Benjamin Ivry is a frequent Forward contributor.
Benjamin Ivry
By Benjamin Ivry
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Culture He Costumed The Great Jewish Films Of The 20th Century — Including Some That Were Never Made
The Oscar-winning Italian costume designer Piero Tosi, who died on August 10 at age 92, proved that even the most storied showbiz careers can include unrealized projects that provide a tantalizing glimpse at lost opportunities. The Florence-born Tosi, once described by the essayist Alberto Arbasino as “modest to a pathological level,” had much to be…
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Culture Happy 80th Birthday To “The Wizard Of Oz”
“The Wizard of Oz”, which debuted in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, on August 12, 1939, remains one of the most influential musical films ever made in Hollywood, in part because of its Jewish inspiration. The film’s wide audience has always included Jewish spectators. The historian Adele Reinhartz has recalled the “religious” devotion with which her Canadian Jewish…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History Of The Village People
The French music entrepreneur Henri Belolo, of Moroccan Jewish origin, died on August 3 at age 82, reminding us how a melting pot of cultures in the Old and New Worlds has inspired émigré Jews through the generations. Belolo is best remembered for forming the American group Village People in the twilight of the disco…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History Of Roller Derby
Who would have thought that the roller derby, a roughhouse spectacle where skaters elbow and knee each other relentlessly, was really a Peaceable Kingdom of friendly violence and Yiddishkeit? The death in early July at age 87 of the American Jewish entrepreneur Jerry Seltzer, owner and manager of the last touring professional roller derby league,…
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Culture Happy 89th Birthday, Harold Bloom!
Harold Bloom, the American Jewish literary critic, has divided opinions during his extremely prolific career, from adulation to obloquy. His landmark books speak for themselves, including “The Anxiety of Influence” (1973),, “A Map of Misreading” (1975), “Agon (1982), “Ruin the Sacred Truths: Poetry and Belief from the Bible” (1989), and “The Western Canon” (1994), An…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History Of ‘The Wizard Of Oz’
On its 80th anniversary, “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) remains one of the most influential musical films ever made in Hollywood, in part because of its Jewish inspiration. The film’s wide audience has always included Jewish spectators. The historian Adele Reinhartz has recalled the “religious” devotion with which her Canadian Jewish family binge-watched WoO, followed…
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Culture Jim Dine On His Jewish Fate And The Fate Of The Jews
The American artist Jim Dine, who will be 84 on June 16, has just produced a new book, [“Jewish Fate” (Steidl Publishers)](Steidl Publishers ““Jewish Fate” (Steidl Publishers)”) an evocation in free verse and imagery of his boyhood, working in the Cincinnati hardware store of his grandfather, Morris Cohen. Emerging from the generation of U.S. pop…
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Film & TV Remembering Sylvia Miles — A Born Truth-Teller
The American Jewish actress Sylvia Miles, who died on June 12 at age 94, proved that Jewish truth telling can simultaneously make and break a performance career. Miles’ devotion to verisimilitude was such that even fellow thespians were deceived by her artistry. After seeing John Schlesinger’s “Midnight Cowboy” (1969) one of her two Oscar-nominated performances,…
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