Is Nora Ephron Jewish?

Nora Ephron was Jewish. However, she was not religious. In an NPR interview she said, "You can never have too much butter – that is my belief. If I have a religion, that's it."

Nora Ephron was born on May 19, 1941 and she died on June 26, 2012.

Source: AP

She was born in New York City to Phoebe (née Wolkind) and Henry Ephron, who were both screenwriters. Both of Ephron's parents were Jewish. When she was four years old, the family moved to Beverly Hills, California.

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Is Ray Bradbury Jewish?

Ray Bradbury was not Jewish. The famous author was born in 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois and died on June 5, 2012.

Bradbury was born to to Esther Moberg Bradbury and Leonard Spaulding Bradbury. His mother was a Swedish immigrant. His father worked as a power and telephone lineman. Bradbury was married for 56 years to his muse and late wife, Maggie.

Ray Bradbury was descended from Mary Bradbury, who was tried at Salem witch trials in 1692.

In interviews, Ray Bradbury claimed to be a "delicatessen religionist" and not a member of one particular faith. He explained that he drew from many faiths and credited God for being such an amazing and prolific writer. In a 2010 interview with CNN, he said he decided to write his first short story at 12his friendships with everyone from Walt Disney to Alfred Hitchcock—is based on love.

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Is Maurice Sendak Jewish?

Maurice Sendak is Jewish. The famous children's author Maurice Sendak, who died on Tuesday, May 8, 2012, was born to Polish Jewish immigrants. Born in Brooklyn, New York  to Sarah Schindler and Philip Sendak. His father was a dressmaker.

Most of Sendak's extended family perished in The Holocaust. Sendak decided to become an illustrator after seeing Disney's Fantasia at twelve. Sendak's father would tell him tales from the Torah and the young Sendak would embellish these narratives into his own stories. His most famous book was the children's bestseller "Where the Wild Things Are".

Sendak was a gay man and lived with his partner, Eugene Glynn, a psychoanalyst. The couple was together for 50 years before Eugene Glynn’s death in May 2007. Maurice Sendak donated $1 million to the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services to memorialize his life partner Glynn, who had treated young people there.

Sendak died on May 8, 2012 in Danbury, Connecticut, from complications of a stroke.

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Is Jan Berenstain Jewish?

No, Jan Berenstain was not Jewish. However, her husband Stan Berenstain was Jewish. Jan Berenstain was Episcopalian. The Berenstain Bears are the brainchild of husband and wife Stan and Jan Berenstain.

Stan died in November 2005 and Jan died in February 2012.

 As reported in the Jewish Daily Forward, "The New Yorker’s Book Bench blog pops that balloon. While the blog reports that (Jewish) Stan and (Episcopalian) Jan 'resisted religious elements in their books for children,' son Mike is taking the series in a decidedly goyish direction. Indeed, Berenstain the younger has launched a new series of Berenstain tales as part of the 'Living Lights' series published by Zonderkidz, a division of Zondervan, a Christian publisher based in Michigan."

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