60 | JUNE 20 • 2024 
J
N

TWO NEW FILMS, DIANE 
VON FURSTENBERG BIO, 
OLYMPIC SWIMMER(?)

Thelma opens in theaters 
on June 21. Here’s the plot: 
Thelma Post (June Squibb, 
94!) gets duped by a phone 
scammer pretending to 
be her grandson. She sets 
out on a dangerous quest 
to reclaim what was taken 
from her.

Advance reviews 
(Sundance) are quite good. 
Thelma is the first feature 
film directed and written by 
Josh Margolis, 35. His film 
is based on a real scam 
played on Josh’s elderly 
Jewish grandma.
Fred Hechinger, 25, 
co-stars as Thelma’s grand-
son, Danny. Hechinger 
gained attention in 2020-
2021 when he had a big 
supporting role in News of 
the World, a hit Tom Hanks 
movie, and had a big “main 
cast” role in the first season 
of White Lotus, a hit HBO 
series. He co-stars in the 
latest Spiderman movie, 
Kraven the Hunter, which 
opens in August. British 
Jewish actor Aaron Taylor 
Johnson, 33, plays the title 
role.
Janet Planet is a drama 
that opens in theaters on 
June 21. Annie Baker, 43, 
an acclaimed playwright, is 
the director and writer of 
Janet. It is the first film that 
she wrote and directed.
In 2014, Baker won the 
Pulitzer Prize for her play, 
Flick, and, in 2017, she was 
honored with a MacArthur 
Genius Grant ($625K, paid 
out over five years).
Baker’s mother is Jewish, 
and she identifies as 
Jewish. Her husband, Nico 

Baumbach, a film theorist, 
is a Columbia University 
professor. He’s the brother 
of well-known director and 
writer Noah Baumbach, 54 
(Barbie, Marriage Story).
Janet is set in 1991. 
Janet (Julianne Nicholson) 
is described as an acu-
puncturist hippie. As the 
film begins, Janet and her 
“clingy” 11-year-old daugh-
ter, Lucy, are spending a 
summer at a house in rural 
New England.
Janet invites three peo-
ple that Lucy doesn’t like 
to visit: her boyfriend (Will 
Patton) and her friends Avi 
(Elias Koteas) and Regina 
(Sophie Okonedo, 55).
Okonedo, an Oscar-
nominated British actress, 
is the daughter of a 
Nigerian father and a 
British Jewish mother. She 
was raised by her mother 
and strongly identifies as 
Jewish.
On June 25, Hulu and 
Disney+ will premiere the 
documentary Diane Von 
Furstenberg, a Woman in 
Charge. The life of this very 
famous fashion designer is 
so full of events and celebs 
that it is almost exhausting 
to read about it.
Here’s a very short 
bio that might whet your 
appetite for more (like the 
documentary): She was 
born (1946) and raised 
in Belgium. Her mother, 

Lillane, was a Greek Jew 
who settled in Belgium 
before the war. She joined 
the anti-Nazi resistance, 
was captured — and she 
barely survived Auschwitz. 
Diane’s father, Leon Halfin, 
was born in Romania and 
settled in Belgium in the 
’20s, He found refuge in 
Switzerland during WWII.
Her father had the means 
to send her to a boarding 
school and to quality uni-
versities. After graduation, 
she worked as assistant 
to a fashion photographer 
and, after that, learned a lot 
about textiles in Italy.
In 1969, she married 
Egon Von Furstenberg. His 
family was an “ancient” 
German noble family. Such 
families lost their “legal” 
nobility after WWI, but most 
continued to use their titles. 
Egon was a “prince”— and 
Diane was the (Jewish) 
princess of Furstenberg.
Shortly after they mar-
ried, Diane began design-
ing dresses — and she 
quickly had children with 
Egon in 1970 and 1971 (I 
have no idea if either of her 
two children had/have any 
connection to Judaism).
Diane became “big” 
when the now-famous DVF 
wrap dress was introduced 
in 1974. By 1976, a million 
wrap dresses had been 
sold.
Diane and Egon had 

an open marriage. They 
remained friends after 
their separation in 1973 
and divorced in 1983. 
Meanwhile, Diane had 
hook-ups and longer affairs 
with many celebrities. In a 
very long June 6 profile, 
Diane told NY Times 
columnist Maureen Dowd 
that she wanted to live her 
life like a man — she was 
referring to her business 
and her sex life.
In 2001, she married her 
longtime friend, billionaire 
Barry Diller, now 82. He 
was a top entertainment 
executive and, over time, 
became a media owner. 
Diana and Diller have been 
major philanthropists.
In case the other Jewish 
media doesn’t note this: 
There is a good chance 
that an American Jewish 
woman (who had a bat 
mitzvah ceremony) 
will make the Olympic 
women’s swim team, and 
it’s certainly possible that 
she will win an Olympic 
medal. I am referring to 
Claire Weinstein, who is 
just 17. The members of 
the team are picked in trial 
swim races that began 
June 15 and end on June 
22. Weinstein has qualified 
to swim in seven races, 
and she will appear in 
almost a race every day 
of this week (all on NBC; 
check times). 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

BY FRANK SCHULENBURG

June Squibb

DAVID SHANKBONE

Diane Von Furstenberg

IMDB

Sophie Okonedo