This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. (May 2011)
Daphne Rosen (born 1982), Israeli/American adult film actress and adult movie producer[66]
Emmy Rossum (born 1986), actress, singer, and songwriter
Jason Schwartzman (born 1980), known from Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, Marie Antoinette, and for being a member of the predominantly Jewish band Phantom Planet, of which the track "California" became the theme song for the Fox TV series, The O.C.
Robert Smigel (born 1960), Comedian, actor, writer; puppeteer behind Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, Saturday Night Live's TV Funhouse cartoon shorts; contributed to album The Jewish Songbook: The Heart and Humor of a People. Son of devout Jewish parents; raised w/strong Jewish identity, Jewish day school, travel to Israel, and Jewish summer camps.
Rena Sofer (born 1968), actress born to Orthodox Jewish parents; father is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi. Descendant of mystical rabbi and philosopher Baal Shem Tov.[262]
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, 1962–), stand-up comedian, actor, author; host, head writer, and producer of The Daily Show[263]
Ben Stiller (born 1965), Emmy Award winning comedian, actor, and film director[252][264]
Annie Sprinkle (born Ellen Steinberg, 1954–), stripper, porn film star/producer, porn magazine editor/writer, turned into an artist, cable TV host[312]
Howard Stern (born 1954), radio/TV personality, media mogul, humorist, actor, and author[40]
Robert Trebor (born Robert Schenkman, 1953–), actor (Hercules, Xena)[314]
Debra Winger (born 1955), actress born to Orthodox Jewish parents; raised w/strong Jewish identity that included trips to kibbutzim in Israel; played "Wonder Girl" in Wonder Woman TV series[315]
Bette Midler (born 1945), singer, actress, and comedian, also known as The Divine Miss M[347][348]
Frank Oz (born Richard Frank Oznowicz, 1944–), English-born film director, actor, and puppeteer (Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam the Eagle on The Muppet Show, and Grover, Cookie Monster, and Bert on Sesame Street)
Brent Spiner (born 1949), actor (Star Trek: The Next Generation)[357]
Barbra Streisand (born 1942), two-time Academy Award-winning singer, theatre and film actress, songwriter, composer, and film producer and director.[323][358]
Jeffrey Tambor (born 1944), film/TV actor (Hellboy, Arrested Development)[359]
Anson Williams (born Anson William Heimlick, 1949–), actor (Happy Days)[295]
Henry Winkler (born 1945), actor, director, producer, and author (Happy Days)[295]
1930s
Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg, 1935–), Yiddish-speaking film director, writer, actor, musician, and stand-up comedian; raised in an Orthodox Jewish family[364]
Leonard Nimoy (born 1931), Yiddish-speaking son of Orthodox Jewish parents; film director, actor, writer, singer, songwriter, poet, and photographer; wrote and directed on the Star Trek films and series (in which he played Spock)[388]
Mel Brooks (born Melvin Kaminsky, 1926–), director, writer, actor, producer, composer, lyricist, and stand-up comedian; pioneered comedy style of mixing comedy with real historic events[405]
Lenny Bruce (born Leonard Schneider, 1925–66), stand-up comedian, writer, social critic, satirist[406]
Al Lewis (born Albert Meister, 1920–2006), actor (Grandpa Munster)
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch, 1926–), comedian, singer, actor, film director, writer, film producer, and humanitarian, slapstick humor and charity fund-raising telethons; wrote, directed, produced, and starred in films The Ladies Man (1961), The Errand Boy (1961), The Patsy (1964), and The Nutty Professor (1963)[412]
Mort Sahl (born 1927), stand-up comedian and actor, pioneered style of stand-up comedy that paved the way for Lenny Bruce, Nichols and May, and Dick Gregory; wrote jokes for speeches delivered by President Kennedy
Rod Serling (1924–75), screenwriter and actor (The Twilight Zone)[435]
Mel Tormé (1925–99), actor, musician, known as "The Velvet Fog", jazz singer and songwriter; wrote over 400 songs including The Christmas Song ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire").[436][437]
Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy, 1910–99), Oscar-nominated film and theatre actress[445]
Kitty Carlisle Hart (born Catherine Conn, 1910–2007), singer, actress, and spokeswoman for the arts[446]
Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky, 1913–87), film actor, singer and comedian[447]
Hedy Lamarr (born Hedwig Kiesler, 1914–2000), actress, invented early form of spread spectrum communications technology, a key to modern wireless communication
Mel Blanc (1908–89), voice actor and comedian, "The Man of a Thousand Voices”, created voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Wile E. Coyote, Barney Rubble.[467]
Ben Blue (born Benjamin Bernstein, 1901–75), Canadian American actor and comedian[323]
Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Hesselberg, 1901–81), actor, won all three of the entertainment industry's highest awards (two Oscars, a Tony, and an Emmy)[468][469]
Larry Fine (born Louis Feinberg, 1902–75), comedian and actor (Three Stooges)[200]
John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann, 1902–88), actor; won an Academy Award for The Paper Chase
Curly Howard (born Jerome Horwitz, 1903–52), one of the Three Stooges[200]
Sam Levene (1905–80), Russian/American stage and film actor[470]
Peter Lorre (born László Löwenstein, 1904–64), Austria-Hungary-born American stage and screen actor (M)[471]
Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg, 1901–82), actor, director, and acting teacher in theater and film, who according to author Mel Gussow "revolutionized the art of acting”
1890s
Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, 1894–1974), comedian, vaudeville performer, and radio, TV, and film actor[473]
Adah Isaacs Menken (1835–68), actress, dancer, painter, and poet; converted to Judaism upon marrying the first of her four husbands[496]
Actors (theater)
Persons listed with a double asteriks (**) are producers who have won the Tony Award for Best Musical and/or the Tony Award for Best Play. Those listed with a triple asteriks (***) have won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and/or Play. Those listed with a quadruple asteriks (****) have won the Tony Award for Best Actor or Best Actress in a Musical or Play.
Jeremy Hotz (born 1963), stand-up comedian; neurotic Jewish person schtick
Kenny Hotz (born 1973), writer, director, actor, comedian, producer, photographer; creator/co-star of TV show Kenny vs. Spenny, and creator/co-writer of the series Testees
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz, 1944–), comedian, writer, director, producer; the sole creator, writer, director, and producer of Saturday Night Live
Henny Youngman (1906–98), comedian and violinist; 1-liner style
Roy Zimmerman (born 1957), political, satirical singer, songwriter, and guitarist
Music
Dance
Persons listed with a double asteriks (**) are winners of the Tony Award for Best Choreography.
Paula Abdul, singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, dancer, and choreographer; the main choreographer of the Jacksons, Janet Jackson, and of films Coming to America, Action Jackson, Jerry Maguire, The Running Man, American Beauty (1999 film), Oliver Stone's, The Doors, and the giant keyboard scene involving Tom Hanks’s character in Big.[505]
Michael Bennett, director, producer, dancer, choreographer **
Stanley Donen, film director and choreographer hailed by David Quinlan as "the King of the Hollywood musicals", and whose films include Singin' in the Rain.
Max Fleischer, animator, director, producer, inventor, and a major pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon; served as the head of Fleischer Studios
Harry Houdini (real name Ehrich Weiss), the first illusionist/magician/escape artist in history. Widely known as "The Father of Magic/Illusion". Born to Orthodox Jewish parents, and his father was a rabbi
Suze Orman, financial advisor, author, motivational speaker, and TV host of The Suze Orman Show on CNBC; six consecutive New York Times Best Sellers; has written, co-produced, and hosted six PBS specials based on her books; the most successful fundraiser in the history of public television
Ron Popeil, inventor and marketing personality; “the Salesman Inventor of the Century”, and “the Father of the Infomercial”; sold his inventions on a TV concept (the infomercial) that he pioneered; related to Jewish singer/actress Ashley Tisdale
Carl Sagan, astronomer, astrochemist, author, and popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics, and other natural sciences, who wrote and presented the most widely watched PBS program in history; Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which was based on his own books, and also pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Teresa Strasser, writer and TV personality known for hosting the home makeover show While You Were Out on TLC, and for being a co-host on The Adam Carolla Show
Barbara Walters (born 1929), media personality, regular fixture on morning TV shows (Today and The View), evening news magazines (20/20), and on The ABC Evening News, as the first female evening news anchor[531]
Producers and Directors (Theater)
Persons listed with a double asteriks (**) are producers who have won the Tony Award for Best Musical and/or the Tony Award for Best Play. Those listed with a triple asteriks (***) have won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and/or Play. Those listed with a quadruple asteriks (****) have won the Tony Award for Best Actor or Best Actress in a Musical or Play.
Herb Alpert, producer, and composer, songwriter, lead singer, and horn player with Tijuana Brass
Boris Aronson, set designer, costume designer and lighting designer
Norman Lear, creator, head screenwriter, and producer of taboo breaking sitcom All in the Family, which was a big influence on South Park; also created Maude and The Jeffersons
Lorne Michaels, comedian, writer, director, producer, the sole creator, writer, director and producer of Saturday Night Live; also produced film and TV projects that spun off from it
^Miller, Geri. "Fall TV Preview: Carter Jenkins", American Jewish Life Magazine, September 4, 2007. Accessed August 5, 2011. "Tampa, Florida native Jenkins is best known for the sci-fi series Surface and movie Keeping Up With the Steins, which came along at the time he was moving to L.A. and supposed to be studying for his bar mitzvah. 'So I consider the move my bar mitzvah. I got to work with some good actors, but no gifts.'"
^Bradford R. Pilcher (July/August 2006). "Maggie Gyllenhaal". American Jewish Life Magazine. Retrieved November 30, 2010. ((cite web)): Check date values in: |date= (help)
^Corey Haim. Buddytv.com (2007-09-06). Retrieved on 2010-12-19.
^Gerri Miller (January/February 2007). "The Daughter of Q". American Jewish Life Magazine. Retrieved November 30, 2010. ((cite web)): Check date values in: |date= (help)
^Benyamin Cohen & Bradford R. Pilcher (November/December 2005). "Winter Movie Preview: Amanda Peet". American Jewish Life Magazine. Retrieved November 30, 2010. ((cite web)): Check date values in: |date= (help)
^Benyamin Cohen & Bradford R. Pilcher (November/December 2005). "Winter Movie Preview: Jon Favreau". American Jewish Life Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2010. ((cite web)): Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ abcBloom, Nate (November 24, 2006). "Celebrity Jews". The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California. Retrieved November 22, 2006.
^Sholem, Alex (August 31, 2006). "News". TotallyJewish.com. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
^Curt Schleier (September/October 2005). "The Book of Joshua". American Jewish Life Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2010. ((cite web)): Check date values in: |date= (help)
^Sandler, Ellen (January 11, 2001). "Too Jewish? No Way!". Jewish Journal. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
^Takiff, Jonathan (November 21, 2006). "'Tis the season..." Philadelphia Daily News. Archived from the original on December 1, 2006. Retrieved November 21, 2006.
^Levy, Mike (September 13, 2001). "Mobster Makes Good". Jewish Journal. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
^"Eddie Cantor". Jewish Virtual Library. October 10, 1964. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
^Murphy, Mekado (December 14, 2010). "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
^[66]: "she was the daughter of an upper-class Austrian born Jewish financier Lionel Gingold and English-born Kate Walters."; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: "Her mother was Jewish."
^Tregarthen, Cheryl. "Victor Borge". Nordic Notes. Retrieved November 26, 2006.
^Franken — [70] "Immediately after, a clip shows Franken suggesting that if he opts to run, he “would be the only New York Jew in the race who grew up in Minnesota.” On Sunday I asked nonchalantly if that meant he considered himself a New York Jew as well as a Minnesotan. “That was a joke,” he said, laughing hysterically once more."
^Noted as one of several Jewish comedians at [71]"
^Schimmel — [72] "I was supposed to have them until after Christmas, but my ex-wife told the kids that since I'm Jewish and don't celebrate Christmas, Santa would not come to my house and they would miss opening presents from Santa on Christmas morning."
^ abElkin, Michael (December 21, 2006). "Jewish Jingle Belles?". The Jewish Exponent. Retrieved December 22, 2006.
^"Irving Rapper, the Oscar-winning American-Jewish film director". Jewish Chronicle. February 10, 1961. p. 30. ((cite news)): |access-date= requires |url= (help)
^Fischer, Paul (September 2, 2003). "Eli Roth Has The Fever". Film Monthly. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
^Vuolo — [75] "SB: Is it correct that you're the first Jewish Playmate? LV: As far as I know, I'm the first Jewish Playmate to admit that I was Jewish. I think there might have been Playmates that were kind of half Jewish and just never really talked about it."
^Hart — [76] "Thought there are no Jewish Republicans in show biz? Well, Bush contributors include... host Mary Hart, who’s a convert to Judaism..."
^"Daryn Kagan". Jewish Women International. November 22, 2006. Archived from the original on February 10, 2007. Retrieved November 22, 2006.
^Schorr — [77] "Schorr suggests in the 2004 anthology “I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl.” “We Jews are searchers for truth, sometimes called investigative reporting,” Schorr writes in his personal essay for the book."