Tootsie Director Dies
LOS ANGELES — Sydney Pollack, the acclaimed director of Tootsie and Out of Africa, died of cancer May 26 at his home in Los Angeles at age 73. Pollack, who won an Academy Award for Out of Africa, was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. He also acted in television and movies.
Rabbi In Brazil?
TEL AVIV — A radical Israeli rabbi alleged to have led followers to commit horrific acts of child abuse is believed to be hiding in Brazil. Israeli police said May 29 that Rabbi Elior Chen, who fled the country after reports of serial child by his followers, is in Brazil, where police are searching for him. Previously, he was said to be hiding in Canada. The rabbi allegedly counselled followers to severely beat and burn children in order to rid them of the devil. Some of the abuses have resulted in life-threatening injuries. One child remains in a vegetative state.
Harvey Korman, 81
LOS ANGELES — Harvey Korman, who gained fame on TV’s Carol Burnett Show, died May 29 in Los Angeles at 81 from complications due to the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago. The lanky comedian was also known for his role as a devious politician in Mel Brooks 1974 film Blazing Saddles.
Polish Jewish Partisan Leader Fought Nazis
NEW YORK — Eta Wrobel, a commander of Jewish partisans during the Holocaust, died May 26 in Highland, N.Y., at age 92.
Born Eta Chajt in Lukow, Poland, she was the only one in her large family to survive the Nazis’ 1942 liquidation of their ghetto.
When the Nazis arrived, Wrobel fled to the woods outside Lukow and commanded a unit of refugees. They stole supplies from the Germans and set mines to hinder them.
On one mission she was shot in the leg. She walked with a bullet in her leg for months.
Wrobel travelled throughout New Jersey decades after the war telling schoolchildren about her experiences.
In 2006, she wrote her memoir, My Life My Way, with Jeanette Friedman.
