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Friday August 15, 2008

Celebrities

by nate bloom

Shia’s dark hour

As you probably heard, hot young actor Shia LaBeouf, 22, was in an auto accident in Los Angeles on July 27. He seriously injured his hand, and his passenger, actress Isabel Lucas, had minor injuries, as did the driver of the other car. LaBeouf had been drinking and he was charged with misdemeanor drunk driving. However, the police said that the other driver had run a red light and caused the accident and LaBeouf was not cited for the accident itself.

LaBeouf was in the middle of filming “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” a sequel to the box-office smash “The Transformers,” which also starred LaBeouf.

I hope this accident is a wake-up call for LaBeouf and he realizes that he must avoid alcohol completely in the future. He seems to know that already. The actor is the subject of a cover story in this month’s Details magazine (www.details.com).

He talks about drinking with his father, an ex-heroin addict, and says, “And I don’t know how to do it like a gentleman. I don’t know how to have one drink.”

There is now “weird” video on YouTube, which features a then-16-year-old LaBeouf learning to drive a stick shift for the 2002 film ”The Battle of Shaker Heights.” He runs a stop sign and declares himself not a good driver, “I’m Jewish. I’ll make you latkes, but I won’t drive you around, though.” (Enter “Shia driving” at www.youtube.com.)

Notable quotes

On Aug. 5, there was a New York showing of the concert film “Lou Reed’s Berlin.” Famous rocker Lou Reed was there and the film’s director, Julian Schnabel, got on the stage and announced that Reed’s mother was in the audience. He called out to her (referring to her son), “You got a nice Yiddishe kup there. You should be proud.”

Seth Rogen (“Knocked Up” and “The Pineapple Express”) was asked if his success has changed the look of leading men in film.

The pudgy actor replied: “John Candy was the lead in a lot of movies. I mean, there’s been much fatter, uglier people than me who’ve done this. So I’d say no, not necessarily. That being said, I’ve noticed a lot more guys who kind of look like me out in the world. Like, there’s more slightly heavyset Jewish guys who have dark glasses and let their hair grow out a little bit. Me and Jonah Hill have started that trend.”

Olympics: late additions

My research has uncovered some American Olympic Jewish athletes at the 2008 Summer Games who had been missed in other articles.

Benny Feilhaber, 23, plays soccer for the American team at the games. The Olympics soccer competition is limited to teams of players age 23 and under. A midfielder, Feilhaber was born in Brazil of Austrian Jewish parents. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was 6. He played college ball for UCLA and was named to the U.S. national team in 2007. He currently plays pro ball for Derby, an English team that was relegated from the Premier League after last season.

Adam Duvendeck, 26, is a member of the U.S. two-man cycling sprint team. Duvendeck competed in the 2004 Olympics as a member of the three-man sprint squad. He is a native and resident of Santa Barbara. His family belongs to a Santa Barbara synagogue, and he was a bar mitzvah.

Mike Friedman, 25, will compete in the Madison, a two cycling man event. Trish Cohen, who runs www.OYVelo.com, a new Web site for and about Jewish cyclists, recently spoke to Friedman. She tells me that Friedman’s paternal Jewish grandparents are refugees from Nazi Germany. Friedman’s mother is not Jewish; and while he was raised without religion, Friedman says is very proud of his Jewish background.

By the way, swimmer Dara Torres is not part Hispanic as is often reported. Her late father was of Hungarian Jewish background and his last name was originally “Torrez.” It was changed to “Torres” in the States.

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

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