He also starred in a short film, "The House I Live In," about anti-Semitism and sang a song by that name about tolerance. In dark or angry moods he was known to speak ill of some Hollywood Jewish power brokers in street terms and he kids the Jews in some of his Vegas routines but when it counted he was there for us and other minorities as few non-Jewish celebrities ever were. There is an old documentary on Youtube about early Israel that he narrates with real passion.
Catch him in a small part as a pilot dropping--believe it or not--seltzer bottles--on Egyptian troops in the 1948 War of Independence, backdrop to Cast a Giant Shadow, a Hollywood flop featuring Kirk Douglas, John Wayne (toasting L'Chaim) and Yul Brynner, the last as a Moshe Dayan character.
Starred in a rarely seen biopic, The Joker is Wild. Life of Joe E. Lewis, a dear friend of Sinatra's, a Jew and a shikker, a singer who had his throat cut by the Mob and left for dead, survived and became a comedian of national renown. His Jewish background is never alluded to in the film.
He actually played the playboy son of Molly Picon and Lee J. Cobb in Come Blow Your Horn, the movie adaptation of a Neil Simon play about a Jewish family in Yonkers.
He also starred in a short film, "The House I Live In," about anti-Semitism and sang a song by that name about tolerance. In dark or angry moods he was known to speak ill of some Hollywood Jewish power brokers in street terms and he kids the Jews in some of his Vegas routines but when it counted he was there for us and other minorities as few non-Jewish celebrities ever were. There is an old documentary on Youtube about early Israel that he narrates with real passion.
ReplyDeleteCatch him in a small part as a pilot dropping--believe it or not--seltzer bottles--on Egyptian troops in the 1948 War of Independence, backdrop to Cast a Giant Shadow, a Hollywood flop featuring Kirk Douglas, John Wayne (toasting L'Chaim) and Yul Brynner, the last as a Moshe Dayan character.
ReplyDeleteIn an Italian voice: HE WAS A GOOD FRIEND TO THE JEWS!!!
ReplyDeleteStarred in a rarely seen biopic, The Joker is Wild. Life of Joe E. Lewis, a dear friend of Sinatra's, a Jew and a shikker, a singer who had his throat cut by the Mob and left for dead, survived and became a comedian of national renown. His Jewish background is never alluded to in the film.
ReplyDeleteSinatra wore a mezuzah, a gift from Mrs Golden, a neighbor who nurtured him as a boy. Elvis wore a chai and Louis Armstrong a star of David.
ReplyDeleteWhy not give this man a higher score? He loved the Jewish people!
ReplyDeleteHe actually played the playboy son of Molly Picon and Lee J. Cobb in Come Blow Your Horn, the movie adaptation of a Neil Simon play about a Jewish family in Yonkers.
ReplyDeleteAwesome Wikipedia entry on Frank Sinatra and Jewish Activism including most of the above and more!
ReplyDelete