Famous Early Influential Jews in Hollywood 

Carl Laemmle – Born in 1867 in Wurttemberg, Germany.  He came to America at 17 and climbed the ladder to success.  In 1906 he was prepared to open a five and dime in Chicago until he noticed a long line of people waiting with money in hand to watch this new form of entertainment.  He moved to LA and opened Universal Pictures.  In 1936 he sold Universal Pictures and played a vocal role in trying to rescue German Jews from the chaos of the Nazi regime until his death.  Remembering the Hollywood Mogul Who Rescued Hundreds of Germany’s Jews (Guest Column) 

Adolph Zukor – Born in 1873 in Hungary, Zukor was an orphan at age 7 who was sent to live with his uncle who was a rabbi.  He knew at an early age that he was destined for business, not the rabbinate.  He moved to NYC at 16 and with a friend started a penny arcade showing short movies.  He invested in a nickelodeon theater that ultimately led to him producing films.  He went on to serve as president of Paramount Pictures.  He won an Academy Award in 1948 for his contributions to the film industry.   

TL:DR – A Nickelodeon theater (not like the game show/paw patrol showing network) was a popular storefront shop in the early 1900’s that provided motion pictures for a nickel.  Hence the combo of ‘Nickel’ and ‘Odeon’ (Greek for theater). 

Samuel Goldwyn – Born Samuel Gelbfisz (or Goldfish) in Warsaw, Poland in 1879.  He began his career as a glove salesman.  In 1913 he and his partners (brother-in-law Jesse Lasky and Cecil B. DeMille) started the Lasky Feature play Company.  Which was acquired by Paramount.  Because of conflicts with Adolph Zukor, Goldwyn who was chairman of the board of Paramount resigned and went on to form his own film company Goldwyn Productions.  Which ultimately through mergers became Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.  He was Hollywood’s most successful independent producer, producing more than 100 movies.   

Jesse L Lasky – Lasky, unlike many of his counterparts was born in the United States to a Jewish family.  He was a newspaper reporter, gold prospector and then Vaudeville promoter.  With his partnership with his brother-in-law (Goldwyn), helped produce more than 100 movies.   

How were so many Jews able to become prominent in Hollywood? 

When movies were introduced in the 1890’s, the environment was ripe for Jews to get involved.  Many of the immigrants had connections in both the Vaudeville and garment industries.  Vaudeville was ‘variety show meets slapstick comedy’.  Which, because of low ticket prices and shows in various languages (including Yiddish) caused some white Christians to look down upon it.  The Jews however were comfortable in such an environment.  Similarly, Jewish immigrants used their tailoring skills when coming to America to work in the garment/textile industry.  For the early Hollywood culture, all three of these factors coalesced into an untapped market for the Jews to get involved.  (Info gleaned from: How American Jews built Hollywood – Unpacked) 

Modern Jewish Influence 

Non-exhaustive list of hit movies and tv shows with either a Jewish creator/producer/writer: 

 “Jaws,” “E.T.,” “Out of Africa,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Caddyshack, “A Clockwork Orange,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Full Metal Jacket,” “Animal House,” “Hidden Figures,” “Waiting to Exhale,” “Indiana Jones,” “Jurassic Park,” “Men in Black,” “Spider Man,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “X-Men,” “Rain Man,” “The Nutty Professor,” “Ghostbusters” and “Gone With The Wind.” 

“The Simpsons,” “South Park,” “Sex and the City,” “Game of Thrones,” “60 Minutes,” “Friends.”  

How Many Famous Jewish Actors Can You Name: 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/celebrities-that-you-didnt-realize-were-jewish

Jamie Lee Curtis and Jewish connections 

• Her dad was Tony Curtis (aka Bernard Schwartz) who had Hungarian Jewish parents.   

• In her 50’s she was inspired by words of Rabbi Hillel to change her life.  The phrase, If not now, when?  If not me, who?  Kept her going.   

• She funded the restoration of her grandparent’s shul in Hungary. 

Questions to Ponder: 

• Does this information influence the phrase – ‘Jews control Hollywood’? 
• Do you think that Jews control Hollywood today? 
• In general, how are Jews portrayed in television and film? 
• Can you think of good examples of Jews on screen?  Bad examples? 
• Thinking back to the beginnings of Hollywood, how do you think Carl, Adolph, Samuel, Jesse viewed one another/worked together? 
• Do you feel different emotions when you see Jewish actors on screen?