52 | DECEMBER 19 • 2024
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MARVEL & DISNEY FLICKS;
AGAIN, THE “RED MUNCHKIN”
AND MORE
I start with a “catch-up” film.
Kraven the Hunter opened in
theaters on Dec. 13. It is based
on a character in Marvel Comics.
Here’s the official premise: Kraven
has a complex relationship with
his father that sets him on a path
of vengeance and motivates him
to become the greatest and most
feared hunter.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 34, a
(very handsome) British Jew, plays
Kraven. He’s had some good
roles and even won a Golden
Globe award in 2016 (supporting
actor, Nocturnal Animals).
However, Kraven may be his first
“breakthrough” as an action film
star.
Fred Hechinger, 25, plays
Dmitri Smerdyakov/aka the
Chameleon. Dmitri is Kraven’s
estranged half-brother and a
master of disguise. Last month,
Hechinger had a biggish role
(Emperor Carcalla) in Gladiator II.
I don’t think the Disney
animated film Mufasa: The Lion
King will be a movie theater hit as
big as Moana 2, but it probably
will be a big hit. (Opens on Dec.
20).
The film is about how Mufasa
became the Lion King. The story
is told, by a mandrill, to Mufasa’s
grandchildren, after Mufasa’s
death. Simba, Mufasa’s son, is
now the king of “Pride Rock.”
Seth Rogen, 42, provides
the voice of Pumbaa, a good-
humored warthog, and Billy
Eichner, 46, voices Timon, a wise-
cracking meerkat. Timon and
Pumbaa befriended Simba when
he was a cub.
Preston Nyman, 27, voices
Zazu, an uptight, red-and-yellow

hornbill who served as Mufasa’s
“majordomo.” He’s supposed to
uphold order but is rarely taken
seriously (he’s small and has a
fragile temper).
Nyman is English. His father,
Andy Nyman, 58, is an English
actor, director, writer, singer and
magician. His Jewish roles include
Tevye, in a British 2019 revival
of Fiddler on the Roof, and as a
Polish Jewish freedom fighter in
Uprising, a 2001 film.
Jeffrey D. Nathanson, 59,
wrote the Mufasa screenplay.
He wrote or co-wrote 15 films,
including big hits like Catch Me
if You Can (2002) and The Lion
King (2019).

MORE ON THE RED MUNCHKIN
Here’s the rest of the story (that I
know) about Jackie Gerlich (born
Jackie Fox). He played one of the
three members of the Lollipop
Guild in the Wizard of Oz.
Dave Fox, Jackie’s older
brother, gave several interviews
to the Leo Baeck Institute in the
1990s. He said that his parents
agreed to let Leo Singer, a
vaudeville impresario, take Jackie
to America in 1936. Singer told
Jackie’s parents that Jackie
(then 10 years old) would be

well-paid in America. Sadly,
Singer gradually stopped writing
to Jackie’s parents and Singer
“stiffed” Jackie — giving him
almost no wages.
Singer was often awful, but
he did save Jackie’s life — he
got Jackie out of Austria before
the Nazis annexed Austria in
1938. Plus, the exposure Jackie
got with the “Singer Midgets”
and in the Wizard of Oz got the
attention of Ringling Brothers
management. Jackie was hired
as one of several dwarf clowns in
the famous touring circus.
Dave Fox and his brother,
Jacob, escaped Austria shortly
after the Nazi take-over and
made their way to America. The
brothers’ parents managed to
get out of Austria in 1939 and
they finally had a reunion with
their three sons in America. Dave
became an engineer, and he
married a German Jewish refugee
(1943) from a prominent family.
He became a respected artistic
painter in his later years.
Jackie died in 1960, age 35.
He lived in Sarasota, Florida, the
“winter home” of the Ringling
circus. He owned a home
in Sarasota. Sadly, he died,
suddenly, of violent cramps. (I’m

now trying to get the transcript
of a 1957 Mike Wallace/Jackie
Gerlich interview).

MADONNA’S DAUGHTERS
Recently, I read a November issue
of New Yorker magazine and it
briefly mentioned that Madonna’s
(adopted) twin daughters had bat
mitzvahs, last September, at the
New York Kabbalah Centre. I then
found a long September 2024
People article with many photos
of the bat mitzvahs. In that article,
I learned that Madonna’s adopted
son, David, 18, and her biological
son, Rocco Ritchie, 24, had
Kabbalah Centre bar mitzvahs.
I don’t know if these four young
people converted to any wing
of Judaism — and I don’t know
if any mainstream rabbi would
find that their bat/bar mitzvahs
were “kosher.” It’s best if you
read the People (free online)
article yourself. Here’s the title
to Google: “Madonna Celebrates
Twin Daughters Stella and Estere
at Their Bat Mitzvah Surrounded
by Family and Friends — See
Photos!”
Final word: A Complete
Unknown, the Bob Dylan bio-flick,
opens on Dec. 25. I will cover it in
detail in my Dec. 26 column.

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

CELEBRITY NEWS
ARTS&LIFE

Fred Hechinger

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL/WIKIPEDIA

Preston Nyman

IMDB

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

IMDB