It’s Award Season: The Golden Globes

The Golden Globe awards are being televised live this year on NBC, on Sunday, Jan. 6 at 7PM. Sandra Oh and ANDY SAMBERG, 40, will host.  Below are the confirmed Jewish nominees and a number Jews closely connected to a nominated film or TV program. Globes are given for excellence in TV, as well as in film.

Film Categories

No Jewish thespians were nominated for a leading actor/actress film role. TIMOTHéE CHALAMET, 22 (“Beautiful Boy”) is up for the best supporting actor Globe and RACHEL WEISZ, 48 (“The Favourite”) is a best supporting film actress nominee. Chalamet’s role was based on the real-life NIc SHEFF, now 36, who long battled drug addiction. Weisz played Lady Sarah Churchill, a historical figure who was involved in 18^th century royal court intrigue.

MARK RONSON, 43, is nominated for co-writing a best song nominee: “Shallow” from “A Star is Born.” Nominated for best original score are JUSTIN HURWITZ, 33 (“First Man”) and MARC SHAIMAN, 59 (“Mary Poppins Returns”). Hurwitz won two Oscars in 2017 for best score and best song (“La La Land”). Shaiman is best known for his score for the musical version of “Hairspray”.

TV Categories

Acting: SACHA BARON COHEN, 47, (“Who is America?”) and MICHAEL DOUGLAS, 74 (“The Kominsky Method”) vie for the Globe for best actor in a comedy. The varied characters Cohen plays frequently spoof real-life politicians. Douglas stars as Sandy Kominsky, an L.A. acting coach; two Jewish actresses, ALISON BRIE, 35 (“Glow”) and DEBRA MESSING, 50 (“Will & Grace”) compete for best actress, TV comedy; ALAN ARKIN, 84, who plays Kominsky's (Jewish) agent and best friend in “The Kominsky Method”, is up for best supporting actor. He competes with HENRY WINKLER, 73 (“Barry”); ALEX BORSTEIN, 47, who plays Mrs. Maisel's agent in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, is nominated for a best supporting actress Globe. Finally, PATRICIA ARQUETTE, 50 (“Escape at Dannemora”), whose late mother was Jewish, is up for best actress, mini-series/TV movie. 

“Best” Awards: Film and TV

The Globes for best film and best TV show are given to the movie or series’ principal producers, of whom there are many. My practice is to note if a Jewish director or writer/creator is associated with that film or TV program.  Two films nominated for best drama film were co-written by Jews: “BlacKkKlansman” (CHARLIE WACHTEL and DAVID RABINOWITZ, both 32) and “A Star is Born” (ERIC ROTH, 73). ALSO: a best animated film nominee, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse,” was co-written by RODNEY ROTHMAN, 45ish.

“The Americans,” created by JOE WEISBERG, 52, is up for best TV series, drama. It competes with “Pose,” an FX drama series that explores several New York City sub-cultures as they existed in the ‘80s. “Pose” was co-created by BRAD FALCHUK, 47. Another best drama nominee, the Amazon series “Homecoming,” was based on a podcast written by ELI HOROWITZ, 41 and MICAH BLOOMBERG, 40ish.

The best musical or comedy series nominees include ““The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, co-created by AMY SHERMAN PALLADINO, 52, and “The Kominsky Method,” created by CHUCK LORRE, 66.  The nominees for best mini-series or TV movie include “A Very English Scandal,” a British series shown on Amazon. It was directed by STEPHEN FREARS, 77, a Brit.  “Scandal” competes with “Escape at Dannemora,” which was directed by BEN STILLER, 53, and co-written by JERRY STAHL, 64, and MICHAEL TOLKIN, 68.

Honorable mention: Adam Driver and Rachel Brosnahan, who aren’t Jewish, are nominated for playing Jewish characters. Driver played a Jewish police officer in “Black KkKlansman” and Brosnahan plays the Jewish Mrs. Maisel in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”

Sambergian Roots

It’s a big week for Andy Samberg. On January 6, he’ll co-host the Golden Globe awards (see above).  On January 8, the new season of “Finding Your Roots,” the PBS celebrity ancestry series begins, and Samberg is one of the two celebrities whose ancestry is explored (the other is George R. R. Martin, the author of the “Game of Thrones” books).  Back in August, a “Roots” press release dropped a big hint about this episode’s content:  “Highlights include a search for Andy Samberg's biological grandparents…”. I gather, from this release, that either Andy’s (Jewish) mother or his (Jewish) father was adopted. My educated guess, based on a lot of “clues”, is that it was his mother who was adopted and I won’t be that surprised if she’s “biologically Jewish.” (airs first on Tuesday, Jan. 8 at 8PM, PBS)