Curated playlist

American people of Russian-Jewish descent

Woody AllenWoody Allen failed a film production course at New York University, then went on to direct Annie Hall.
Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg walked into Universal Studios without a pass, and the guard waved him in.
Adam SandlerAdam Sandler once made a Western comedy that critics almost universally panned. On the 6th of January 2016, Netflix announced that the film, The Ridiculous 6, had been watched more times in thirty days than any other movie in the service's…
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas insisted on giving blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo an on-screen credit for Spartacus.
Louis B. MayerLouis B. Mayer pushed a junk cart as a boy, then became America's highest-paid man.
Mel BrooksMel Brooks was 14 years old when he climbed onto a diving board at the Butler Lodge, a second-rate hotel in the Borscht Belt. He worked there as a pool-side tummler, an entertainer hired to keep the guests amused. On this day he wore a…
Sylvester StalloneSylvester Stallone has said that he once slept for three weeks in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. Decades later, he is one of only two actors in history, alongside Harrison Ford, to have starred in a box-office number one…
George GershwinGeorge Gershwin's last words were "Fred Astaire." He collapsed at age 38 while working on a film score.
Jack L. WarnerJack Warner once rushed onstage at the Oscars and took a trophy that was not his. The prize was for Casablanca.
Leon FestingerPsychologist Leon Festinger joined a doomsday group to see what believers do when the prophecy fails.
Natalie PortmanNatalie Portman turned down a $2,000,000 prize in 2018. She skipped the Genesis Prize ceremony, and it was canceled.
Jake GyllenhaalJake Gyllenhaal, the American actor born on the 19th of December 1980, came close to playing two of the best-known superheroes in film. In 2003 he auditioned for Batman Begins and nearly won the part, which went to Christian Bale. A year…
Aaron CoplandComposer Aaron Copland planned one year of study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger but stayed three.
Carl SaganCarl Sagan once asked a librarian for a book on stars and got one about movie stars.
Joseph StiglitzJoseph Stiglitz explained why wages stay high in recessions even when workers are desperate for jobs.
Sean PennIn Kyiv in November 2022, Sean Penn handed an Oscar statuette to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "This is for you. It's just a symbolic silly thing...When you win, bring it back to Malibu." That was the whole speech. Penn is an…
River PhoenixRiver Phoenix was an American actor and musician, and at the 92nd Academy Awards his brother Joaquin spoke one of River's lyrics aloud. Accepting the Best Actor prize, Joaquin told the room that River wrote it at 17: "run to the rescue…
Phil SpectorPhil Spector's first number one song came from his father's gravestone.
Jennifer ConnellyJennifer Connelly was eleven years old when she walked into an audition for the director Sergio Leone and tried to pass as a ballerina. She had never taken a ballet lesson. She simply imitated what she imagined a dancer would do. Leone was…
Joaquin PhoenixJoaquin Phoenix had just flipped his car on a winding canyon road in Hollywood when a voice at the window told him to relax. It was the 26th of January 2006. Gasoline was leaking into the cabin. A shaken Phoenix answered, "I'm fine. I am…
Richard FeynmanRichard Feynman's last words, spoken after a long coma, were "This dying is boring." The remark suited an American theoretical physicist who never lost his taste for blunt, irreverent honesty. He was a man who treated authority, ceremony…
Carrie FisherCarrie Fisher once asked to be reported as drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra.
Noah WyleNoah Wyle won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for playing an emergency room doctor in The Pitt, three decades after his first Emmy nomination in 1995. The American actor was born in Hollywood in 1971. In the…
Timothy OlyphantTimothy Olyphant once turned down the lead in a film that its studio was ready to approve if he said yes. The producer Neal H. Moritz recalled the studio's position this way: "If you can get Timothy Olyphant to play that role we will…
James FrancoFor five weeks, James Franco spent twelve hours a day in a gully built as a film set, and he left it only to use the lavatory. Between takes he read books, including academic textbooks, just to keep busy. The American actor and filmmaker…
Neil DiamondNeil Diamond, born on the 24th of January 1941, once stretched his food budget to just 35 cents a day. Decades later, the American singer-songwriter had sold more than 56.5 million records in the United States alone. That total places him…
Joseph HellerJoseph Heller's novel Catch-22 was first called Catch-18. It was renamed to avoid confusion with Mila 18.
Bruria KaufmanBruria Kaufman spent five years working alongside Albert Einstein in Princeton. She co-wrote two articles with him.
Jordan BelfortJordan Ross Belfort is an American former stockbroker who spent 22 months in prison for fraud. He is also the author of a memoir that became a major film. For years he ran a brokerage that defrauded its own customers. Then he helped the…
Barbra StreisandBarbra Streisand once filed a lawsuit that sent a crowd of strangers to look at a single photograph. In 2003 she claimed that a website documenting coastal erosion had invaded her privacy. Among its more than 12,000 images, one happened to…
Winona RyderWinona Ryder once believed that a hit film would rescue her from the school playground. In 2017 she recalled her thinking when Beetlejuice topped the box office: "Ooh, it's like the number one movie. This is going to make things great at…
Jack BlackJack Black is an American actor, comedian, singer and musician, and in 2025 he attached his name to the shortest song ever to reach the Billboard Hot 100. "Steve's Lava Chicken", from A Minecraft Movie, lasts just 34 seconds. It edged out…
Lenny KravitzLenny Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row, from 1999 to 2002. That run broke the record for wins in the category. It also set a record for consecutive wins in one category by a male…
Herb AlpertHerb Alpert is the only musician to top the Hot 100 as both a singer and an instrumentalist.
Joe ShusterSuperman's city of Metropolis was modeled on Toronto, where artist Joe Shuster grew up.
Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimov coined the word "robotics" in a 1941 story, thinking it was just a natural term.
E. L. DoctorowE. L. Doctorow won the National Book Critics Circle Award three times. He mixed real and invented people.
Nicolas SlonimskyA book of scales that was largely ignored became a favorite of John Coltrane. Nicolas Slonimsky wrote it in 1947.
Maurice PodoloffMaurice Podoloff suspended 32 players for life over a point-shaving scandal. He was the NBA's first commissioner.
Zoë KravitzZoë Kravitz was only two years old when her father put her name on a record. The song is called "Flowers for Zoë," and it appears on Mama Said, the second album by the musician Lenny Kravitz. He wrote it as a tribute to his young daughter.…
Mandy MooreMandy Moore, the American singer and actress, once offered to refund everyone who had bought her first two albums. In 2006 she said she would give her fans their money back if she could. Then, during a radio interview in April of that…
David BenioffDavid Benioff was a club bouncer and a high school wrestling coach before Game of Thrones. He later co-ran the show.
Edward FredkinEdward Fredkin never finished college, yet MIT made him a full professor in 1968. Marvin Minsky recruited him.
Irvin KershnerIrvin Kershner once asked George Lucas a direct question: "Of all the younger guys around, all the hot-shots, why me?" Kershner told the story himself, and Lucas had an answer ready: "Well, because you know everything a Hollywood director…
Stanley WolpertStanley Wolpert quit engineering after landing in Bombay two weeks after Gandhi was shot.
Ossie SchectmanOssie Schectman scored the first basket in what became the NBA. He did it for the Knicks in Toronto on November 1, 1946.
Idina MenzelIn 1992, a young singer named Idina Menzel recorded a demo of a song called "In Your Eyes" and was paid $75 for the job. The song went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, sung by the Irish performer Niamh Kavanagh. That story…
Armie HammerArmie Hammer was hand-picked in 2007 by the filmmaker George Miller to play Batman. The actor, born in 1986, had been chosen after a long search. The film was Justice League: Mortal, and Miller was set to direct it. It never reached…
Jon FavreauJon Favreau named his company after the golem of Jewish folklore. It can protect or destroy, like technology.
Robert EttingerA 1931 Amazing Stories tale about a frozen professor stayed with 12-year-old Robert Ettinger.