Curt Schleier is a freelance writer and author who covers business and the arts for a variety of publications. Follow him on Twitter at @tvsoundoff.
Curt Schleier
By Curt Schleier
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Culture Uncovering The Secret Tunnel That Helped Jews Of Vilna Escape The Nazis
“Holocaust Escape Tunnel,” the latest episode in the PBS science series “Nova” follows a group of scholars and engineers as they use the latest ground radar techniques to re-discover an important piece of Jewish history in Vilna. Napoleon called Vilna (now officially Vilnius) the “Jerusalem of the North.” It was home to Elijah ben Solomon…
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The Schmooze Jessica Biel Discovers That She’s A Little Bit Jewish
(JTA) — The celebrities who appear on genealogy shows are almost invariably in for a surprise, like a criminal in their family tree or a British royal in their web of relatives. Some, like Dustin Hoffman — who broke down in tears on “Finding Your Roots” last year — delve into their Jewish ancestry deeper…
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Food Delicious Doc Puts Israeli Food Center Stage
Is there such a thing as Israeli food? The good news is that filmmaker Roger Sherman went looking and came up with a mouthwatering documentary, “In Search of Israeli Cuisine,” which opens in Manhattan at the Angelika Film Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on March 24. Perhaps less good news is that there doesn’t seem…
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Culture How Jackie Hoffman Journeyed From Shtetl to Hollywood to Broadway
Actress/comedienne Jackie Hoffman has long been a fixture on the New York scene. The rubber-faced character actress known for a long-lived and successful Broadway career was recently cast as Mrs. Teavee in the forthcoming Broadway production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and most recently played Mamacita, Joan Crawford’s loyal German maid, in Ryan Murphy’s…
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Culture In New Broadway Hit Musical, A Rabbi Makes An Unlikely Cameo
On Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. government closed American airspace to all traffic. Every trans-Atlantic flight less than halfway to its destination was ordered to return to Europe. Those closer to the United States were diverted to Newfoundland . It hardly seems the stuff of musicals, but those next four days are at the center…
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The Schmooze Try Not To Cry During This Oscar-Nominated Film About A Holocaust Survivor And His Violin
(JTA) — Filmmaker Kahane Cooperman hasn’t written an Oscars acceptance speech yet, but she likely will before the Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 28. Not to jinx things or appear overconfident, Cooperman told JTA in a telephone interview, but “on the chance it happens, for fear of leaving someone out.” Her film, “Joe’s Violin,” is…
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Culture 45 Years Later, the Documentary Leonard Cohen Didn’t Want You To See
The newly released yet very old documentary, “Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire,” offers a behind-the-scenes look at the poet/singer/songwriter on his 1972 European tour. That it has taken over 40 years for it to get its first North American run is an indication that the process was as complicated as its subject. Director Tony…
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Culture My Memorable and Hilarious Hour With Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher was sitting in her publicist’s office munching on a candy bar, drinking soda and taking on one visiting journalist after another. Each of these activities was potentially dangerous to her health, but that’s what life is like on the road when you’re promoting a new novel. It was a dozen years ago, and…
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