Comments on: The Jew and the American Tough Guy

By: Kacey Merkle

Kacey Merkle — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 04:58:38 +0000

You sound a little racist, a bit anti- christian…. predjudice goes more than one way, eh?

By: Taylor Nederman

Taylor Nederman — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 03:53:43 +0000

Max, all the examples of Jewish actors playing tough non-Jews illustrates Steve’s point more than yours, no?

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:37:53 +0000

If you’re looking for examples of tough Jewish “good guys” as portrayed on TV and film, consider these:

• Charles Bronson as Israeli General Dan Shomron in “Raid on Entebbe”
• Daniel Craig in the movie “Defiance” as the leader of a courageous group of Jewish rebels who fought back against the Nazis
• Tony Curtis as Jewish escape artist and athlete extraordinaire Harry Houdini
• Kirk Douglas in the movie “Cast a Giant Shadow” as American Col. Mickey Marcus who commanded units of the fledgling IDF during Israel’s 1948 war of independence.
• Charlton Heston as Moses in “The Ten Commandments”

The fact that these ultimate tough guy actors were called upon to play strong Jewish characters speaks volumes.

By: Ira

Ira — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:28:41 +0000

My late uncle -Louis E. “Davis” was in the army in 1917 in Larado TX on the Army Boxing team- later a Merchant Marine (I was too)
I met Myer Lansky @ my friends podiatrist office on Miami Beach -he was an accountant.
My late uncle Jim was known as “the Duke”
I sold life insurance on Arthur Ave, Bx (Italian neighborhood) where all my Italian grandmas tried to set me up with their beautiful granddaughters -
I played Pop Warner & Sandlot football(see the Wanderers) back in “Da Bronx” as did my cousin “Hambone”6’5 in the Inwood section of Manhattan, only jewish bouncer in an Irish bar. My late father was an attorney (as I am ) I never accepted the sterotype Hollywood jewish writers gave us -hell my hero growing up was Lloyd Bridges (jewish)and when I moved to Florida I became a certified scuba diver (YMCA Miami). Al Capone knew he couldn’t take over Detroit & instead became partners with the Bernsteins

By: Max Moose

Max Moose — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:58:49 +0000

It is hard to believe a Jew could be so misinformed about Jews.

Chistian America’s TV and film generations have grown up fawning over Jews as sex symbols, tough guys and even gangsters, but has not always correctly
perceived them as Jews, since their Jewishness is not trumpeted.

The Hyman Roth character, played by Jewish actor Lee Strasberg, was actually based on Meyer Lansky. However, America’s all-time most famous movie gangster was Edgar G. Robinson, born as….Emanuel Goldenberg!

More generally, Americans could watch a series like Bonanza for 20 years without stopping to think that pin-up boy Michael Landon was actually Jewish, nor that his TV father was in fact Jewish too (Lorne Green).

If they switched over to Star Trek, they didn’t suspect that two-fisted Captain Kirk was Jewish (William Shatner), nor that his unemotional Vulcan Number One was Jewish (Leonard Nimoy).

Of course, they may were used to the dapper, chain-smoking Rod Serling introducing his compelling tales on The Twilight Zone, but they may not have known that Rod himself was born and raised Jewish, and was a former fighter pilot and boxer, who wrote “Requium for a Heavyweight.”

An exception to Jewish anonymity in drama was “Thirty-something,” where handsome Jewish actor Ken Olin played a Jewish main character.

Over the years, Jewish actors have been leading men in films as well, from Dustin Hoffman to today’s Ben Stiller, and the fact is that America’s most outstanding tough guys tend to be at least half Jewish, such as Paul Newman or Harrison Ford. Ford has been quoted as saying he feels “Irish as a person, but…Jewish as an actor.”

So Steve….someone is oblivious, but it may not be “Mrs. Seinfeld.”