Is Roger Ebert Jewish?

Roger Ebert was not Jewish. The famous film critic was one-half of the movie reviewing team of Siskel and Ebert with the late Gene Siskel, who was Jewish.

Roger Joseph Ebert was born in Urbana, Illinois, the son of Annabel (née Stumm) and Walter H. Ebert, an electrician. His paternal grandparents were German immigrants and his maternal ancestry is Dutch, Irish, and German.

Ebert died on April 4, 2013.

Is C. Everett Koop Jewish?

No, C. Everett Koop was not a Jew. Koop served as the thirteenth Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989.

Koop was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, John Everett Koop (1883–1972) and Helen Koop (1894–1970), were both children of German immigrants, and Koop was their only child. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1937 and earned his MD degree from Cornell Medical College in 1941. During the 1940s and 1950s he rose in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine to become professor of pediatric surgery and, later, professor of pediatrics. In February 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Koop as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health with the promise that he would be nominated as Surgeon General.

As Surgeon General, Koop brought frank talk about the AIDS pandemic into U.S. homes.

Koop died on February 25, 2013 at 96 years old.

Is Ed Koch Jewish?

Ed Koch was Jewish. The former mayor of New York City died on February 1, 2013 of congestive heart failure.

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Edward Irving "Ed" Koch was born December 12, 1924. He was known for being an American lawyer, politician, political commentator, movie critic and television reality show judge. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977. He also served three terms as mayor of New York City, from 1978 to 1989. He also became known as a judge on the television judge show The People's Court from 1997 to 1999.

Born in The Bronx at New York–Presbyterian Hospital, Koch was the son of Yetta (née Silpe) and Louis Koch, immigrants from Poland. His father worked at a theater. The family affiliated with the Conservative Movement of Judaism. Koch was a strong advocate for the Jewish State of Israel.


Koch grew up in Newark, NJ and he graduated from South Side High School in Newark in 1941. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1943 where he served as an infantryman with the 104th Infantry Division, landing in Cherbourg, France in September 1944.

As mayor of NYC, he brought the city out of bankruptcy. He was outspoken and always said what he was thinking. Koch died on February 1, 2013 at 88 years old.

Is Caleb Moore Jewish?

No, Caleb Moore was not a Jew. Moore was a snowmobile rider and a Winter X Games competitor.

Moore began his career riding ATVs and later switched to snowmobiles. Soon after learning to ride snowmobiles he won the bronze medal at the Winter X Games in 2010. In his career he won four medals.

During the 2013 Winter X Games, Moore crashed while doing a backflip. He walked off the course with a concussion but the injuries he sustained later claimed his life on January 31, 2013.

Is Michael Winner Jewish?

Yes, Michael Winner was a Jew. Winner was an English film director and producer.

Winner was born in Hampstead, London, England, the son of Helen and George Joseph Winner. His family was Jewish. His mother was Polish and his father of Russian extraction, and a Freemason.

Winner's career began in 1956 and he directed films, both English and American, through 2010. In 1967 he began producing the films as well as directing.

Winner died on January 21, 2013 at the age of 77.

Is Conrad Bain Jewish?

Conrad Bain was not Jewish. Famous for playing the role of Phillip Drummond in the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes and as Dr. Arthur Harmon on Maude, Bain was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

His parents were Jean Agnes Young and Stafford Harrison Bain, a wholesaler. Bain attended the Banff School of Fine Arts and then served in the Canadian Army during World War II.

Bain has three sons and a daughter with Monica Sloan, to whom he was married until her death in 2009. His identical twin brother is Bonar Bain who once played the brother of his Maude character, Dr. Arthur Harmon.

Conrad Bain died on January 16, 2013 in California.

Is Aaron Swartz Jewish?

Aaron Swartz was Jewish. Aaron Swartz was the technologist and computer programmer who helped develop code that created the RSS feed  as a teenager. Aaron was born November 8, 1986 to Robert and Susan Swartz. He had two younger brothers Noah and Ben. His partner was Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, the Executive Director and Founder of Sum Of Us.

According to the NY Times, Aaron Swartz's uncle said that he had apparently hanged himself, and that a friend of Mr. Swartz’s had discovered the body. Aaron’s funeral will be held on Tuesday, January 15 at Central Avenue Synagogue, 874 Central Avenue, Highland Park, Illinois.

The NY TImes reported that, "At 14, Mr. Swartz helped create RSS, the nearly ubiquitous tool that allows users to subscribe to online information. He later became an Internet folk hero, pushing to make many Web files free and open to the public. But in July 2011, he was indicted on federal charges of gaining illegal access to JSTOR, a subscription-only service for distributing scientific and literary journals, and downloading 4.8 million articles and documents, nearly the entire library. Charges in the case, including wire fraud and computer fraud, were pending at the time of Mr. Swartz’s death, carrying potential penalties of up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines."

It had been reported that Swartz suffered from depression and had contemplated suicide in the past. "In a talk in 2007, Mr. Swartz described having had suicidal thoughts during a low period in his career. He also wrote about his struggle with depression, distinguishing it from sadness."

Is Patti Page Jewish?

Patti Page is not a Jew. Page was an American singer, best known for her traditional pop-music. She sold over 100 million records.

Page was born Clara Ann Fowler in Oklahoma. She was born into a large and poor family. Her father, B.A. Fowler, worked on the MKT railroad and her mother, Margaret, and older sisters picked cotton. She was raised in Foraker, Hardy, Muskogee and Avant, Oklahoma, before attending Daniel Webster High School in Tulsa, from which she graduated in 1945.

Page's success began in 1948 and in 1950 she released Tennessee Waltz, her most popular and best-selling single. Page appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show 18 times and in one appearance, performed Eli, Eli, an emotional Jewish ballad. Sullivan was so moved by her performance that he stumbled over his words while praising Page, saying he was so moved by this "act," rather than saying by this "song."

Page died on January 1, 2013.

Is Beate Gordon Jewish?

Beate Gordon was Jewish. Gordon was born Beate Sirota, the daughter of Russian Jewish parents who at 22 almost single-handedly wrote women’s rights into the Constitution of modern Japan, and then kept silent about it for decades. She was the only woman to become a feminist heroine in Japan in modern times.

Beate Sirota Gordon was born in Vienna on October 25, 1923, and educated in Tokyo. She was the only child of Augustine (Horenstein) and noted pianist Leo Sirota, a Ukrainian Jew who had fled war-torn Russia and settled in Austria. Her uncle was conductor Jascha Horenstein. Sirota's family emigrated to Japan in 1929, when her father was accepted to the faculty of the Imperial Academy of Music (Tokyo University of the Arts). She attended the German School in Tokyo for six years, until the age of twelve, when she transferred to the American School (also in Tokyo) as a result of her parents deeming the German School "too Nazi". Beate Sirota Gordon became a naturalized U.S. citizen in January 1945.

Gordon was a civilian attached to General Douglas MacArthur’s army of occupation after World War II and she was the last living member of the American team that wrote Japan’s postwar Constitution, which gave women the legal rights pertaining to marriage, divorce, property and inheritance.

Beate Sirota Gordon died on Sunday, December 30, 2012 at her home in Manhattan at the age of 89.

Is Norman Schwarzkopf Jewish?

Norman Schwarzkopf was not Jewish. Born Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf on August 22, 1934, the four-star United States Army general was commander of coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War.

Schwarzkopf was born in Trenton, New Jersey. His mother was Ruth Alice (née Bowman) and his father was Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, who served in the US Army before becoming the Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

According to Wikipedia, in 1946, when he was 12, Schwarzkopf and the rest of his family joined their father, stationed in Tehran, Iran, where his father went on to be instrumental in Operation Ajax, eventually forming the Shah's secret police SAVAK, as well. He attended the Community High School in Tehran, later the International School of Geneva at La Châtaigneraie, Frankfurt High School in Frankfurt, Germany and attended and graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy. He was also a member of Mensa.

General Norman Schwarzkopf, known as "Stormin' Norman", died on December 27, 2012.

Is Jack Klugman Jewish?

Jack Klugman was Jewish. The actor, famous for his role in The Odd Couple, died on December 24, 2012 at his home in Northridge, California.

Klugman was born in Philadelphia, the son of Rose, a hat maker, and Max Klugman, a house painter. Klugman's parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. He attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University, where he graduated in 1948.

Klugman, who also starred in the original film version of "12 Angry Men," won two Emmy Awards for his portrayal of sloppy and careless New York sportswriter Oscar Madison. He went on to star in the television series "Quincy, M.E.," in which he played a medical examiner. The other half of the "Odd Couple," Tony Randall, who portrayed the finicky photographer Felix Unger, died in 2004. Klugman also performed in the original Broadway production of "The Odd Couple" as a replacement for Walter Matthau.

Is Larry Hagman Jewish?

Larry Hagman was not Jewish. The actor known most for his role as oil baron J.R. Ewing on Dallas was not a Jew.

Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas to Mary Martin and Benjamin Jackson "Jack" Hageman. His father was a lawyer, accountant, and district attorney, while his mother was an actress. His father was of Swedish descent.

Hagman's parents divorced in 1936, when he was five years old. He lived with his grandmother in Texas and California while his mother became a contract player with Paramount in 1938. In 1940, his mother met and married Richard Halliday.

The actor died in November 2012.

Is Deborah Raffin Jewish?

Deborah Raffin was Jewish. Raffin was born in Los Angeles, California to Trudy Marshall, a Brooklyn-born former movie actress, and Phillip Jordan Raffin, a restaurateur and business executive.

Raffin was known as movie star and the founder of a large audio-book company. Raffin and her husband, movie producer Michael Viner, launched the audio-book company Dove Books-on-Tape in the mid-'80s, publishing a profitable mix of titles that included Sidney Sheldon's "The Naked Face" and Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time."

According to her Wikipedia entry, Raffin appeared in several 1970s Hollywood films. Her 1976 television movie Nightmare in Badham County became a theatrical hit in mainland China, making Raffin a star there, and leading to her later becoming the first Western actress ever to make a movie promotion tour in that country. She was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama and a Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her performance in Touched by Love in 1981.

In 1988, she starred in James Clavell's Noble House with Pierce Brosnan. In 1991, she appeared as Julie Vale, a telepath, in the cult film Scanners II: The New Order. She later appeared as Aunt Julie on the television show 7th Heaven, and as Dr. Hightower in the ABC Family teenager series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Together with Michael Viner, who predeceased her in 2009, the couple had one child and divorced in 2005. Raffin died in her native Los Angeles on November 21, 2012, aged 59, from leukemia.

Is Bob Denver Jewish?

Bob Denver was not Jewish. Known for his role as Gilligan in the TV show Gilligan's Island, Bob Denver was Catholic.

Denver was born in New Rochelle, New York, and raised in Brownwood, Texas. He graduated from Loyola University (predecessor to today's Loyola Marymount University) in Los Angeles, California. After attending the Sylvia Herpolscheimer Academy for Performance Arts, he first found work as a mailman. He later coached physical education and taught mathematics at Corpus Christi School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in Pacific Palisades, California.

Is Jerry Nelson Jewish?

Jerry Nelson was not a Jew. The puppeteer behind the Sesame Street character "Count Von Count" died of emphysema in August 2012.

Nelson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and raised in Washington, D.C. He had a daughter who died of Cystic Fibrosis at a young age.

Is Neil Armstrong Jewish?

Neil Armstrong isn't a Jew. The first man to walk on the moon was not Jewish. He died in August 2012 at 82.

Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio, to Stephen Koenig Armstrong and Viola Louise Engel. He was of Scottish and German descent.

Is Phyllis Diller Jewish?

Phyllis Diller is not a Jew. The actress was born Phyllis Ada Driver in Lima, Ohio, the daughter of Frances Ada (née Romshe) and Perry Marcus Driver.

She has German and Irish ancestry. Phyllis Diller was raised a Methodist. She died in August 2012.