By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
Last January, Jeff, an old friend who lives in the Los Angeles area, forwarded an article about a 10-minute comedic film that had just been screened at the Sundance Film Festival. This satire featured Richard Simmons (played by comedian PAULY SHORE) doing an exercise workout on TV.
The article noted that Shore, 56, was using this short film as a preview of a full-length film about Simmons that he hoped to make. Shore said he didn’t intend to make fun of Simmons.
Simmons rarely made public statements in the last five years, but he did issue a terse statement about Shore’s project: “I had nothing to do with this.”
Jeff entitled his email “I know Richard Simmons and he is half-Jewish.” I asked him how he knew Simmons — he said that Simmons was a waiter in an L.A. restaurant he went to — and, encouraged by friends, he (Jeff) invested in a (combo) restaurant and exercise studio that Simmons was going to run. The restaurant did ok, Jeff said, but the studio was a huge hit with women and its success was the first big step in Simmons’ fame. (P.S. Jeff got his investment back and made a small profit).
I vaguely recalled that Simmons’ mother was Jewish, but he wasn’t raised Jewish. Wikipedia said his father was a Methodist, his mother was Jewish, and he became a Catholic as a young adult.
This didn’t sound right and, last January, I found the correct info in a twenty-minute 2011 interview on DR. RUTH WESTHEIMER’s TV show! This YouTube video is titled “Dr. Ruth and Richard Simmons discuss dieting and exercise.”
In the first five minutes, Simmons said that his late father was Catholic, his mother is Jewish, and he was raised Catholic. He added that his mother was disowned by her parents when she went to dance in “the Follies” and this led his mother to bury her Jewish background. He said he was 19 when he learned that his mother was Jewish.
I have to say that Simmons and Westheimer (a sex info expert) were just so sweet and bubbly in this interview. Simmons talked about new exercise programs for seniors and for the disabled. His work for the disabled, he added, was totally free.
At the close of the interview, Westheimer stated what most of us found in Simmons: he had “joie de vivre” (love of life). Of course, Dr. Ruth had the same joy.
Dr. Westheimer, age 96, died at 11:30 p.m. on July 12 and Simmons, age 76, died the next day. They were eccentrics who knew they could be figures of fun — but that “fun” helped them convey invaluable info (about sex and exercise) to millions.
“Time Bandits,” a comedy, fantasy adventure Apple+ series based on the hit 1981 movie of the same name, began streaming on July 24. It follows an unpredictable journey though time and space with a ragtag group of thieves and their newest recruit: an 11-year-old history buff named Kevin (played by a young actor named Kal-El Tuck).
LISA KUDROW, 60, plays Penelope, the Bandits’ leader. She guides the Bandits in epic adventures against evil forces. Kevin guides them to treasures as they go back in time — every place from the age of the dinosaurs, to the age of Stonehenge, to Harlem in the 1920s.
TAIKA WAITITI, 48, has a small role as “Supreme Being.” He also co-produced the series. As I have noted before, his maternal great-grandfather was Jewish and his father was a New Zealand Maori (Polynesian). He identifies as a “Polynesian Jew.” His many top credits include an Oscar for his screenplay for “JoJo Rabbit” (2019), an anti-Nazi film. Waititi’s Maori grandfather fought the Nazis in Italy in WWII.
“The Fabulous Four,” a comedy, opens in theaters on July 26. It follows a group of life-long friends (Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally, and Sheryl Lee Ralph) who travel to Key West, Florida, to be bridesmaids in the surprise wedding of their best college girlfriend Marilyn (BETTE MIDLER, 78).
Footnote: You might have read that Susan Sarandon has been among the most acerbic critics of Israel since the Israel/Hamas conflict began. She has had to apologize for two of her remarks. I wonder if this movie would have been scrapped or re-cast if this movie was filmed this year? It’s certainly possible that Midler wouldn’t work with her, now.
Next week, I’ll say something about the death (July 18) of Bob Newhart, a real mensch.