Friday 27 April 2012

Is Adam Yauch Jewish?

Adam Yauch was Jewish. One-third of the rap group The Beastie Boys, Adam Nathaniel Yauch was born to a Jewish mother and a Catholic father. Adam Yauch died on Friday, May 4, 2012.


Yauch was a practicing Buddhist and a vegan. His wife is Dechen Wangdu. The couple has a daughter, Tenzin Losel Yauch. He recently lived in New York City. Yauch was treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node and has underwent surgery and radiation therapy.

Together with fellow Beasties bandmates Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond, Yauch was inducted into the Music Hall of Fame in 2012 although for dire health reasons Yauch was not able to attend. Horovitz and Diamond, who are also both Jewish, have vowed not to perform live until Yauch is healthy again. He is suffering from throat cancer.

Monday 23 April 2012

Is Jon Lovitz Jewish?

Jon Lovitz is Jewish. The Saturday Night Live alum was born to two Jewish parents. Jonathan Lovitz was born in Los Angeles, California.


Jon Lovitz's parents were of Hungarian, Romanian and Russian descent. Lovitz's father, a medical doctor, was the family doctor to Michael Jackson and his family during his youth.

Is Scarlett Johansson Jewish?

Scarlett Johansson is Jewish. Johansson was raised in a Jewish family. She was born in New York City on November 22, 1984 to her mother Melanie Sloan, who is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and Karsten Johansson, who is not Jewish.


Is Jason Biggs Jewish?

Jason Biggs is not Jewish. The actor, who is a native of Pompton Plains, New Jersey, is Roman Catholic.


He was born to Angela and Gary Biggs. Though he is often mistaken for a Jewish man, Jason Biggs is an Italian American and was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. He is married to Jenny Mollen.

Is Elie Weisel Jewish?

Yes, Elie Weisel is Jewish. The Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate was born in Sighet, Transylvania (now Sighetu Marmaţiei), Maramureş, Kingdom of Romania, in the Carpathian Mountains. Elie Weisel's mother was Sarah Feig and his father was Chlomo Weisel.

Friday 20 April 2012

Is Jason Segel Jewish?

Jason Segel is Jewish on his father's side. His mother is not Jewish.


Jason Segel was born in Los Angeles. His mother is Jillian Jordan and his Jewish father is Alvin G. Segel, who is a lawyer. Jason Segel was raised in the Jewish religion, but he also attended St. Matthew's Parish School, which is a private Episcopal school.

Jason Segel is reportedly dating Michelle Williams. Segel announced that Michelle Williams is his girlfriend in April 2012.

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Is Dick Clark Jewish?

Dick Clark was not Jewish. Dick Clark was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He died on April 18, 2012. Dick Clark was the son of Julia Fuller (née Barnard) Clark and Richard Augustus Clark.

Is Levon Helm Jewish?

Levon Helm is not Jewish. The drummer and frequent lead singer of The Band is not a Jew. He was born Mark Lavon Helm in Marvell, Arkansas.


Elton John's song "Levon" refers to Levon Helm and Elton John named his son Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John.

It was announced on April 18, 2012 that Levon Helm is in the final stages of cancer.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Is Josh Radnor Jewish?

Yes Josh Radnor is Jewish. His father Alan Radnor is a medical malpractice lawyer and his mother is Carol Radnor.

Josh Radnor was born in Columbus, Ohio. He attended the Columbus Torah Academy, an Orthodox day school in Columbus, Ohio and was also educated at Congregation Tifereth Israel, a Conservative synagogue where he celebrated his bar mitzvah. He attended Bexley High School and then Kenyon College. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts.


Radnor's Broadway debut was in the stage version of The Graduate with Kathleen Turner and Alicia Silverstone. He has starred in How I Met Your Mother and he made his directorial debut with happythankyoumoreplease, in which he was also the leading actor and a writer.

Thursday 12 April 2012

Is Leonard Nimoy Jewish?

Leonard Nimoy is Jewish. Yes, Spock from Star Trek is a Jew.

Leonard Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jews who immigrated from Ukraine (former Soviet Union). Max Nimoy, Leonard's father, owned a barbershop and Dora Spinner, his mother, was a homemaker.

Playing Spock in both television and movie versions of Star Trek, Nimoy's character used the hand gesture used by kohanim (Jewish priests) for his Vulcan salute. Nimoy created the Vulcan sign from his childhood memories of the kohen blessing the congregation in synagogue.

Leonard Nimoy explains the Priestly Blessing while wearing a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl) and how he came to create the Vulcan salute (video below):


Wednesday 11 April 2012

Is Gary Bettman Jewish?

Gary Bettman is Jewish. The current commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL), Gary Bettman was born in Queens, New York. He attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity (AEPi). He graduated Cornell in 1974 and received his law degree from New York University School of Law.


Bettman lives with his wife, Shelli, and their three children Lauren, Jordan, and Brittany in Saddle River, New Jersey.

Is Bruce Springsteen Jewish?

Bruce Springsteen is not Jewish. He was raised Roman Catholic.


E-Street band mate Max Weinberg is Jewish.

 According to an April 2012 article in the New York Times, 18 fans of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band gathered around a table upstairs at Madison Square Garden before a concert to celebrate Passover with a seder. The seder attendees were joined for a short time by saxophonist, Jake Clemons, the nephew of deceased band member Clarence Clemons.

Is George Zimmerman Jewish?

George Zimmerman is not Jewish. The man accused of killing Trayvon Martin, the African American man who was unarmed, on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida.

 

George Michael Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin's killer, has been identified in the news media as a 28-year-old Hispanic American. At the time of the shooting, Zimmerman was working as a community watch coordinator. He is the son of Robert Zimmerman Sr., an American, and Gladys Zimmerman, who is Peruvian. According to Zimmerman's voter registration, he self-identifies as Hispanic. On April 11, 2012 it was announced that George Zimmerman will face second degree murder charges.

Monday 9 April 2012

Is Mike Wallace Jewish?

Mike Wallace was Jewish. The journalist Mike Wallace died Saturday, April 7, 2012 at 93 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Mike Wallace was born Myron Leon Wallace in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Russian Jewish parents Frank and Zina (Sharfman) Wallace. His father was a grocer and insurance broker. The family shortened their family name from Wallechinsky to Wallik and eventually to Wallace. Wallace earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, where he worked for the Michigan Daily student newspaper and was a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.


Mike Wallace retired from his anchor desk on "60 Minutes" in 2006 after spending 38 seasons with the program. Wallace interviewed PLO leader Yasser Arafat and was accused of allowing Arafat to declare anti-Israel propaganda without rebuke.

Mike Wallace's son Chris is the host of Fox News Sunday for the Fox News network.