Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on May 1, 2013

By Judie Jacobson

Celebrated in May, Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) is a national month of recognition of the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to American culture acknowledging the achievements of Jewish Americans in fields ranging from sports and arts and entertainment to medicine, business, science, government and military service.

This year, JAHM is devoted to the theme entertainment. The history of American entertainment and the history of the Jewish people in the United States are inextricably intertwined. Immigrant Jewish entrepreneurs or their sons like Sam Goldwyn, Jack and Harry Warner, Louis B. Mayer were integral to the creation of Hollywood. Jews were once the heads simultaneously of the three major American television networks: William Paley at CBS, David Sarnoff at NBC and Leonard Goldenson at ABC.

Jews now comprise about two percent of the nations population. Yet, today about two-thirds of leading TV and movie producers are estimated to be Jewish, and thus the impact of Jews upon the nations popular culture has been immeasurable.

The list of names of Jews in entertainment is too vast to include here. A few examples of Jews who have provided Broadway and Hollywood with some of their most enduring talent include playwrights like Arthur Miller and Wendy Wasserstein; directors like Jerome Robbins, Billy Wilder, Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg; composers like Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim; and performers like the Marx Brothers, Lenny Bruce, Dustin Hoffman, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart and Barbra Streisand.

With this issue, we begin a month-long look at some of those working in the field of entertainment who grew up and often began their love affair with the stage in Connecticuts Jewish communities.

Remy Zaken

Hometown: Weston

Remy Zakens professional acting career started at age nine when she landed the role of Annie in Annie Warbucks, the sequel to Annie, at the Polka Dot Playhouse in Bridgeport. That was soon followed by a national tour revival of E.L. Doctorows Ragtime, and a New York debut Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in the role of Rini in George C. Wolfes Radiant Baby, a play detailing the life of artist Keith Haring. Zaken is perhaps best known as one of the youngest cast members in the original Broadway production of Spring Awakening at the Eugene ONeill Theatre, playing the role of Thea from 2006 to 2008. She had the title role in Off-Broadways Freckleface Strawberry: The Musical, which ran from 2010 to 2012. A graduate of Columbia University with a BA in psychology, she appears in the upcoming short film Sing Along.

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Spotlight on entertainment — May is Jewish American Heritage Month

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