Growing up Jewish in Philadelphia, Shari Albert 
and her family would go out every year on 
Christmas for Chinese food.
“It was the one cool thing we got to do on 
Christmas while all the other kids were unwrap-
ping what felt like endless presents under their 
trees. I feel most American-born Jews have a 
connection to this ritual,” says Albert, who is the 
co-writer and director of Double Happiness, a 
short indie film spotlighting this very topic.
It was Christmas Eve 2020 when Laura LeeLun 

tweeted: “Why has no one written a “Christmas” 
rom-com about a lonely Jewish widow and the 
Chinese restaurant owner who serves her every 
year but is too shy to reveal his feelings?”
LeeLun’s tweet received almost 
200,000 likes, including one from 
Albert.
“That tweet went viral, and I instant-
ly knew that I wanted to be a part 
of telling this story,” Albert said. “So, 
Laura and I connected and formed 
an incredible partnership and a true 
friendship as a result. We created this world of 
Double Happiness together and now, all the char-
acters feel like family — and we’re their parents.

As their “parents,” LeeLun and Albert, have cast 
Clem Cheung as Richard Wang, the curmudgeon-
ly Chinese American restauranteur; Kathryn Grody 
as Jewish spitfire Lillian Zelman; and Beth Dover 
as Lillian’s daughter, Julie. 
“I've been a fan of Kathryn’s for 
years and when she and her hus-
band, Mandy Patinkin, went viral 
on social media during the pan-
demic, she was top of my list when 
Laura and I started writing Double 
Happiness as a feature film,” said 
Albert, who is the 2022 alum of the prestigious 
“The Writer's Lab” fellowship for women writers 
over 40 sponsored by Meryl Streep and Nicole 

ARTS&LIFE

M

andy Patinkin is sitting on a park bench in New 
York City, learning his lines for his next undis-
closed project, while his “daughter” Becky keeps 
him company.
“She’s my baby,” the prolific stage, film and TV star says 
of Becky, a Great Pyrenees yellow lab mix.
But Patinkin is also an equal-opportunity kveller of his 
grandson and the newest addition to his family, a grand-
daughter, whose baby naming was coming up that week-
end. These days, Patinkin and his wife, actress and writer 
Kathryn Grody, are partial to the monikers of Gramps and 
Grangie (for Grannie G).
“It’s fun being grandparents. It’s wonderful. We’re just so 
blessed. We’re so grateful and our kids are amazing,” says 
Patinkin, who won a Tony award for his role as Che in 
Evita. 
Patinkin has an innate finesse for playing complex Jewish 
characters like Avigdor in Yentl and Saul Berenson for eight 
seasons on Showtime’s Homeland series.
Following the baby naming, Grody was already planning 
Rosh Hashanah.
“We’re going to celebrate with all of our local family and 
friends. I’m very thrilled that we can all be under one roof, 
in person, after the pandemic. I’m really looking forward to 
it,” Grody says. 
In between simchahs, Grody and Patinkin are profoundly 
active in many humanitarian causes including the American 
Jewish World Service, the International Rescue Committee, 
Jewish Democratic Council of America and the Movement 
Voter Project.
“We’re writing postcards and trying to get young people 
to vote. I talk about voting and how people feel everywhere 
I go — to strangers, in taxi cabs — because this is the elec-
tion of our lives,” Grody says with urgency.
Right after Rosh Hashanah, Patinkin is going back on the 
road Oct. 5 with an eclectic touring schedule. His first stop 
in Greenvale, New York, includes a screening and Q&A of 
the Princess Bride, in which he starred as Inigo Montoya. 
Other dates feature “
A Conversation with Mandy Patinkin 

Mandy Patinkin and 
Kathryn Grody talk art, 
family and politics.

JULIE SMITH YOLLES
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

48 | OCTOBER 3 • 2024 J
N

Laura 
LeeLun

Shari 
Albert

TONJE THILESEN

Kathryn Grody and 
Mandy Pantinkin at 
home with Becky 

