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