Norman Lear (Wikipedia)
It’s that time of year again, the time when we compile the lists of stuff that happened over the past 12 months. And no such series of lists would be complete without one about all of the important people who we lost since the previous January 1st.
So here now is Jewish Business News’ list of the five most important Jews who died in the previous 365 and ¼ days since the last time the Earth stood at the exact same spot relative to the sun. This should come sometime around 6 AM on January 1, so let’s hope no one more famous dies in the next five days.
Please remember to hold all applause until the end of the list.
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Norman Lear Died At 101
Norman Lear, the legendary television and movie producer died at the age of 101 in December. It would not be an overstatement to say that he changed the world.
Born Norman Milton in New Haven, Connecticut in 1922 to a Jewish family, Norman Lear was a prolific American screenwriter, producer, and developer who had a profound impact on television history. He produced, wrote, created, or developed over 100 shows, but is most famous for his groundbreaking sitcoms of the 1970s that tackled social and political issues head-on.
Norman Lear changed not only television but the very way in which Americans today can speak about their own culture and openly discuss the problems of their society. Before Lear, you simply could not talk openly about serious subjects like racism and sex on a television show.
Henry Kissinger Died At 100
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger died at the age of 100 at the end of November. He was possibly the most controversial figure to serve in that role due to his handling of America’s military campaigns in the later years of the war in Vietnam. This led many to accuse him of committing war crimes.
Born in Fürth, Bavaria, Germany, in 1923, Henry Kissinger emigrated to the United States with his Jewish family in 1938, escaping just before the Holocaust began. He served in the United States Army during World War II and then went on to study at Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in government in 1954. After teaching at Harvard, Kissinger became involved in government service, serving as a consultant to the National Security Council and the Department of State. He joined the Nixon administration in 1969 as National Security Advisor.
Alan Arkin Died at Age 89
Alan Arkin will surely be missed. He was one of a kind and every other positive cliché you can think of. No matter what the role, even when playing the bad guy, and especially when the movie was just God awful – like when Arkin tried to replace Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther series in 1968 with “Inspector Clouseau” – Alan Arkin’s sweet hearted nature always seemed to come through. The Oscar winning actor died on Friday at the age of 89.
Alan Arkin was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He was born on March 26, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. He died on June 29, 2023, in Carlsbad, California.
Chaim Topol Passed At 87
Chaim Topol is best remembered for portraying Tevya the milkman in Fiddler on the Roof. He played the role first in the musical’s London production and became a star for the 1971 movie. And for the next 50 years Topol continued to perform Fiddler in productions all over the world. He even played a Bond villain (or ally) in the 1983 movie “For Your Eyes Only.”
Chaim Topol had been ill for several years, suffering from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. He died in March.
Dianne Feinstein Passed At Age 90
Dianne Feinstein, a legend of American politics, passed away at the end of September at the age of 90. She passed just a little over a year before what would have been the completion of a five-term, 30 year Senate career.
She was the longest serving woman US Senator in history.
But her final year in the Senate was marred by controversy as Feinstein’s fellow democrats were bothered by her insistence on hanging on to her seat in spite of being ill and incapable of fulfilling her obligations and duties.
Dianne Feinstein was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988.
