The most complete guide to Jewish Oscar nominees

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, or identify with, a faith other than Judaism. Converts to Judaism, of course, are also identified as Jewish.

In past years, the deadline for this column, and the date when Oscar nominations were announced, made it impossible for me to tell you who the Jewish Oscar nominees are before the Oscars are presented. This year, the “stars aligned” and I can write that column for you. For many years, I’ve written a ‘guide’ to Jewish nominees for weekly Jewish papers. I know I provide my readers with the most complete and accurate list of Jewish Oscar nominees. I do regret that I don’t have the space to give you more “bio” details.

The Oscars will be presented on Sunday, March 10 (ABC, begins at 7 p.m.). Jimmy Kimmel will host. The Governors’ Awards (honorary Oscars) were presented last November. Mel Brooks, 97, was one of the three awardees. He gave an amusing short speech (on YouTube).

Here are the Jewish nominees in all but the ‘technical’ categories (like editing, costumes, etc.)

Acting

This is the oddest year I’ve ever seen. No Jew was nominated for playing a nonJew and four actors were nominated for playing “real” Jews. But only one of the four has a “claim” to being Jewish. In the best actor category, there is Cillian Murphy as physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in “Oppenheimer” and Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro;” Jodie Foster, a supporting actress nominee, is “up” for playing Bonnie Stoll (now 71), Diana Nyad’s swim coach in “Nyad.”

That leaves Robert Downey, Jr., 58, a supporting actor nominee. He’s “up” for playing Lewis Strauss, a government official, in “Oppenheimer.” Downey’s paternal grandfather was “half Jewish,” and his paternal grandmother was ‘just’ Jewish. Downey always credits his Jewish wife with saving his life (he was a drug addict). He’s called himself “Jewish-Buddhist.”

Best original screenplay

“Anatomy of a Fall” (French film) was cowritten by nominee Arthur Harari, 42. Harari’s paternal Sephardi grandfather was born in Egypt and became a well-known French actor. With help, I found out that Arthur Harari’s parents are Jewish, too. Also in this category: Josh Singer, 52, the cowriter of “Maestro,” and Sammy Burch, 36, for writing “May December.” Burch’s mother is Jewish.

Best adapted screenplay

Noah Baumbach , 54, for co-writing “Barbie.” His father is Jewish. The Oscar nomination citation notes “Barbie” was based on characters created by the late Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel Toys; Also: Jonathan Glazer, 58, a British Jew, for “The Zone of Interest,” a film about the Holocaust (loosely based on a novel) — and the citation for “Oppenheimer” notes it was based on a historic study co-written by the late Martin J. Sherwin.

The Oscar for best non-English language film goes to the film’s director. “Zone” is a non-English nominee and if it wins, Glazer, who also directed “Zone,” gets the Oscar.

Best score

Laura Karpman, 64, for “American Fiction” and Robbie Robertson, who died last August, for “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Robertson was famous as the “lead guy” and chief songwriter for “The Band,” a top ’70s band. Robertson’s mother was of a member of the Cayuga and Mohawk tribes. He was 12 when he found out that his deceased father was Jewish. His father’s brothers were very kind to him and in a 2018 documentary, he said he felt his ‘burning ambition’ was a genetic gift of his father. In a memoir, Robertson made this wry remark about his Jewish and “First Nations” heritage: “You could say I’m an expert when it comes to persecution.”

Best original song

Diane Warren, 67, for “The Fire Inside” from” Flamin’ Hot.” Warren has been nominated 15 times for an Oscar, and has never won — and Mark Ronson, 48, the co-writer of “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie.”

Best animated film

The nominees for best animated films are a hodgepodge of animators and producers. Amy Pascal, 65, a top veteran producer, is “up” for “Spiderman — Across the SpiderVerse.” She shares the nomination with four others.

Best film

The best film Oscar goes to a nominated film’s principal producers. There are 10 nominated films and a lot of producers. My practice is not to work very hard to “verify” producers almost no one outside Hollywood has heard of and probably won’t win. Here are the producer nominees I am “sure of:” Fred Berner, 70, and Steven Spielberg, 77, “Maestro”; David Heyman, 62, (Jewish father) “Barbie;” and Charles Roven, 74, “Oppenheimer.”

Two more notes

“Zone of Interest” is a best film nominee, too. But Jonathan Glazer was not a “Zone” producer — and — “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a best film nominee, but its screenplay wasn’t nominated. The screenplay was based on a nonfiction study of the same name by David Grann, 56.