42 | AUGUST 1 • 2024
J
N
A FUNNY CRIME FILM,
ELIZABETH TAYLOR
SPEAKS CANDIDLY,
NEWHART AND THE JEWS
The Instigators opens in a
few theaters on Aug. 2 and
then begins streaming on
Apple TV+ on Aug. 9. It’s
a comedy crime heist flick.
Premise: A botched rob-
bery causes two thieves
(Matt Damon and Casey
Affleck) to go on the run,
dragging along one of their
therapists in the process.
Michael Stuhlbarg, 55,
and Ron Perlman, 74, have
fairly large supporting
roles. Doug Liman, 58,
directed. His hits include
Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The
Bourne Identity.
On Aug. 3 (8 p.m.), a
new documentary titled
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost
Tapes premieres on HBO/
Max. The film was directed
by Nanette Burstein, 54.
(Her best-known docu-
mentaries include Hillary
and The Kid Stays in the
Picture). The “lost tapes”
refer to 40 hours of newly
unearthed audio tapes of
interviews that Taylor gave
to Life magazine reporter
Richard Meryman in 1965.
Taylor talks about every-
thing in her life — as a
child actress star, her
breakthrough as an adult
actress in hits like Giant
and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,
and about her marriages
(Richard Burton, who she
was married to in 1965,
was her fifth husband).
The Hollywood Reporter
gave the film a very posi-
tive review. The reviewer
praised Burstein’s deft
editing of the tapes, and
her appropriate inser-
tion of “visuals” (photos
and relevant film clips). The
Reporter also noted how
candid and biting Taylor
could be.
As most know, Taylor
converted to Judaism
when she married Eddie
Fisher (husband No. 4)
in 1959. Fisher didn’t ask
her to convert. It was her
choice. I’m not sure if
Taylor practiced Judaism
“much” after her split with
Fisher. But I do know that
she always called herself
Jewish and she had a
Jewish funeral.
In the near future, I will
write something about
Faye, a bio-pic documen-
tary about Faye Dunaway,
which premiered on July
13 on HBO/Max. The film
prompted me to look up
all her Jewish connections
— and I was astonished to
learn that virtually every hit
film she was in was written
and/or directed by a Jew —
and she had many Jewish
romantic partners — and
one Jewish husband. So,
if you watch the Taylor
flick, check out Faye, too,
and look for my Jewish/
Dunaway connections item.
Before and after his
recent death, every person
who was interviewed about
Bob Newhart described
him as kind, funny and
always professional. You
could just tell by the tenor
in their voices that every-
thing they said was genu-
ine.
When Newhart broke
into stand-up comedy
in 1959, he was kind of
an oddball. He was an
accountant and a practic-
ing Catholic. I can’t think of
another famous stand-up
who was an accountant
and, in 1959, most stand-up
comedians were Jewish.
But he had two things
going for him: He was easy
to work with and, most
important, he was the cre-
ator of really funny stuff.
Virtually every American
star actor or comedian has
or had important personal
and professional Jewish
connections. Newhart had
more than most. Here are
some of them: Dan Sorkin,
a Chicago D.J., listened to
Newhart’s comedy tapes
and loved them. Sorkin
got Newhart booked for
his first live stand-up
shows, and he got him a
record company contract.
Newhart’s first comedy
album was a surprise huge
seller; Newhart is most
famous for his “one-sid-
ed” phone conversations
with imaginary people.
He said this “shtick” was
inspired by routines by
Shelley Berman and by
the team of Mike Nichols
and Elaine May; The Bob
Newhart Show was cre-
ated by and written by
two Brooklyn-born Jews:
David Davis and Gerald
“Lorenzo” Music. The late
Suzanne Pleshette, who
played Bob’s wife, was
Jewish; Buddy Hackett
got Newhart (1962) a blind
date with Ginnie Quinn.
She married Bob in 1963.
Like Newhart, Ginnie was
a Catholic of mostly Irish
ancestry. They had four
children, one of them had
the nickname “Buddy”—
that was gratitude for
Buddy’s matchmaking.
Last January, I wrote
about a 20-minute 2023
documentary titled Bob
and Don: A Love Story.
This Judd Apatow film (on
YouTube) had an interview
with Bob and Ginnie about
how (the late) Don Rickles
and his (late) wife, Barbara,
were great friends and the
couples (and their children)
did everything together. In
a clip shown on a CBS spe-
cial about Newhart (July
22), Newhart said that he
and Rickles “were brothers
of the heart.” He said his
family celebrated Jewish
holidays with the Rickles
family and the Rickles
celebrated Christmas with
his family. Newhart added
that their friendship was
based on similarities. He
was referring to their kind
personalities in private and
their devotion to their fam-
ilies.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
JIM WALLACE
JAY GODWIN
MIGUEL DISCART
Bob Newhart
Michael Stuhlbarg
Ron Perlman