2022, his novel
Shelter turned into an
Amazon Prime series.
Funny thing:
Both novels were set
in the U.S.A. and both
had clearly Jewish
major characters.
Both series had no
mention that any character
was Jewish and Gone
for Good was “re-set” in
France.

Many kvetch that Jewish
character roles go too
frequently to non-Jewish
actors. More damaging,
I think, is the constant
practice of erasing the
Jewish background of a
character when a novel,
comic book story, etc., is
filmed. Sadly, I can’t get
into the “whys” here.
The Fool Me Once
series takes place in the
U.K. (novel in America).
The name of the novel’s
lead character, Maya Stern,
hasn’t been changed for
the series. (Stern’s ethnic
background is ambiguous
in the novel). Here’s the
capsule premise: Maya
thinks her husband has
been murdered until she
spots him on a recent
video. Meanwhile, her
nephew and niece are
looking into their mother’s
murder and the question
is: Are the two cases
related?

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

JOE MABEL

Al Kooper

JOSÉ GOULÃO

Brad Wilk

GEORGES BIARD

Michael Douglas