52 | DECEMBER 19 • 2024 
J
N

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

