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