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The Southern Israelite
IVhy Jewish Movie Folk Are Not
More Jewish
By DAVID WEISSMAN
A list of trie heads and executives
in the business of making motion pic
tures is enough to convince anyone
that they arc largely Jews. On the
other hand, the list of prominent film
players include a minority of Jews.
Even when one takes into account
those who are in reality Jewish, or
even part Jewish, and by devious
methods attempt to hide it, the pro
portion still remains negligible.
The Jewish community life of
Hollywood, therefore, centers around
producers and other executives al
most wholly. Temple membership
and attendance, Jewish welfare work
and other intimate details of Jewish
life do not find motion picture stars
very much in prominence.
The B’nni B’rith Temple, the fore
most Jewish house of worship in Los
Angeles, has as its sponsors such men
and their families as Louis B. Mayer,
Trving Thalberg, Carl Laemmle, the
Warner brothers, Sol Lesser, Sid
Grauman, and many other great lead
ers in the industry—but only one
star.
The funny part about it is that
this star—Norma Shearer—was a
non-Jewess who embraced the Jewish
faith upon her marriage to Trving
Thalberg. Since then, she is setting
a model example for others of her
adopted race by her very regular at
tendance at services.
Sol Wurtzel, chief executive of Fox
Studios, is the founder of another Hol
lywood house of worship—the Temple
Israel. Wurtzel is now its honorary
life president, while the regular presi
dency is held by 1. E. Chadwick, an
other movie producer. To this Tem
ple come a great number of the exe
cutives of Fox Studios, several from
Universal Studios, and a sprinkling
from various of the other picture fac
tories. Still, there are no prominent
film players on the membership list
of this Temple.
The main reason for this is, as men
tioned before, that Jewish film players
are a scarcity. Another reason is that
most of those who are Jewish tend to
hide their nativity for business and
other reasons. A case in point is
Ricardo Cortez who, despite the pub
licity anent his having been born in
Spain, was, in reality, a Jewish boy
by the name of Jacob Krantz, born
on the East Side of New York. His
reputation rests on his ability to pro
tray Spanish roles and it is only nat
ural, then, that rather than injure his
stock in trade he lives up to the type
he has built himself up to be. How
ever, intermarriage did not claim him,
for he married Alma Rubens, a Jewish
film actress.
Another case of this kind is Rod
LaRocque, who formerly bore a very
Jewish name, but must now live up
to the Continental name he has chosen
and the roles he plays.
The changing of names is too well-
known amongst stage and film folk
to need comment. Even the Gentile
players change their plain or odd
sounding handles for something more
euphonious. But it seems that when
a Jewish actor makes a radical change
in his name to something Spanish,
French, or Irish, he also tends to break
away from his own people.
It, is therefore somewhat of a sur
prise to learn that Kenneth MacKenna
was formerly called Milziner and is
quite one hundred per cent Jewish.
The same is true of Norman Kerry,
who is really a member of the well-
known Kayser family, of silk fame.
Sue Carol, a clever little Jewish girl,
was formerly Evelyn Lederer, well-
known in Chicago social circles.
Sue Carol, as many others have
done, further removed herself from
Judaism by marrying a Roumanian
boy by the name of Nicholas Prata,
known to film fans as Nick Stuart.
The same is true of Douglas Fair
banks, whose real name is Nicholas
TJllman. Ben Lyon, another talented
Jewish boy, married a non-Jewess,
Bebe Daniels.
Since talking pictures have come
in, the infusion of new blood in the
industry naturally brought many
from a field which has always been
overwhelmingly Jewish. Vaudeville
and musical comedy have contributed
to Hollywood’s colony such outstand
ing Jews as A1 Jolson, Eddie Cantor,
Harry Green, Benny Rubin, Mitzie
Green and a few others. But there
are not enough of them to form a dis
tinctly Jewish colony.
One of the features of Hollywood
is its tendency toward professional
clanishness. Thus, actors work to
gether and, regardless of race or re
ligion, they play together. Their so
cial life is truly cosmopolitan and in
this way the Jewish members mingle
with their Irish, Spanish, German, and
French co-workers.
The demands of their daily work
also act as an obstacle to their min
gling more with their own people.
When a picture is under production,
the players generally have to be up
early and hard at work at whatever
hour they may he called. They have
no regular hours. They may have to
work on into the night and have little
time for rest before they must be back
on the set the following day. When
they are able to rest, they seek diver
sion and company close at hand. Con
trary to the popular “bed of roses”
conception of a screen player’s life,
it is one of hard and sometimes tedi
ous work with its natural reaction
of intense play or utter relaxation
and rest.
Nevertheless, this does not deter A1
Jolson from being one of the “angels”
of the local Jewish Consumptive Re
lief Association which maintains a
sanatorium not far from Los Angeles.
Besides his financial support, he many
times donates his talent for the enter
tainment of the inmates and at affairs
which are given for the benefit of that,
and also other institutions. Eddie
Cantor is more of a newcomer to Hol
lywood than is Jolson, but he has the
same Jewish tendency toward philan
thropic work. Most of his interest ii
this line lies in the East. As president
of the N. V. A., he is vitally concerned
about the tuberculosis sanatorium
maintained by that institution at
Saranac, N. Y.
The occasional benefit performance
staged by various Jewish charity or
ganization in Los Angeles find most
of the Jewish players quite willing t
donate their services. With them also
come quite a few of the Gentile actor
In the old days of the silent movie, it
was generally the custom for the star
to merely step on the stage, say two
or three words, take a bow and retire.
It has taken the former vaudevi Ilian-
to show them up by really putting on
a good show.
In explanation of why there is no
real community spirit amongst the
Jewish actors there is also the element
of insecurity that should be taken into
consideration. In the case of the pro
ducers and executives, they remain in
the business because they have their-
money invested in it or they are
specialized in their jobs. The actor,
however, must depend on public favor.
When the public is tired of him, lie
must leave and seek other fields of on
deavor. This has especially been tin*
case since the talkies came into being
Actors were brought to Hollywood in
droves. They were tried out and many
of them rejected before the public
even had a chance to see them on the
screen. Many more hung on for a
while, realizing that their position was
far from stable.
The past three years have been one-
of ebb and flow from the entire colony
of Hollywood. Of our Jewish actors.
Jack Benny and Gus Edwards are
well-known illustrations of this situs
tion. Quite recently, Lillian Roth’s
contract expired and Paramount Stud
ios declined to renew it, with the re
suit that Lillian left Hollywood for
the East. Warner Brothers dropped
A1 Jolson when his popularity waned.
Although United Artists will feature
him in a forthcoming production, the
general concensus of opinion is that
it will be his last film effort. Paul
Muni’s short lived term in Hollywood
gave him little time to see much of
the place and its people.
Just as is the case with the above,
it naturally follows that Eddie Cantor.
Harry Green and Benny Rubin are
treading on none too secure ground.
It is no wonder, then, that the forma
tion of a communal spirit amongst
Jewish actors in Hollywood can result
in nothing more than failure.
As far as the more secure member
of the film colony are concerned, thei
(Continued on Page 13)
JJo
one would be surprised
to learn that the majority of the executives of Holly
wood’s chief industry are Jews, nor would anyone be
surprised to know that there are comparatively few
Jewish moving picture luminaries. What people would
like to know is why Hollywood’s Jews—that is, the
Jews in the moving picture business, are not more Jewish,
why they have so little to do with Jewish communal and
religious affairs. Mr. Weissman explains this social phe
nomenon and at the same time gives some inkling of the
Jewish movie folk who play a role in Jewish affairs.—
I'he Editor.