Although the Israelis and the Jewish people are typically associated with banking and finance, one field, where they have contributed enormously, not only to the Los Angeles region of California, but to the world at large, has been the business of entertainment. For centuries now, the Jewish people have excelled at performing arts, fine arts, literary arts, entertainment like music and dance and even entertainment management. But it was in America, and especially Los Angeles, California, where the Israeli and Jewish contribution to the world of entertainment was highlighted in the form of Hollywood. The trend began in the 1930s and 40s when the silent movies turned the worlds gaze on this new entertainment. But it was the contribution of Jewish and Israeli people, especially in the Los Angeles, California region that made Hollywood possible.
Los Angeles, California and the surrounding regions, which were home to a large number of people of Jewish or Israeli origin, provided the entertainment industry with actors, directors, artists, technicians and other people. Eventually Jewish and Israeli people in the Los Angeles region of California began to own studios where the others worked. The most notable Jewish and/or Israeli studio owners and producers included the likes of like William Selig, Jesse Lasky, Samuel Goldwyn and Adolph Zukor. There are some interesting anecdotes associated with the Israeli and Jewish grasp of the entertainment business. Not all Jewish people were staunchly against the entertainment industry. The then Rabbi Samuel Hecht is reported to have appeared before the Los Angels City Council of Greater California in the year 1921 to speak up against the trend of censorship prevalent during that period.
Not to speak against the depravity of the entertainment business mind you, but to protest the fact that wanton censorship would cause several Israeli and Jewish people to lose their jobs. But there were others who enhanced the entertainment industry with a more active presence. Chief among them was Carmel Myers, a popular Jewish actress of Israeli origin, who was the daughter of Rabbi Isidore Myers of Los Angeles. She was not only a staunch proponent of the motion picture business, but also a firm supporter of several charitable and philanthropic projects of the Jewish communities in Los Angeles and other parts of California. Over the years, several professionals of Jewish or Israeli origin have entered Hollywood and have been able to make a mark in the entertainment industry. These included recognizable entertainment names like Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Richard Dreyfuss, Bob Dylan, Harrison Ford, Richard Gere and even Jeff Goldblum.
Even present day entertainment media mogul Rupert Murdoch is of Jewish and Israeli origin. Many of these actresses and directors not only enhanced the entertainment business in Hollywood, but also managed to drive up the real estate prices in the surrounding Los Angeles and California regions. Most magazines also frequently place them as having been seeing in Los Angeles Suburbs or in other parts of California.
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