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Jews in showbusiness

Marc Shaiman is the author of a new memoir, 'Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner.' (Robert Trachtenberg via JTA)
February 21, 2026, 2:28 am
In new memoir, acclaimed ‘Hairspray’ composer tells a showbiz story shaped by Jewish humor
In ‘Never Mind the Happy,’ Tony winner and 7-time Oscar nominee Marc Shaiman recounts collaborations with Bette Midler and Rob Reiner, and the musical liberties he took at his bar mitzvah
By Stephen Silver
Natalie Portman attends the premiere of "The Gallerist" during the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2026, at Eccles Center in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
January 25, 2026, 11:29 am
Jewish stars Natalie Portman, Seth Rogen debut new comedy films at Sundance festival
Portman stars in art world thriller-comedy ‘The Gallerist,’ alongside Jenna Ortega, popstar Charli XCX; Rogen, Olivia Wilde feature in ‘The Invite,’ about a failing marriage
By Lindsey Bahr
Ari’el Stachel is the writer and star of 'Out of Character,' a one-man show running at the Berkshire Theatre Group's Unicorn Theater in Stockbridge, Massachusetts until July 26, 2025. (Clean Carlough via JTA)
July 14, 2025, 2:46 am
‘Arab Jewish’ actor Ari’el Stachel has a message about antisemitism for Zohran Mamdani
Starring in a new one-man show, the Tony Award-winning Ashkenazi-Yemeni-Israeli-American performer has become increasingly vocal about Jew hatred and the complexities of Jewish identity
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Ben Platt arrives at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 25, 2024, in Santa Monica, California (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
April 17, 2025, 2:09 pm
Backing fellow Jewish actress, Ben Platt says his identity ‘not defined’ by Israel
Responding to criticism of Hannah Einbinder for her comments against the Jewish state, Tony award winner Platt says ‘dogmatic’ conversations about Israel can ‘alienate’ Jews
By Grace Gilson
Tony Roberts attends the screening for 'It Takes a Lunatic' during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, May 3, 2019, in New York. (Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP, File)
February 8, 2025, 12:06 pm
Jewish actor Tony Roberts, who often starred in Woody Allen movies, dies at 85
Best known for ‘Annie Hall,’ where he played Woody Allen’s best friend, Roberts’ film, TV and stage career spanned over six decades
By Mark Kennedy
At left: Jean Carroll circa 1955. (via Photofest); Cover of 'First Lady of Laughs' by Grace Kessler Overbeke. (Courtesy: NYU Press)
November 18, 2024, 4:25 am
Before Midge Maisel, there was Jean Carroll, a real-life trailblazing Jewish comedienne
In her new book, ‘First Lady of Laughs,’ scholar Grace Kessler Overbeke shines light on the oft-overlooked performer who created ‘a totally different model of funny Jewish women’
By Rich Tenorio
Sid Rosenberg speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump's speech at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, October 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
November 2, 2024, 1:05 am
Shock jock Sid Rosenberg has become one of Trump’s most aggressive Jewish surrogates
After speaking at a NYC campaign rally Sunday panned by critics as ‘misogynistic, bigoted and crude,’ the radio host doubles down on the only candidate he sees as good for the Jews
By Luke Tress
Jerry Lewis looks through the camera during filming of 'The Day the Clown Cried,' on March 20, 1972, Paris, France. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy)
August 28, 2024, 12:44 am
Jerry Lewis’s infamously bad Holocaust film is having a moment. But you can’t watch it
Archival material related to ‘The Day the Clown Cried,’ the unreleased movie that ended the Jewish funnyman’s career, is now available, with a possible reboot on the horizon
By Andrew Lapin
Author and native New Yorker Sarah Seltzer, left, and the cover of her debut novel 'The Singer Sisters.' (Kurt Sneddon/Flatiron Books/ via JTA)
August 27, 2024, 1:07 am
In new book ‘The Singer Sisters,’ a Jewish rock music family finds sex, drugs – and deli
While some of the most iconic folk legends of the ’60s and ’70s were Members of the Tribe, author Sarah Seltzer’s fictional dynasty’s drama strikes a particularly Jewish chord
By Gabe Friedman
Curator Dara Jaffe, left, and Academy Museum President Jacqueline Stewart at a press viewing of the new 'Hollywoodland' exhibit, May 16, 2024. (Jacob Gurvis/ JTA)
May 19, 2024, 4:28 am
New exhibit aims to rectify LA Academy Museum’s omission of Hollywood’s Jewish origins
2.5 years in, museum’s first permanent installation on role of Jewish immigrants in founding America’s film industry is set to open Sunday after outcry at their initial exclusion
By jacob gurvis
Cleavon Little, left, and Gene Wilder in a still from 'Blazing Saddles,' directed by Mel Brooks in 1974. (Warner Bros./Getty Images/ via JTA)
February 10, 2024, 1:35 am
‘Blazing Saddles’ marks a half-century of hilarity — and controversy
Released 50 years ago this week, the film juggles bawdiness, genre satire and political critique, and is still revered even as most admit today’s Hollywood would never let it fly
By Stephen Silver
From left to right: Variety contributor Malina Saval, Alex Edelman, Ike Barinholtz, Marc Maron and Tiffany Haddish speak onstage during the Variety Hollywood & Antisemitism Summit in West Hollywood, California, October 18, 2023. (Araya Doheny/Variety via Getty Images via JTA)
October 20, 2023, 4:40 pm
Variety’s star-studded Hollywood summit on antisemitism takes turn amid war in Israel
Though planned before the Oct. 7 Hamas atrocities, the Jewish state dominated discussion with A-listers that also included Jewish representation onscreen and combating bigotry
By jacob gurvis
Julian Schlossberg, center, is shown with Elaine May and Alan Arkin. (Courtesy of Julian Schlossberg via JTA)
February 19, 2023, 3:47 pm
Julian Schlossberg’s new memoir covers 6 decades working with Jewish showbiz royalty
‘Try Not to Hold It Against Me: A Producer’s Life’ tells how the 81-year-old producer worked and partied with celebs like Barbra Streisand, Mel Brooks and close friend Elaine May
By Stephen Silver
Costumes from productions that originated at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater on display at the Museum of Broadway. (New York Jewish Week via JTA)
December 19, 2022, 6:56 am
7 Jewish highlights from the new Museum of Broadway
In a three-story tribute to the Theater District located in its heart, the majority of featured musicals and plays bear the mark of the Tribe, from Tony Kushner to Stephen Sondheim
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Hedy Lamarr in the 1941 film 'Ziegfeld Girl.' (Courtesy Alexandra Dean)
March 26, 2022, 4:21 pm
Film museum to add exhibit on Hollywood’s historic Jews – but why were they omitted?
The ‘radically inclusive’ Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announces the addition amid a larger conversation about Jewish marginalization in the industry
By Andrew Lapin
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