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List of Jewish American entertainers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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This is a list of notable Jewish American entertainers. For other Jewish Americans, see Lists of American Jews.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Actors (film and TV) & artists

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Organized by birth decade

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

1950s

1940s

1930s

1920s

1910s

1900s

  • Stanley Adams (1907–1994), lyricist and songwriter
  • Stella Adler (1901–1992), actress and acting teacher[514]
  • Jack Albertson (1907–1981), actor (Chico and the Man)
  • Leon Askin (born Leon Aschkenasy, 1907–2005), Austrian American actor[515]
  • Milton Berle (born Milton Berlinger, 1908–2002), comedian and actor; pioneered vaudeville and stand-up comedy art forms[516][517]
  • Joe Besser (1907–1988), comedian (Three Stooges)[518]
  • Mel Blanc (1908–1989), voice actor and comedian, "The Man of a Thousand Voices", created voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Wile E. Coyote, Barney Rubble[519]
  • Ben Blue (born Benjamin Bernstein, 1901–1975), Canadian American actor and comedian[404]
  • Howard Da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt, 1909–1986), film actor[404]
  • Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Hesselberg, 1901–1981), actor, won all three of the entertainment industry's highest awards (two Oscars, a Tony, and an Emmy)[520][521]
  • Larry Fine (born Louis Feinberg, 1902–1975), comedian and actor (Three Stooges)[518]
  • Joseph Green (1900–1996), Polish-American film actor and director[522]
  • John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann, 1902–1988), actor; won an Academy Award for The Paper Chase
  • Curly Howard (born Jerome Horwitz, 1903–1952), one of the Three Stooges[518]
  • Sam Levene (1905–1980), Russian/American stage and film actor[523]
  • Peter Lorre (born László Löwenstein, 1904–1964), Austria-Hungary-born American stage and screen actor (M)[524]
  • Zeppo Marx (1901–1979), member of the Marx Brothers[525]
  • Sandy Meisner (1905–1997), actor and acting coach; developed acting methodology known as the "Meisner Technique"
  • Ritz Brothers (Al, Jimmy, and Harry Ritz, 1901–1965, 1904–1985, 1907–1986 respectively), Jewish comedy team[404]
  • Natalie Schafer (1900–1991), actress (Gilligan's Island)
  • Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg, 1901–1982), actor, director, and acting teacher in theater and film, who according to author Mel Gussow "revolutionized the art of acting"

1890s

  • Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, 1894–1974), comedian, vaudeville performer, and radio, TV, and film actor[526]
  • Gertrude Berg (born Tilly Edelstein, 1899–1966), radio/TV actress[527]
  • Fanny Brice (born Fania Borach, 1891–1951), comedian, singer, and entertainer[528]
  • George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum, 1896–1996), comedian and actor[529]
  • Eddie Cantor (born Israel Iskowitz, 1892–1964), comedian, singer-songwriter, actor[530]
  • Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Krantz, 1899–1977), Austrian-born American silent film star, known as a "Latin lover" type[531]
  • Anthony Frome, (born Abraham Feinberg, 1899–1986), singer, the "Poet Prince of the Air Waves".[532]
  • Hermione Gingold (1897–1987), British-born actress[533]
  • Moe Howard (born Moses Horwitz, 1897–1975), "leader" of the Three Stooges[518]
  • Shemp Howard (born Samuel Horwitz, 1895–1955), member of the Three Stooges[518]
  • Sam Jaffe (born Shalom Jaffe, 1891–1984), Academy Award-nominated film and stage actor[404]
  • Irving Kaufman (born Isidore Kaufman, 1890–1976), singer, recording artist, and vaudeville performer[534]
  • Francis Lederer (1899–2000), Czech-born American actor[535]
  • Philip Loeb (1892–1955), stage, film, and TV actor[536]
  • Paul Lukas (1895–1971), Hungarian American film actor[404]
  • Groucho Marx (born Julius Marx, 1890–1977), comedian, working both with his siblings, the Marx Brothers, and on his own[525]
  • Gummo Marx (born Milton Marx, 1893–1977), one of the Marx Brothers[525]
  • Paul Muni (born Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund, 1895–1967), Austrian-born American Academy Award and Tony Award-winning actor[537]
  • Carmel Myers (1899–1980), silent film actress[538]
  • Molly Picon (born Małka Opiekun, 1898–1992), actor of stage, screen, and TV[539]
  • Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg, 1893–1973), stage and film actor[540]
  • Mae West (born Mary Jane West, 1893–1980), actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol[541]

1880s

Pre–1880s

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Comedians

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Film/television directors and producers

See also: List of Jewish American businesspeople in media § Television, film and video
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Models

TV and radio presenters

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Producers and directors (theater)

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Persons listed with a double asterisk (**) are producers who have won the Tony Award for Best Musical and/or the Tony Award for Best Play. Those listed with a triple asterisk (***) have won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and/or Play. Those listed with a quadruple asterisk (****) have won the Tony Award for Best Actor or Best Actress in a Musical or Play.

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