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Friday November 9, 2007

Celebrities

by nate bloom

Catch Crystal and Winehouse

Comedian Billy Crystal 59, and British Jewish pop sensation Amy Winehouse, 24, make special TV appearances this coming week.

Crystal was honored last month as the 10th recipient of the Kennedy Center’s prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. A tape of the celebration will be broadcast on most PBS stations Monday, Nov. 12. It includes many film clips and tributes from lots of celebrities, including Rob Reiner, Jon Lovitz and Barbara Walters.

Early in the show, Crystal sits in a rocking chair, like Mark Twain famously did, and speaks about his “homespun” childhood as a Jewish kid in Brooklyn. From his chair, he tells us, “My role model was Bill Cosby. He played football at Temple. I belonged to a temple.”

Winehouse is set to be the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” on Nov. 10. She cancelled the same gig in October, suffering from one of her many well-publicized bouts with drug and alcohol abuse. Meanwhile, Winehouse’s second CD, “Back to Black,” continues to sizzle, reaching the 3 million sales mark. Her first CD, 2003’s “Frank,” will be released in America this month — as will a two-hour DVD documentary on the singer titled “I Told You I Was Trouble.”

Be our guest

November is a TV ratings sweeps month — that means fewer reruns and regular TV show scripts tend to be better. Pretty Jewish actresses Jessalyn Gilsig, 36, and Rachel Bilson, 25, guest star, respectively, on NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” (airs Friday, Nov. 9) and “Chuck” (Monday, Nov. 12). Gilsig was a regular on “Boston Public” and had a recurring role on “Heroes.” Bilson co-starred on “The O.C.”

Richard Kind, 50, guest stars as a music promoter on the hit CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men” (Monday, Nov. 12). Kind was a regular on “Spin City.” Over on NBC, character actor Arye Gross, 47, has a juicy part as a violent schizophrenic artist on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” (Tuesday, Nov. 13).

Jack Black guests as the voice of a comic book store owner, and famous comic book artists Art Spiegelman (“Maus”) and Oakland resident Dan Clowes (“Ghost World”) guest-voice themselves in the Nov. 18 episode of Fox’s “The Simpsons.” Also on Fox, Jerry Adler (Hesh Rabkin on “The Sopranos”) appears as Brad Garrett’s father on “‘Til Death” on Nov. 21.

The truth about Goulet

There is a persistent, but false, story that singer Robert Goulet, who died Oct. 30 at 73, was born with the “very Jewish” name of Stanley Applebaum. The origin of the story was explained by Goulet himself on his official Web site.

In 1960, Goulet did a round of press interviews about starring in the Broadway megahit “Camelot.” As he was leaving, Goulet was mobbed by reporters and one screamed out, “One last question — what’s your real name?” Goulet said he thought he would make a joke and responded, “Stanley Applebaum.”

In Goulet’s words, here’s what happened: ”I thought it was humorous … but suddenly the press seemed to find a seam on which to stitch a byline. My manager, my lawyer and accountant, my PR man were all Jewish and not really having ever had any in-depth conversations with me, called each other to say ‘He’s one of us!’ Now, had I been born a Jew, I would never had denied that fact. But I was born into a French Roman Catholic home in Lawrence, Mass., and my real name is Robert Gerard Goulet. I do have a strange sense of humor, and didn’t intend to insult anyone. So please — laugh with me.”

Columnist Nate Bloom , an Oaklander, can be reached at middleoftheroad1@aol.com.

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