“Jews in the Limelight”: Winona Ryder, Larry King, Jerry Seinfeld, Mel Brooks, and more...
By Nate Bloom

Star Trekery

Winona Ryder, 36, has been cast as Mr. Spock's human mother in the upcoming "Star Trek" film about the adventures of the young Spock and the young Captain Kirk. As Trek fans know, Mr. Spock is the product of a mixed marriage--his father is Vulcan and his mother is human. Likewise, Ryder is from a mixed background--her father is Jewish and her mother is not. Ryder, who was born Winona Horowitz, has called herself Jewish a couple of times, and has talked about relatives lost in the Holocaust, but she was not raised in any faith.

The new Trek film, directed by J.J. Arams of Lost fame, is set to open in late 2008. It wasrecentlyannounced that William Shatner, 76,will not appear as the “old Kirk” and Shatner has publicly expressed his unhappiness about not being in the new film. Shatner's real-life buddy, Leonard Nimoy, also 76,will appear as the “old Spock” in Abrams' film and Anton Yelchin, 18, will play Star Fleet OfficerPavel Chekov. (The role of Chekov was created by actor Walter Koenig, 70.)

Septuagenarian News

Jerry Adler, 77, looks like he has the map of Israel written on his face and he has become the “go-to”actor for “old Jewish guy roles.” Among others: Hesh Rabkin, the Jewish mafia associateon “The Sopranos”; the father of Jewish White House aide Toby Ziegleron “The West Wing,” and Sidney Feinberg, a Jewish fire captain on “Rescue Me.”

The writers' strike delayed the premiere of Adler as yet another Jewish character--the father of BRAD GARRETTon the Fox series, “'Til Death.” A special Thanksgiving episode was shelved until the strike is over. (Valerie Harper, the non-Jewish actress who loves to play Jews--TV's Rhoda and Golda Meir on the stage--plays Garrett's mother).

Meanwhile, Adler recently was seen backstage at the Bruce Springsteen concert at Madison Square Garden--which is pretty cool. He was there as the special guest of Steve Van Zandt, who plays lead guitar for Springsteen as well as, of course, co-starring on “The Sopranos” as gangster Silvio Dante.

Adleris pretty hip for 77, but Larry King seems even older than his age (73). King is notorious for not prepping for guests and sometimes it seems that except for sports, he hasn't really absorbed a new fact in the last25 years. He recently drove Jerry Seinfeld, 53,crazy during an interview when he seemed unsure whether “Seinfeld,” the #1 show on TV when Jerry decided to end it, was canceled.

Jerry said to Larry, “Are you under the impression that I got canceled? Is this still CNN? Do you know who I am?...Can we get a résumé in here for me that Larry can go over?"

Jerry might have been a little harsh. Still, I have to believe that a lot of Larry's famous guests have thought the same thing over the years (i.e., does this guy know who I am?)--but didn't have the chutzpah and wit to call King on the carpet asSeinfelddid.

Seinfeld in Jerusalem

Almost all Israelis know that "Seinfeld" was a huge TV hit in America--and it was a hit in Israel, too. So, it was big news in the Israeli media when Jerry Seinfeld visited Israel in November to promote his new animated film, Bee Movie. The comedian was granted the honor of personal meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert andIsraeli President Shimon Peres.

Seinfeld contrasted his almost royal reception this time with the only other time he was in Israel--when as a teenager Jerry spent part of one summer working on an Israeli kibbutz. He said,“When I was 15 and worked in a kibbutz, no one was interested in meeting me. No one wanted my autograph or to be photographed with me. They just let me hack away at the banana leaves.”

Adrienne Shelly Tribute

Filmmaker and actress Adrienne Shelly, 40, was murdered in November, 2006 (her killer has reportedly confessed and awaits trial). A few months after her murder, Shelley's film, Waitress, opened to good reviews and strong ticket sales. (It came out on DVD on Nov. 27).

Shelly's Jewish husband, Andy Ostroy, founded the Adrienne Shelly Foundation after her death to award film school scholarships and grants to women filmmakers. The first gala benefit for the Foundation was held in New York on November 12.

Brooks Not Struck Down

The musical version of Mel Brooks' hit 1974 film, “Young Frankenstein,” opened on Broadway on Nov. 8. Reviews were so/so, but the show was doing great at the box-office. (It features new songs by Brooks). Sales were helped by the fact that most Broadway shows were shut down for most of the month of November by a stagehands strike. However, the theater where “Young Frankenstein” is playing is covered by a separate union agreement and it was unaffected by the strike.

A new biography of Brooks, It's Good to Be the King, by James Robert Parish, sheds some interesting light on the origin of “Young Frankenstein.” When Brooks was a teenager in Brooklyn in the 1930s he would entertain his pals by singing Irving Berlin's song, “Puttin' on the Ritz,” in a Boris Karloff accent (Karloff played theFrankenstein monsterin the original movie).

In the early '70s, Gene Wilder wrote the first draft of a satirical version of “Frankenstein.” Brooks teamed-up with him to write the final screenplay. Brooks told Wilder about his “Puttin' on the Ritz” routine--Frankenstein singing the Irving Berlin song.

Mel didn't think it would fit into their film. However, at Wilder's insistence, a scene featuring Dr. Frankenstein and the monster singing “Puttin' on the Ritz” was put into the 1974 film. The scene turned out to be among the most memorable in comedy movie history.

The Ritz number is in the new stage musical and every reviewer said it is a major highlight of the Broadway version of “Young Frankenstein.”

California-based Nate Bloom writes a column about Jewish celebrities, broadly defined, for five Jewish newspapers around the country. Most items in this column originally appeared in his newspaper column.