Series and obit catch-up

Stars of David

By Nate Bloom, Stars of David Contributing Columnist

Editor’s Note: Persons in bold are deemed by Nate Bloom to be Jewish for the purpose of this column. Persons identified as Jewish have at least one Jewish parent and were not raised in a faith other than Judaism — and do not identify with a faith other than Judaism as an adult. Converts to Judaism, of course, are also identified as Jewish.

“Coyote,” a new series, started streaming on CBS All-Access on Jan. 7. Michael Chiklis stars as Ben Clemens, a veteran Border Patrol agent who is forced to work for Mexican smugglers of undocumented immigrants. Mark Feurstein, 49 (“Royal Pains”), has an important recurring role as Frank Kerr, a successful psychologist who is married to Clemens’ ex-wife.

Over on ABC, the comedy/drama “Call Your Mother” premiered on Wednesday, Jan. 13 (9:30 p.m.). Kyra Sedgwick, 55 (“The Closer”), stars as an “empty-nester” mom whose adult children live far away. She decides to move near them and reinsert herself in their lives — and the kids are surprised that they do need her. Sedgwick’s mother was Jewish and she identifies as Jewish.

Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann — the “Girl Next Door” — on the everpopular “Gilligan’s Island,” died on Dec. 30, age 82, from COVID-19 complications. In interviews, she seemed to be just the same sweet person she was on the series, which was created by the late Sherwood Schwartz. Her death leaves Tina Louise, 86 (“Ginger”), as the only surviving cast member.

Yes, Louise, born Tina Blacker, is Jewish. She’s never talked about being Jewish, but her only husband was Jewish and he was the father of her only child. Wells was not close to Louise, but she was very friendly with the others off stage.

She stayed very much in touch with Natalie Schafer, who played Mrs. “Lovey” Howell. Schafer, who was born into a rich New York Jewish family, would never tell Wells her age. But, in her 1991 obituary, it said she was 91 at the time of her death. Wells contacted her doctor, who told her Schafer wanted her age in her obituary. She wanted the world to know that “even at 91, she would go out every day for lunch and swim nude in her pool.”

As I write this (Jan. 5), actress Tanya Roberts has just died. Roberts, 65, a very “hot” woman, wasn’t a major star, but she had some good roles: she was an “angel” in the last season (1981) of “Charlie’s Angels;” she co-starred in the cult fantasy classic, “The Beastmaster” (1982), opposite “beefcake” actor Marc Singer, now 72; she was the “Bond Girl” in “A View from the Kill” (1985); and she was a cast member of “That ‘70s Show.” She played the mother of lead character Donna (Laura Prepon, 40) from 1998-2001.

Years later, she revealed that she left the series because her husband, writer Barry Roberts, was terminally ill with encephalitis. Barry, like Tanya, was from the Bronx. A personal source who knew Barry in high school told me he was Jewish. Barry and Tanya wed in 1974. She nursed him for five years until he died in 2006.

For decades, her bios repeated the same thing — that she was born in 1955, the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Irish father. Well, a friend and I did some record checking. Turns out that Tanya, born Victoria Blum, was born in 1949. Her father, Oscar Blum, was Jewish. Her mother, Dorothy Smith, was English, and it’s unclear if she was Jewish. I don’t fault Roberts for shaving six years off her age in youth-obsessed Hollywood. But maybe it explains why she had no interest in correcting online bio details.

A reboot of the ‘80s TV series, “The Equalizer,” starts on CBS on Feb. 7 (8:30 p.m.). Queen Latifah stars as Robyn McCall, an enigmatic woman with a mysterious background, who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn. Adam Goldberg, 50, is a main cast member. He’s best known as the star of the “Hebrew Hammer” movies and as the Jewish army soldier who tragically dies in a one-on-one fight with a Nazi soldier near the end of “Saving Private Ryan.”

Another CBS new series, “Clarice,” starts on Feb. 11, at 10 p.m. It follows FBI agent Clarice Sterling a year after (1993) the events depicted in the film, “The Silence of the Lambs.” Michael Cudlitz, 56, a big burly guy whose father is Jewish, plays a main cast character. The series was created by Alex Kurtzman, 47, and Jenny Lumet, 53. Lumet is the daughter of the late, great director Sidney Lumet (“Dog Day Afternoon” and “12 Angry Men”). Lena Horne was her maternal grandmother. Her husband, Alex Weinstein, is an artist.