Only in America Hall Of Fame - No Header or Footer - The Weitzman

God made man because he loves stories. --Elie Weisel

About Honorees (A-M)Honorees (N-Z)

The Ed Snider Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame celebrates extraordinary people whose lives demonstrate the power of what America makes possible. Some well-known, others less so, all left an indelible mark on America and the world. Together, their stories illustrate the unparalleled opportunity this country has offered Jews to aspire, achieve, and even change the world. They are stories of courage, imagination, aspiration, achievement, and service—stories that could happen only in America.

Honorees (A-M)

The entries appear alphabetically by last name. Swipe to the right or left and click on each image to read about the honoree.

Bella Abzug, 1971

Bella Abzug

1920-1998

<p>Bella Abzug once said that as a woman, her place was “in the house – the House of Representatives.” The first Jewish woman to serve in Congress, she received her law degree in 1947 and fought tirelessly on behalf of labor and tenants’ rights, as well as civil rights. During the McCarthy era, she was one of the few lawyers who spoke out against the House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1961, Abzug helped form Women Strike for Peace to protest nuclear proliferation. She was also known for her opposition to the United Nation’s 1975 “Zionism is Racism” resolution. Among Abzug’s congressional accomplishments was the introduction of the Equality Act of 1974, the first federal legislation in support of gay rights.</p>

Cyrus Adler

1863-1940

<p>Cyrus Adler is arguably the founder of what is now referred to as Jewish Studies in America. Born in Van Buren, Arkansas, he began his career as Honorary Assistant Curator of Semitics at the Smithsonian Institution, where he built the institution’s Hebraic collection. Adler also served as Special Commissioner to the Orient for the World’s Columbian Exhibition of 1893, and as an editor of the <em>Jewish Encyclopedia</em> from 1899 to 1905. He helped found The Jewish Publication Society of America in 1888, and later edited the first seven volumes of the <em>American Jewish Year Book</em> and the <em>Jewish Quarterly Review</em>. In 1908, he became president of Dropsie College in Philadelphia and, in 1924, became chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary.</p>

Stella Adler

1901-1992

<p>What do Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Martin Sheen, Melanie Griffith and Warren Beatty have in common? They were all taught how to act by Stella Adler. Considered one of America’s most influential drama teachers, Adler began her career as an actor at the age of four at the Lower East Side’s Grand Street Theater, which was a part of her parents’ theater company. She made her Broadway debut in 1922 and later moved to Hollywood to star in films and work as an associate producer at MGM. Eventually, she returned to New York and in 1949, founded the Stella Adler Conservatory which helped a generation of actors hone their craft. “Life beats down and crushes the soul, and art reminds you that you have one,” she is known to have said.</p>

Walter Annenberg

Walter Annenberg

1908-2002

<p>It was a simple idea. Create a national magazine for the television age that told everyone, wherever they lived, what was on TV. The idea was Walter Annenberg’s. His creation, <i>TV Guide</i>, catapulted his family’s publishing business into a media empire. In addition to <i>TV Guide</i>, Annenberg’s company created <i>Seventeen</i> magazine and led <i>The Philadelphia Inquirer</i> to a new level of journalistic excellence. He was appointed Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1969, and later established distinguished schools of communication at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Southern California. He also created the Annenberg Challenge, a $500 million education reform effort and the largest single gift ever made to American public education.</p>

Isaac Asimov

1920-1992

<p>The son of Orthodox parents, Isaac Asimov defined himself as a humanist and a rationalist. That blend of empathy and intellect runs through the works of this most prolific author, a master of science fiction and fantasy with more than 500 books to his name. Among his most beloved works are the <i>Foundation</i> series and the <i>Robot</i> series. The <i>Foundation</i> novels explore the destruction and rebirth of an enormous interstellar empire in a future universe, while the <i>Robot</i> novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot. In 1968, the Science Fiction Writers of America voted his short story “Nightfall” the best science fiction short story of all time.</p>

Red Auerbach

1917-2006

<p>Arnold “Red” Auerbach played a pivotal role in the development of professional basketball. In addition to helping to break down color barriers in the NBA, he transformed basketball into a game of team play and tough defense rather than of individual feats. As basketball coach for the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, and the Boston Celtics, Arnold “Red” Auerbach was also one of the most successful team officials in the history of American professional sports. Well-known for smoking a cigar when he thought his team had clinched a win, Auerbach won 938 games, nine NBA championships as coach, and seven NBA titles as general manager and team president. Auerbach was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969.</p>

Saul Bellow

1915-2005

<p>In 1965, author Saul Bellow became the first American to win the International Literary Prize. He won for <i>Herzog</i>, a postwar novel about the familial relationships of the title character. His fresh approach was acknowledged twelve years later when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The award committee noted that Bellow had taken American narrative art in a strikingly new direction, away from the “virile air and choppy prose” in fashion at the time. Bellow’s first novel, <i>Dangling Man</i>, was reviewed by almost every major newspaper in the nation when it appeared in 1944. Other works by the novelist include <i>Seize the Day</i> (1956), <i>The Adventures of Augie March</i> (1953), and <i>Henderson the Rain King</i> (1959).</p>

Senda Berenson Abbott

Senda Berenson Abbott

1868-1964

<p>In 1891, Dr. James Naismith invented the game of basketball at the YMCA in Springfield, MA. Senda Berenson, the gym director at Smith College, soon learned about it and saw the new sport as a great way promote physical fitness among young women. Known as the “Mother of Women’s Basketball,” Berenson immigrated to the United States from Lithuania as a seven-year-old and became the first woman enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1892, she established rules for women’s play, and in 1893 organized the first women’s collegiate basketball game. During the early 1900s, she edited the first Basketball Guide for Women, and helped to organize the Women’s Basketball Committee, which she chaired for twelve years.</p>

Gertrude Berg

1899-1966

<p>When her parents took over the operation of a boardinghouse in the Catskills, young Gertrude Berg wrote and performed skits to entertain the boarders. She would go on to become one of the first women to create, write, produce, and star in a long-running hit radio show. The show, <i>The Rise of the Goldbergs</i>, premiered in 1929 and followed the fortunes of an American Jewish family. In 1949, she convinced CBS to take the show to television, where it stayed in production for the next five years. For her performance as family matriarch Molly Goldberg, a role she played for 20 consecutive years on both radio and television, Berg received the first ever Emmy Award for Lead Actress.</p>

Irving Berlin

1888-1989

<p>Leave it to a Jewish immigrant from Russia to write the most popular Christmas song ever recorded. Indeed, extraordinary song-writing success followed Berlin throughout his career. Berlin grew up on New York’s Lower East Side. He launched his career in 1911 with the Tin Pan Alley hit “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” which stayed on the charts for five decades. Over the years he wrote more than 900 other songs, including “God Bless America,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Easter Parade,” and, of course, “White Christmas.” Berlin also composed seventeen film scores and 21 Broadway scores, including <i>Annie Get Your Gun</i> (1946). His impact on culture and the art of popular songwriting endures to this day.</p>

Leonard Bernstein

1918-1990

<p>Acclaimed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein made his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in November 1943. Filling in at the last minute for the ailing Bruno Walter, he wowed the critics and become famous virtually overnight. The long-time music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, his recordings include definitive interpretations from the symphonic repertoire. Bernstein was also committed to musical education and introduced a generation of children to classical music through his televised “Young People’s Concerts” series. A prolific composer, his works include the scores for the Broadway musicals <i>West Side Story</i> and <i>On The Town</i>, as well as Jewish-inspired works including <i>Jeremiah</i> and <i>Kaddish</i>.</p>

Fanny Brice

1891-1951

<p>Thanks to Barbra Streisand’s award-winning portrayal of her in the stage and film versions of the musical <i>Funny Girl</i>, modern audiences have some idea of Fanny Brice’s comic talents. Born Fania Borach on New York City’s Lower East Side, Brice rose to fame in 1909 with her role as a Yiddish-speaking Jewish girl in Irving Berlin’s musical <i>The College Girls</i>. Brice starred in the <i>Ziegfeld Follies</i> in the 1920s and 1930s, but she found her most comfortable and lasting place on the radio as Baby Snooks, a character that came to exemplify her acting career. A bratty toddler who commented on adult life, Baby Snooks continued to be a big hit until Brice’s sudden death in 1951.</p>

Sid Caesar

1922-2014

<p>The 1950s were known as the Golden Age of Television and Isaac Sidney “Sid” Caesar was one of the reasons why. A pioneer of television comedy, he began his career as a stand-up comic in the Catskills. During World War II, he performed comedy acts for soldiers and after the war he appeared on his own television show, <i>Admiral Broadway Revue</i>, alongside comedian Imogene Coca. From 1950 to 1954, Caesar starred in <i>Your Show of Shows</i>, a groundbreaking variety show whose writing staff included Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen. In 1954 he launched <i>Caesar’s Hour</i>, a one-hour, all-live sketch show that parodied movies, theater, and television and is recognized as one of the best comedy shows in television history.</p>

Aaron Copeland

1900-1990

<p>Perhaps no classical composer has captured the essence of the American spirit like Aaron Copland. Born in Brooklyn to Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, Copland’s early work was heavily influenced by jazz, but he later wove folk themes into his compositions. In 1942, he composed the patriotic orchestral works <i>Fanfare for the Common Man</i> and <i>Lincoln Portrait</i>, which included readings of Abraham Lincoln’s letters and speeches. His score for Martha Graham’s ballet, <i>Appalachian Spring</i> (1944), won the Pulitzer Prize. He also composed for such films as <i>Our Town</i> (1940) and <i>The Heiress</i> (1949), which won the Academy Award for Best Music in 1950. Known as “the dean of American composers,” Copland received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1987.</p>

Kirk Douglas

1916-2020

<p>Whatever role he played – tough guy, tortured artist, gladiator hero – Kirk Douglas displayed a visceral honesty and integrity that lit up the screen. Born Issur Danielovitch to Russian immigrants, actor and film producer Kirk Douglas became a major box-office star in the 1950s and 1960s. Known for his cleft chin and charismatic masculinity, his many roles included a cowboy in the western <i>Along the Great Divide</i> (1951), Vincent Van Gogh in <i>Lust for Life</i> (1956), and a military man in <i>Is Paris Burning?</i> (1966). Two of his best films were ones he produced, <i>Paths of Glory</i> (1957) and <i>Spartacus</i> (1960). In 1996, he received an Honorary Academy Award for “50 years as a moral and creative force in the motion picture community.”</p>

Bob Dylan

b. 1941

<p>Once upon a time, rock and roll was all about cool cars and going steady. Then someone made it grow up and speak to life’s complexities. That someone was Bob Dylan. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “Bob Dylan is the uncontested poet laureate of the rock and roll era and the preeminent singer/songwriter of modern times.” His compositions defied pop-music conventions and explored American song traditions, including folk, blues, and gospel. In 2008, Dylan received a Special Citation by the Pulitzer Prize jury, making him the first popular musician to receive the honor. The jury recognized his “profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.”</p>

Gertrude Belle Elion

Gertrude Belle Elion

1918-1999

<p>When biochemist Gertrude Belle Elion began her career in the 1940s, women had few opportunities to conduct cutting-edge research. So Elion made her own, working first as a lab assistant and then as a high school teacher. She never obtained a formal Ph.D., but her groundbreaking research led to the development of drugs used to treat angina, high blood pressure, ulcers, leukemia, gout, and infectious diseases. At Burroughs Wellcome Laboratories, she helped develop a drug to treat leukemia. Later, she formulated drugs to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, herpes, and malaria. In 1988, Elion shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discoveries.</p>

Edna Ferber

1885-1968

<p>Critics would cite Edna Ferber’s rich imagination and her scene and plot development as reasons for her enormous popularity. Her fans would simply say she wrote wonderful stories. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1925 for her novel <i>So Big</i>, and many of her best-known books were turned into movies or Broadway shows. <i>Show Boat</i> (1926), the story of a young girl on a floating theater on the Mississippi River, became a long-running musical that was later followed by three movie versions. Among Ferber’s other books and plays adapted to film, <i>Cimarron</i> (1929) captured the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1931 and <i>Stage Door</i> (1926) featured Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers.</p>

Frank Gehry

b. 1929

<p>Frank Gehry is known to be obsessed with fish. Once you get that, the undulating curves and fins of his landmark design, the titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, make perfect sense. Born into a Polish-Jewish family in Toronto, Ontario, he founded his own architectural firm in 1962 and has created numerous architectural masterpieces, including Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the IAC/InterActiveCorp Headquarters in New York City. Not afraid to experiment, Gehry has also incorporated the fish motif into his architecture, glass, art, and jewelry designs. He is that rare architect who has not only garnered critical acclaim but has also become a household name.</p>

George and Ira Gershwin

George and Ira Gershwin

<p>Subtract the Gershwin songs from the great American songbook and you’d be left with a pretty thin pamphlet. Composer George Gershwin and his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin, gave the world “Summertime,” “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” “’S Wonderful,” and many other unforgettable melodies. The sons of Russian immigrants, the Gershwin’s also combined their talents on a succession of Broadway musicals, including <i>Porgy and Bess, Girl Crazy,</i> and <i>Lady, Be Good!</i> Their 1931 show, <i>Of Thee I Sing</i>, was the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize. The duo also wrote jazz standards, and George Gershwin’s orchestral tone poem, “<i>Rhapsody in Blue</i>,” is considered a modern classic.</p>

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

1933-2020

<p>Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a woman of firsts. An outspoken champion of feminist causes, she was the first Jewish woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was also the first woman to make both the Harvard and Columbia law reviews. Prior to serving on the Court, Ginsburg distinguished herself as a professor of law at Rutgers Law School in Newark, as co-founder of the <i>Women’s Rights Law Reporter</i>, and as director of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. She served on the U.S. Court of Appeals from 1980 until her appointment in 1993 to the U.S. Supreme Court, where she was a judicious voice in support of civil liberties.</p>

Benny Goodman

1909-1986

<p>On the evening of January 16, 1938, the walls of New York’s Carnegie Hall reverberated with strange, wild sounds. It was jazz, courtesy of Benny Goodman and his band. Critics described that groundbreaking concert as one of the single most important popular music concerts in history. And it took an innovator like Benny Goodman to pull it off. Musician, bandleader, and virtuoso clarinetist, Goodman was known as the King of Swing, and in the years between the two World Wars, his band was one of the most popular. Goodman helped launch the careers of countless jazz musicians who went on to become superstars, and he brought black and white musicians together in his bands, a daring step during a racially segregated era.</p>

Rebecca Gratz

1781-1869

<p>She was gracious, beautiful, and a proud member of Philadelphia’s elite society. But more importantly, Rebecca Gratz set the standard for Jewish philanthropy in America. At the age of twenty, she helped establish the Female Association for the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances, Philadelphia’s first nonsectarian women’s charitable organization. In 1815, she helped found the Philadelphia Orphan Asylum, and in 1819, founded the Female Hebrew Benevolent Association. Her concern for Jewish education led her to establish the first Hebrew Sunday School in America and the Jewish Foster Home. It is said that Rebecca was the inspiration for Sir Walter Scott’s heroine of the same name in his novel, <i>Ivanhoe</i>.</p>

Hank Greenberg

1911-1986

<p>There are a number of activites Jews are forbidden to perform on the solemn holiday of Yom Kippur. Eating is one. Playing baseball is another, although it’s not specifically mentioned in rabbinic literature. Professional baseball player Hank Greenberg held to that tradition in 1934 even though his team, the Tigers, were in the middle of a pennant race. Born in New York to Orthodox Jewish parents, Greenberg was also one of the leading hitters of his generation, hitting 58 home runs in the 1938 season. He was a five-time All-Star, twice named the American League’s Most Valuable Player, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956.</p>

Solomon Guggenheim

Solomon Guggenheim

1861-1949

<p>Thanks to the good taste and generosity of art collector Solomon Guggenheim, visitors to New York City can experience one of the world’s great collections of modern art. Born in Philadelphia to a wealthy mining family, he began collecting modern art in 1926 with his wife, Irene. They were particularly attracted to the European avant-garde, especially the art of Wassily Kandinsky. In 1930, the Guggenheims opened their private apartment in New York City’s Plaza Hotel for the public to view their collection. In 1937, Solomon Guggenheim, together with artist Hilla von Rebay, established the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, which eventually led to the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City in 1959.</p>

Marvin_Hamlisch

Marvin Hamlisch

1944-2012

<p>Few popular composers have matched the achievements of Marvin Hamlisch. He won three Emmys, four Grammys, three Oscars, one Tony Award, and a Pulitzer Prize in 1975 for the Broadway blockbuster <i>A Chorus Line</i>. Only legendary composer Richard Rodgers has the distinction of winning all five of these awards. But Hamlisch went even further, winning two Golden Globes for Best Original Song. Hamlisch also composed more than forty movie scores, including <i>The Way We Were</i> (1974), <i>The Sting</i> (1974), and <i>The Spy Who Loved Me</i> (1977). He was the musical director of Barbra Streisand’s 1994 concert tour of the United States and England and Principal Pops Conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.</p>

Harry Houdini

1874-1926

<p>At the height of his career, Harry Houdini was one of the most popular entertainers in the world, mesmerizing audiences throughout the United States and Europe with his astonishing escape routines. Born Erich Weiss in Hungary, Harry Houdini began his career as a magician, but it was as a master escape artist that he achieved true fame. Jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets – no device was strong enough to hold him in. A consummate showman, Houdini knew how to keep audiences rapt with his escapades. One of his favorite stunts was to be shackled and lowered into an enormous milk can filled with water. He would make his escape within three minutes, but would remain out of sight three times longer to intensify the suspense.</p>

Al Jolson

1886-1950

<p>In the groundbreaking film The <i>Jazz Singer</i> (1927), the first full-length “talkie,” the film’s star turns to the camera and says, “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet.” That star was Al Jolson, and there was no one who could belt out a song quite like he could. Born in Lithuania, Jolson launched his career in 1911 when he starred in his first play, <i>La Belle Paree</i>. By 1920, he was America’s highest paid entertainer. Jolson often portrayed Southern blacks by performing in blackface, and was able to introduce African-American musical styles such as jazz and ragtime to all-white audiences. Numerous well-known singers were influenced by his exuberant singing style, including Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, and Bob Dylan.</p>

Carole King

B. 1942

<p>Dubbed “the queen of rock,” this singer, songwriter, environmentalist, and political activist had her first hit at age eighteen, with “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” Carole King attended Queens College with Paul Simon, one-time boyfriend Neil Sedaka, and Gerry Goffin, her writing partner and husband for nine years. Goffin and King wrote light rock beside Simon and Sedaka for Aldon Music in New York City’s Brill Building, including such hits as “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “Locomotion,” and “Natural Woman.” King’s most successful solo album, <i> Tapestry</i> (1971), sold over ten million copies. She wrote <i>Thoroughbred</i> (1975) with David Crosby, Graham Nash, and James Taylor. In 2010 King and Taylor staged the Troubadour Reunion Tour together; ticket sales exceeded $700,000. She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1987) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1990) with Gerry Goffin.</p>

Ann Landers

1918-2002

<p>A wife and mother with no journalism experience, Esther “Eppie” Lederer began giving advice in 1955 at the Chicago <i>Sun-Times</i>, replacing the previous writer of the column, “Ask Ann Landers.” The column ran in over 1200 U.S. newspapers. Lederer was the twin of rival advice columnist “Dear Abby,” the wife of Budget Rent-a-Car founder Jules Lederer, and the mother of “Dear Prudence” (Margo Howard), the advice columnist for <i>Slate</i> magazine. She championed personal causes, such as funding for cancer research and abortion rights, and wrote several books, including <i>Ann Landers Talks to Teenagers about Sex</i> (1964) and <i>Wake Up and Smell the Coffee</i> (1996). Her many awards include the Centers for Disease Control Champion of Prevention Award (1996).</p>

Stan Lee

1922-2018

<p>Where, exactly, did the X-Men come from? Or for that matter, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and The Mighty Thor? From the fertile mind and nimble pen of Stan Lee, who also dreamed up Spider Man, the Silver Surfer, and a host of other superheroes. Born Stanley Martin Lieber, the American comic book writer served as editor and then president and chairman of Marvel Comics for over three decades. During his tenure, Marvel grew from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia giant. Critics and readers credit Lee with breaking from tradition by creating nuanced personalities for his superheroes, endowing them with human faults and frailties.</p>

Henry Morgenthau Jr.

Henry Morgenthau, Jr.

1891-1967

<p>It is likely that Henry Morgenthau Jr. did more to save Jews during the Holocaust than any other U.S. government official. As U.S. Secretary of the Treasury during President Roosevelt’s administration, he was instrumental in establishing the U.S. War Refugee Board, which opened America’s doors to some 200,000 European Jews fleeing the Holocaust. He also was involved in setting up Roosevelt’s Public Works of Art Project and Works Progress Administration, and in structuring how Social Security would be funded. He chaired the Breton Woods conference in1944 that established the International Monetary Fund. Morgenthau resigned his post in 1945 and later became a leader of Jewish organizations and financial adviser to the State of Israel.</p>

Honorees (N-Z)

The entries appear alphabetically by last name. Swipe to the right or left and click on each image to read about the honoree.

Louise Nevelson

Louise Nevelson

1899-1988

<p>A pioneer in abstract expressionism, artist Louise Nevelson is best known for her “crates,” monumental, box-shaped sculptures made out of wood and discarded items. Born Louise Berliawsky in Ukraine, she married wealthy ship-owner Charles Nevelson in 1920 and moved to New York. Serving as an apprentice to Diego Rivera, she assisted with his controversial mural, “Man at the Crossroads,” for Rockefeller Center. In 1935, Nevelson entered her first group exhibition, organized by the Brooklyn Museum, and, in 1967, the turning point of her career, the Whitney Museum organized the first retrospective of her work. In 1963 Nevelson represented the United States at the Venice Biennale.</p>

Leonard Nimoy

1931-2015

<p>Live long and prosper! This Yiddish speaking, Vulcan mind-melding actor, director, photographer, musician, and poet began his career playing bit TV roles in the 1950s and 60s. Best known for playing the half-human, half-Vulcan Mr. Spock in the original <i>Star Trek</i> series (1966-69), he based Spock’s famous Vulcan salute on the hand position used in Priestly blessings. Seven <i>Star Trek</i> films followed, and later appearances in TV and video game sequels. He has had many stage roles, including the one-man play Vincent, about artist Vincent Van Gogh. He made five albums of vocal music and wrote two autobiographies and several volumes of poetry. <i>The Shekhina Project</i> (2002) is Nimoy’s kabbalah-inspired photographic study of the feminine aspect of God.</p>

Clifford Odets

1906-1963

<p>The life of playwright Clifford Odets was not without its ironies. A high school dropout, he helped found the Group Theater in 1930, a collective dedicated to bringing social issues to the stage. His first play it produced, <i>Waiting for Lefty</i> (1935), climaxes in a defiant call for a union strike. His next play, <i>Awake and Sing!</i> told of conflicts in a Depression-era Jewish family. These works were characterized by street talk laced with poetry, and would often plunge audiences into a conflict with little warning. Conflict also found Odets. In 1953, he was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee where he “named names” so that could continue working. He later expressed remorse over his testimony. </p>

Itzhak Perlman

b. 1945

<p>He plays jazz. He plays klezmer. He has even sung opera. But most of the world knows Itzhak Perlman as one of the preeminent violinists of the 20th century. Born in Tel Aviv, Perlman trained at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv and at the Juilliard School in New York. Although stricken with polio at the age of four, Perlman made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1963 and began touring extensively. In 1987, he joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for concerts in Warsaw and Budapest. In addition to performing, he teaches violin at Brooklyn College and The Julliard School. In 2007, Perlman was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Westchester Philharmonic.</p>

Molly Picon

1898-1992

<p>In some theatrical circles, there was no greater honor than having a room dedicated to you at the world famous Second Avenue Deli. Such was the fame of Molly Picon. She began acting on the Yiddish stage at the age of five and became so popular by the 1920s that many shows she acted in included the name “Molly” in their title. Her most famous Yiddish film, <i>Yidl Mit’n Fidl</i> (1936), was shot on location in Poland. On Broadway, she starred in Neil Simon’s <i>Come Blow Your Horn</i> and the Jerry Herman musical <i>Milk and Honey</i>, both in 1961. In 1971, she portrayed the matchmaker, Yente, in the film adaptation of the Broadway hit <i>Fiddler on the Roof</i>. Her name remains synonymous with the heyday of New York’s Yiddish theater.</p>

Sally Priesand

b. 1946

<p>In 1972, Sally J. Priesand became America’s first female rabbi, receiving her ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. She served Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, New Jersey for 25 years and is now rabbi emerita. Priesand served on the board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion which, under the leadership of the Women’s Rabbinic Network, established the Rabbi Sally J. Priesand Visiting Professorship in Jewish Women’s Studies in 1997. During her rabbinate, Monmouth Reform Temple was a leader in the fight against drunk driving, launched a nationally recognized gun safety campaign (Please ASK), created a permanent Fund for the Homeless to support the work of Interfaith Neighbors, sponsored an annual food drive for The Center in Asbury Park, continued to host an annual Monmouth County arts festival, and instituted an annual “Mitzvah Day.”</p>

Gilda Radner

1946-1989

<p>She could be Roseanne Roseannadanna, an obnoxious news commentator who reported on the gross habits of celebrities. She could be Emily Litella, an elderly, hearing-impaired woman who gave misinformed editorial replies. Whatever wacky characters she portrayed during her stint on <i>Saturday Night Live</i>, Gilda Radner was hilarious. Her career began in 1974, when she joined the <i>National Lampoon Radio Hour</i>, a syndicated weekly program. That led to a spot as an original cast member of <i>SNL</i>, where she won an Emmy for her performances. Radner’s death at age 42 in 1989 from ovarian cancer helped increase public awareness of the disease. The following year, she won a Grammy posthumously for “Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording”.</p>

Carl Reiner

1922-2020

<p>The 1960 album <i>2000 Years with Carl Reiner</i> and Mel Brooks earned a Grammy nomination and launched a writing career for Carl Reiner, who had already distinguished himself as a writer and actor on Sid Caesar’s comedy series, <i>Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour</i>. Reiner developed, wrote, and starred in <i>The Dick Van Dyke Show</i> as show host Alan Brady. As a writer, producer, director, and actor, Reiner has had a hand in dozens of movies and TV series, winning numerous Emmy awards during his career. Among the films he directed were <i>Where’s Poppa?</i> (1970) and <i>Oh, God!</i> (1977). In 2000, Reiner was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and has enjoyed a recent resurgence as part of the <em>Oceans Eleven</em> films.</p>

Judith Resnik

1949-1986

<p>President Reagan said of the ill-fated space shuttle <i>Challenger</i> crew, “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye.…” Judith Resnik, the first Jewish astronaut and the second woman ever to go into space, was a member of that crew. Born in Akron, Ohio, Resnik earned a PhD in electrical engineering in 1977 from the University of Maryland. She was selected for NASA’s astronaut program in January 1978, serving as a mission specialist on the maiden voyage of Space Shuttle <i>Discovery</i> in 1984. In 1986, she was again a mission specialist on STS-51-L, the <i>Challenger</i> mission. The lunar crater Resnik is named in her honor.</p>

Jerome Robbins

1918-1998

<p>From Jets gliding through the streets in <i>West Side Story</i> to Hassids balancing bottles on their heads in <i>Fiddler on the Roof</i>, Jerome Robbins is responsible for scores of ingenious choreographed moments. One of the most influential choreographers and dancers of the twentieth century, Robbins had early success with <i>Fancy Free</i> (1944), with music composed by Leonard Bernstein. In 1949 he served as Associate Artistic Director for George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet and later put his distinctive stamp on <i>On the Town, The King and I, The Pajama Game</i>, and <i>Gypsy</i>. During his career, Robbins won five Tony Awards, two Academy Awards, the Kennedy Center Honors, and a host of other prestigious awards.</p>

Ernestine Rose

1810-1892

<p>Before 1848, women in New York had no control over their property once they were married; it came under the control of their husbands. Ernestine Rose helped change that. Born Ernestine Potowski in Poland, this rabbi’s daughter began asserting her independence early on, when at age 16 she refused an arranged marriage schemed by her father. She campaigned throughout the world for women’s equality under the law, and as a result of her advocacy, New York passed the first married women’s property law that guaranteed women the control of their property even after marriage. Rose won accolades for her fiery oratory and Susan B. Anthony often paid tribute to Rose for her pioneering efforts.</p>

Julius Rosenwald

Julius Rosenwald

1862-1932

<p>Mr. Sears and Mr. Roebuck were on the right track with their mail order general store. But it was Julius Rosenwald, a part owner of Sears, Roebuck and Company, who propelled the company into a retail giant by encouraging the diversification of product lines. In 1917, he established the Rosenwald Fund for “the well-being of mankind” and donated more than $70 million to schools, universities, museums, and Jewish and African-American charities. The Fund’s school-building program built over five thousand schools for African American children, known as Rosenwald schools. Rosenwald was also the principal founder and backer of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, one of the world’s first science museums.</p>

Jacob I. Schiff

1847-1920

<p>It has been said that it’s not hard to make a lot of money – if that’s all you want to do. Jacob Schiff wanted to do more. Within two decades of immigrating to America from Germany in 1865, he became head of the banking firm Kuhn, Loeb and Co. He also served as director of Wells Fargo and Co and the Union Pacific Railroad. But it was as a Jewish leader and philanthropist that he truly distinguished himself. He supported relief efforts for the victims of Russian pogroms and gave to organizations dedicated to helping Jewish immigrants in America’s overcrowded cities. He was among the founders of the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Hebrew Union College.</p>

Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg

1874-1951

<p>You may not leave a concert of Schoenberg’s music humming catchy melodies, but you do come away transformed by the atonal and twelve-tone forms he helped pioneer. A self-taught musician born in Vienna, Arnold Schoenberg was a pivotal figure in the development of modern music, becoming both a groundbreaking composer and an influential teacher. His output was prodigious: piano pieces, chamber music, operas, concertos, orchestral pieces, and choral works. Also a visual artist, he painted many self-portraits and developed a strong relationship with painter Wassily Kandinsky. The Nazi party labeled his music “degenerate” and Schoenberg fled Austria in 1933 for America.</p>

Jerry Seinfeld

b. 1954

<p>It was a television show about nothing, or at least that was the premise. The show was <i>Seinfeld</i>, the year was 1989, and today it still ranks as one of the most popular American sitcoms in history. It was the brainchild of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who got his start in 1976 performing at a New York City open mic night. In the early 1980s, he honed his observational style of comedy, which muses on aspects of daily life, during repeated appearances on <i>The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson</i> and <i>Late Night with David Letterman</i>. In 1993, Seinfeld wrote <i>Seinlanguage, <i>a New York Times</i> bestseller, and in 2007 he co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in the Golden Globe-nominated animated film <i>Bee Movie</i>. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.</p>

Maurice Sendak

1928-2012

<p>In 2008, The <i>New York Times</i> declared that Maurice Sendak’s “originality and emotional honesty have changed the shape of children’s literature.” That originality was powerfully evident in his award-winning 1964 children’s book, <i>Where the Wild Things Are</i>. This popular and influential picture book has sold over 7 million copies since its publication, and was made into a film in 2009. An author and illustrator, Sendak has also given children (and their parents) such modern classics as <i>In the Night Kitchen</i> (1970) and <i>The Sign on Rosie’s Door</i> (1960). In addition, he has designed the sets and costumes for several operas, ballets, and theater productions, and has produced animation for television.</p>

Ben Shahn

1898-1969

<p>New York City was a hotbed of creativity in the 1930s, where groups of left-leaning artists challenged conventional forms. Lithuanian-born American artist and photographer Ben Shahn was at the center of that scene. In 1933, Shahn assisted artist Diego Rivera in the creation of Rivera’s controversial left-wing mural, “Man at the Crossroads,” at Rockefeller Center. The next year, Shahn joined the Public Works of Art Project, completing murals in public buildings in New York and Washington. During World War II, Shahn created posters for the Office of War Information. In 1956-57, Shahn delivered a lecture series at Harvard University, later published as <i>The Shape of Content</i>, describing his humanistic philosophy of art.</p>

Paul Simon

b. 1941

<p>Paul Simon has left an indelible stamp on American music. Recognized as one of the greatest songwriters of his age, his hits include “The Sounds of Silence,” “The Boxer,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and “Mrs. Robinson,” which became the breakout hit of the 1967 movie <i>The Graduate</i>. He began his career as half of the folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, whose recordings consistently topped the charts in the late 1960s and early 70s. When the duo split, Simon began experimenting with various styles, including reggae and South African music on the Grammy-winning album <i>Graceland</i>. Inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Simon received the first Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007.</p>

Mark Spitz

b. 1950

<p>The 1972 Olympic Games in Munich will long be remembered for two events—one tragic, the other triumphant. The tragedy was the kidnapping and murder of eleven members of Israel’s Olympic team by Palestinian terrorists. The triumph was the remarkable performance of Mark Spitz. Years earlier, at the 1965 Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv, 15-year-old Mark Spitz won four gold medals at his first international swimming competition and was named Most Outstanding Athlete. Between 1965 and 1972, Spitz set 33 world records. At the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, he became the first athlete to win seven gold medals in an Olympiad. After the 1972 Olympics, Spitz withdrew from active competition and went into business and movies.</p>

Lee Strasberg

1901-1982

<p>In the 1950s, a group of actors with names like Dean, Clift, Brando, and Steiger demonstrated an honest, unaffected style that heralded a new era in American acting. It was called “the Method,” and its pioneer in the United States was Lee Strasberg. Born Israel Lee Strasberg in Austria-Hungary, he studied in Moscow with Russian director Konstantin Stanislavsky before immigrating to America. In 1931 he cofounded the Group Theatre, and, in 1951, became the director of New York’s prestigious Actors Studio. Using the techniques of improvisation and “affective memory,” Strasberg influenced a generation of actors. In 1974, Strasberg acted in an Oscar-nominated supporting role in <i>Godfather II</i>, alongside his Actors Studio student, Al Pacino.</p>

Levi Strauss

1829-1902

<p>Levi Strauss (1829-1902) emigrated from Bavaria to New York in 1847, and worked in his family’s dry goods business. In 1853 he established Levi Strauss and Co. in San Francisco, importing dry goods to sell to the small stores of the West. Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis (1831-1908) patented workmen’s trousers with rivets in 1873, now known as blue jeans.</p>

Michael Tilson Thomas

b. 1944

<p>Michael Tilson Thomas is Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, Artistic Director of the New World Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony. He has been at the center of the world music stage since 1969, when he won the Koussevitzky Prize at Tanglewood and earned instant recognition upon replacing Maestro William Steinberg in mid-concert. In 1987 he created the New World Symphony, a post-graduate orchestral academy and, in 1991, conducted the NWS in a series of benefit concerts for UNICEF featuring Audrey Hepburn narrating his work <i>From the Diary of Anne Frank</i>. In 2005 he premiered “The Thomashefskys” at Carnegie Hall, a multi-media performance based on the lives and repertoire of his grandparents, pioneers of American Yiddish theater. He was named Gramophone’s Artist of the Year and has won ten Grammys. In 2010 he received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama.</p>

Diane Von Furstenberg

Diane Von Furstenberg

b. 1946

<p>Build a better mouse trap – in this case a simple knitted jersey wrap dress – and the world will beat a path to your salon. Such was the fate of fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg. She was born in Brussels and educated in Switzerland, where she met the Austro-Italian Prince Egon Von Furstenberg, whom she married in 1969. In 1973, after moving to the United States, she designed the now-iconic wrap dress that helped launch one of the most successful fashion lines in history. That line now comprises cosmetics, fragrances, sunglasses, furs, scarves, and linens. In 2005, Von Furstenberg received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, an organization she now serves as president.</p>

Lillian Wald

1867-1940

<p>When Lillian Wald moved to New York at the age of 22 to study nursing, she was appalled by the poverty she saw. She promptly set about transforming the public health system. Wald established the Visiting Nurse Service and the Henry Street Settlement to provide health care to Lower East Side residents. By 1905, she was directing eighteen nursing centers that treated 4,500 patients. A national leader for social reform, Wald led the fight to provide public playgrounds, cultural institutions, and employment for low-income communities, and was active in the conference that led to the founding of the <i>National Association for the Advancement of Colored People</i>. Her book, <i>The House on Henry Street</i> (1915), is still considered a classic for students of nursing, sociology, and social welfare.</p>

Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters

1929-2022

<p>Barbara Walters was one of the first nationally successful female television news journalists, and paved the way for many who came after her, including Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour and Diane Sawyer. She joined NBC’s <i>The Today Show</i> in 1961 and soon began developing and writing her own reports and interviews. During the 1976 presidential election, Walters was chosen to be the moderator for the third and final debate between presidential candidates Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. Walters is also known for her years on the ABC news magazine <i>20/20</i>, for which she joined host Hugh Downs in 1979. Since 1997, Walters has been the executive producer of the daytime talk show <i>The View</i>, on which she is also a host.</p>

Felix Warburg

1871-1937

<p>It wasn’t enough for Felix Warburg to make a fortune on Wall Street. He was determined to use his wealth to improve the lot of his people. Immigrating to New York in 1894, this scion of a German banking family became a partner at Kuhn, Loeb, and Co. But he was also a founder and chairman of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which provided aid to war-ravaged European Jewish communities. He was a major donor to the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and donated his Fifth Avenue mansion to JTS for use as The Jewish Museum. A tireless supporter of education, he served as commissioner of education in New York City, as a board member of Columbia University, and as a governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.</p>

Albert H. Young

Albert H. Young

1904-1982

<p>H. Albert Young, born Hyman Albert Yanowitz, emigrated with his family from Russia at an early age and grew up living above the grocery store his parents owned. He went on to attend the University of Delaware and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and as a champion of individual rights successfully challenged the Delaware jury system that denied women the right to serve on juries. In 1950, Young became the first Jew in Delaware elected to statewide office as attorney general. Shortly after General Young assumed office, he argued with a team of attorneys for Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark decision of the Supreme Court that declared the segregation of public schools unconstitutional. Once the decision was rendered in 1954, General Young was the first attorney general in the nation who fought to integrate public schools. The H. Albert Young Fellowship in Constitutional Law has been established at the Widener School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware.</p>

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MAY Docs & Dialogues Series