Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on February 11, 2015

Marissa Jaret Winokur. Photo by Kyle Christy/TLC

She won a Tony award for Hairspray and has appeared in the movies American Beauty and Fever Pitch and TVs Dancing With the Stars, The Talk, and had recent recurring roles on the sitcoms Melissa & Joey and Playing House. Now Marissa Jaret Winokur is frankly talking All About Sex on a Saturday night talk show on TLC.

Im definitely the least experienced of the group for sure and the least comfortable talking about it than the rest of the panel, Winokur said, referring to a roundtable that includes Margaret Cho, Heather McDonald and Dr. Tiffanie Davis Henry. But I dont mind talking about it. Ive learned that Im not as knowledgeable as I thought I was, but I never thought of sex as a shameful thing. We were told Dont do itI didnt listen, but I didnt hate myself for doing it!

The New York native and current San Fernando Valley resident has been married to writer Judah Miller for eight years, and they have a son, Zev, 61/2, a sports-loving kid who is very interested in his Jewish heritage. We go to temple because he loves it, and its forcing my husband and [me] to take a bigger part, said Winokur, who wasnt previously a synagogue member. But, she said, she has always felt strongly about her own Jewish heritage.

It sounds Fiddler on the Roof, but its about family; its about tradition. Sometimes we dont know why we do things, but we do them, and we honor the past. I talk to my son about being Jewish and what that means. He already knows about the Holocaust. You have to teach it so it doesnt happen again.

Winokur misses the stage and would go back tomorrow for the right show. But to pick up my life and move, its going to have to run for a year, or its just so good I have to do it. Meanwhile, she has started to write, working on a Web series with a partner and a book she described as love yourself, weight loss, self-help, but funny. Besides being fun, writing gives her the creative control she never gets as an actress. This is my next chapter, she said.

All About Sex airs Saturdays at 11 p.m on TLC.

In the FX series The Comedians, Billy Crystal and Josh Gad play fictionalized versions of themselves, comedy stars from different generations who are reluctantly paired on a new show. Its an instant clash of egos, comic sensibilities, and a hilarious send-up of Hollywood. Based on a Swedish series but tailored to the stars skills, it also reflects their Jewishness.

Originally posted here:
The Jewish stars of 2015s midseason TV

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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