Ari ben Canaan, ZT“L
Almost lost in the shuffle of preparations for Rosh Hashanah and for Jewdar Junior’s birthday party was the death of 3/4 MOT Paul Newman (only his father was Jewish, but after his decades in Hollywood, we can round it up to 3/4). Although Newman played innumerable roles in his career (and personally, we are huuuuuge Cool Hand Luke and Slapshot fans), it was his role as Ari ben Canaan in Exodus that cemented his place in Jewish history. As the rugged super-studly sabra, he may have done more to burnish the image of Israelis in the minds of America than anyone else in Zionist history (of course, he also may not have, but are you really going to argue? It’s his obituary, for God’s sake), and considering the current crop of leading men, his is a presence in Hollywood, which is certainly missed.
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submit a comment09.29.08 at 10:09 pm
What we’ve got here is … failure to communicate.
Some men you just can’t reach.
So you get what we got here last week, which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it!
N’ I don’t like it any more than you men.
— Strother Martin, 1967
10.01.08 at 8:10 pm
From movies to salad dressing, he’ll be sorely missed. Somehow the waif-like Hollywood types we have now-a-days don’t hold a sabbath candle in comparison.
I believe he even made Adam Sandler’s list in one of his songs, albeit, as a fractional members as you so aptly stated and upgraded to 3/4 count.