I received valuable assistance on Spielberg family history from Steven’s first cousins in Cincinnati, Samuel Guttman, Daniel Guttman, and Deborah Guttman Ridenour, who passed along genealogical research compiled by their late mother, the former Natalie Spielberg (I also had the pleasure of meeting Samuel’s son, Scott, who asked me to be sure to mention him in this book on the famous relative he has never met). In addition, I interviewed a distant Spielberg relative, Ruth Schuhmann Solinger, who left Germany in the wake of Kristallnacht and also settled in Cincinnati. Other genealogical information was generously provided by Cincinnati researcher Adele Blanton and by Dr. Ida Cohen Selavan, reference librarian of the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, who translated Hebrew memorial books for me and helped guide my research into life in old-country shtetlach.
ONE of the rewards of writing books is that I am able to make new and enduring friendships in the course of my research. Thanks to our shared Spielberg connection, I am lucky to know such warm and delightful people as Marjorie Robbins; Don Shull and his mother, Marge; Gene Ward Smith; and Rabbi Albert Lewis. Among his many other mitzvoth, Rabbi Lewis researched the history of his Temple Beth Shalom congregation of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, showed me the former temple site in Haddonfield, and arranged for me to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., with my brother, Washington attorney Michael F. McBride.
The Revs. Fred Hill and James Milton, and caretaker Willie Perdue, kindly welcomed me at the Southern Baptist Church in Cincinnati’s Avondale neighborhood and gave me a tour of their beautiful building, the former Adath Israel synagogue. Others who provided hospitality and showed me places where Spielberg had lived in Cincinnati and New Jersey included Leonard Bailey; Bill Dabney; Miriam Fuhrman (who also helped me research Arnold Spielberg’s time at RCA), Jane Fuhrman Satanoff, Glenn Fuhrman, Dr. Mitchell Fuhrman, and Dr. Dennis Satanoff; August and Loretta Knoblach (who also provided photographs of their home); Bonita Moore; and Mildred (Millie) Friedman Tieger.
I was honored to make the acquaintance of the late historian Dr. Jacob Rader Marcus, director of the American Jewish Archives on the campus of Cincinnati’s Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, who generously took time from his own writing in 1994 to share his knowledge about the history of Avondale and other subjects.
Throughout my three years of research, Linda Harris Mehr and her staff at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Beverly Hills, including Sandra Archer, Barbara Hall, and Howard Prouty, always gave me diligent and knowledgeable assistance. Other helpful archivists and librarians included Christy French of the California State University at Long Beach (CSULB) Library/Archives; Patricia M. Van Skaik and Anna Horton of the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County; Monica Weiner of the Museum of Television & Radio, New York; Steve Hoza of the Arizona Historical Society; Kevin Proffitt of the American Jewish Archives; and Geraldine Duclow of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Edith Cummins and Melissa Pearse of the Hamilton County (Ohio) Court went beyond the call of duty to help me research Spielberg’s family history.
Information on Spielberg’s attendance at Thomas A. Edison School in Haddonfield, New Jersey, was provided by the Haddonfield Board of Education and by Sharon Gurtcheff, secretary of the Haddon Township High School guidance office; Edison principal Doug Hamilton was also helpful. At Arcadia High School in Phoenix, the principal, Dr. J. Calvin Bruins, generously supplied information and gave me a tour of the school; my research was aided by Nancy Lindquist and Anita Underdown. For assistance in locating members of Spielberg’s classes at Arcadia and at Ingleside Elementary School and for other information about those schools, I thank, among others, Patricia Scott Rodney, Susan Smith LeSueur, Steve Blasnek, Steve Suggs, and Bill Hoffman. At Saratoga High School in California, the principal, Dr. Kevin Skelly, graciously assisted my research, as did Kerry Mohnike, adviser for the school newspaper, The Falcon. Judith Hamilton Kirchick, Peter Fallico, Philip H. Pennypacker, and Carol Magnoli helped me locate members of Spielberg’s Saratoga class and invited me to their thirtieth reunion in San Jose in 1995. I also received information from Los Gatos (Ca.) High School registrar Jan Heizer; the records office of CSULB; the registrar’s office of the University of California, Los Angeles; and the office of academic records and registrar at the University of Southern California.
My understanding of the Holocaust was enriched by conversations with several survivors, including Eva Klein David, Peter Mora, Jakob (Alex) Schneider (a former inmate of the Plaszów camp depicted in Schindler’s List), Richard Zomer, and the members of Cafe Europa in Los Angeles. I thank Heidi Rechteger and Dr. Florabel Kinsler for introducing me to many of these inspiring people and for sharing their own knowledge of the Holocaust and other subjects pertaining to Jewish history and culture. Dr. Kinsler also loaned me copies of her articles and her doctoral dissertation, “An Eriksonian and Evaluative Investigation of the Effects of Video Testimonials Upon Jewish Survivors of the Holocaust” (International College, Los Angeles, 1986). Eva David, an Auschwitz survivor, not only supplied copies of articles about Spielberg and his mother that I might not otherwise have seen, but also invited me to speak with her in 1994 at Congregation Mogen David in Los Angeles and at Santa Monica College, under the auspices of Heidi Crane. I had the benefit of stimulating discussions about Schindler’s List and the Holocaust with my editor at Da Capo Press, Yuval Taylor, whose spirited disagreements with me over Spielberg’s film helped sharpen my discussion in chapter 16. Thomas Keneally, the author of the remarkable book upon which Spielberg based Schindler’s List, also lent encouragement to this project.
Other people who kindly supplied research material and information included Susan Roper Arndt; Sheila M. Arthur of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce; James Auer of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Sue Barnet, coordinator of the Arizona Newspaper Project, Phoenix; Jean Weber Brill; Ralph Burris; Roxanne Camron and Karle Dickerson of ’Teen magazine; Charles Carter; Judge Charles G. Case II; Steven DeCinzo; Tim Dietz; Nancy Engebretson and Nancy Van Leeuwen of Phoenix Newspapers, Inc.; Stephen Farber; Nancy Frishberg; Bob Gale; Davida Gale; Mark Haggard; Arlene Hellerman of the Writers Guild of America, East; Denis C. Hoffman; Richard Y. Hoffman Jr.; David Kronke; J. Wesley Leas; the Lippin Group; Howard Mandelbaum of Photofest; Richard B. Matheson; Lee Mercer; Del Merrill; Marie Nordberg of Emergency Medical Services magazine; Peter Z. Orton; Jennifer Pendleton; Haven Peters; Terry Nordberg; Bert Pfister; San Antonio film critic Bob Polunsky; Nancy Randle; David Robb; Hubert E. (Hugh) and Connie Roberts; Jerry Roberts; Peter and Helen Rutan; Barry Sollenberger; Floyd W. Tenney; and Beth Weber Zelenski. I also thank Book Castle, Burbank, Ca.; Collectors Bookstore, Hollywood; Larry Edmunds Bookshop, Hollywood; Producers & Quantity Photo, Inc., Hollywood; and Video Still, Hollywood.
For help in contacting Spielberg collaborators, I am grateful to the Directors Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Writers Guild of America, West. Additional research sources included the American Film Institute, Los Angeles; the Berkeley (Ca.) Public Library; the Beverly Hills Public Library; Book City, Hollywood; the Cincinnati Board of Health, Office of Vital Statistics; the Cincinnati Historical Society Research Library; the Glendale (Ca.) Public Library; the Haddonfield Public Library; the Haddon Township Library; the Los Angeles County Law Library; the Los Angeles Public Library; the Pasadena (Ca.) Public Library; the Phoenix Central Library; the San Antonio Central Library; the San Antonio Express and News; the Santa Clara County (Ca.) Superior Court; the Saratoga Community Library; the Scottsdale (Az.) Progress Tribune; the Scottsdale Public Library; the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Los Angeles; Tribune Newspapers, Mesa, Az.; the Trinity University Library, San Antonio; the San Jose Public Library; the University of Cincinnati Library; the University of Southern California libraries; the University of Oregon Press; and the Walt Disney Company Archives.
Screenings of Spielberg films and television programs were made possible by Do
novan Brandt of Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee, North Hollywood; Joe Dante; Denis Hoffman; Frank Morriss; the Museum of Television & Radio in New York and Beverly Hills; James Pepper; Donna Ross and Lou Ellen Kramer of the UCLA Film and Television Archive; Thomas Sherak and Angela Pierce of Twentieth Century–Fox; and Vidiots, Santa Monica. Videotapes for research also were provided by Tony Bill, Harrison Engle, and the Boys and Girls Club of the East Valley, Tempe, Az.
AS the honor roll of names listed above amply indicates, it takes a village to raise a book. In my Spielberg village, there were four special people who made this book possible.
My partnership with Dr. Ruth O’Hara not only has endured but has deepened over the years. Ruth is not only a great Stanford University scholar and mother to our son, John, but also the best editor any writer could hope to have. She not only urged me to write a Spielberg biography and gave me many keen insights into Spielberg and his work, but also pitched in at a critical juncture with unflagging devotion, energy, and intellectual brilliance to help bring this book to fruition.
Jean Oppenheimer, my friend and fellow film critic, brightened my life with her companionship and sustained me with her good heart, her stimulating and challenging wit, her many research contributions, and her belief in this book, which could not have been completed without her help. Her nurturing of this project went beyond emotional and intellectual sustenance to include an unending supply of bagels and other “comfort food” from Junior’s Delicatessen in West Los Angeles.
Maurice L. Muehle’s formidable legal skills again played a vital role in enabling me to write the book I wanted to write. Maury’s vast experience and knowledge of the law, his shrewdness and tact, and his love of writing have helped sustain me throughout the last eight years of my literary life. He is always generous with his time and advice, and he is ably assisted by, among others, Sira Windwer and Lanla Gist.
My son, John McBride, has been my greatest comfort and joy throughout the writing of this book. While constantly reminding me that there is life away from the word processor, John has been at my side as my enthusiastic research assistant and companion in watching Spielberg films and TV shows, enabling me to see them anew through the eyes of a precocious child. John has shown special delight and acumen in calling my attention to Spielberg references in other movies, and he has done his best to keep me young by serving as my personal fitness trainer.
I am proud that my daughter Jessica McBride is carrying on my late parents’ tradition as a superb reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and that she now has become my professional colleague. Among my siblings and their spouses, I received extraordinary support during the writing of this book from Mike and Kerin McBride; Dennis McBride and Karen Barry; and Timothy McBride and Shirley Porterfield; as well as from Dr. Patrick and Kim McBride; Genevieve McBride; and Mark McBride and Kim Stanton-McBride. Sean McBride made me think more clearly about the principles of film criticism when he interviewed me for a class project; I also take delight in my other McBride nieces and nephews: John Caspari, Catherine Caspari, and Barbara, Gabrielle, Gillian, Lauren, Lindsay, Meredith, Philip, Pierce, Raymond Erin, and Ryan McBride. My aunts Bobby Dunne, Sister M. Jean Raymond, and Mickey Lorch and my cousin Cece Lorch are always there for me with love and encouragement.
I am grateful to remain part of the remarkable O’Hara clan that has emigrated from the east coast of Ireland to grace the San Francisco Bay Area: Noel and Hetty O’Hara; Stuart and Susan Bennett; Karl, Gwenn, my nephew Karl Jr., and my niece Natasha Van Dessel; and Fiona O’Kirwan; as well as the more far-flung Una, Siúan, and David McGahan; and extended family members Lynn Garrison and Gary Holloway.
Through Jean Oppenheimer, I am delighted also to belong in spirit to the clan of those great Texas liberals, the Oppenheimers of San Antonio and Dallas: Sue and Jesse; David, Harriet, Rebecca, Daniel, and Jacob; and Barbara and John Conn; and to share their kinship with that spirited Texas literary maven Louise Michelson.
Among my other professional colleagues and friends, I am grateful for the continuing support of Charles Champlin, F. X. Feeney, Kirk Honeycutt, Leonard Maltin, Myron Meisel, Henry Sheehan (who has written the most perceptive criticism of Spielberg’s work), and the other members of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association; Kim Williamson and Ray Greene of Boxoffice magazine; Walter Donohue, my editor at Faber and Faber, London; Harrison Engle of Signal Hill Entertainment; my former Daily Variety colleagues Thomas M. Pryor, Michael Silverman, Pete Pryor, David Robb, Art Murphy, Jennifer Pendleton, and Judy Brennan; Bob Thomas, the dean of Hollywood biographers; and Richard Parks.
Friends whose loyalty and encouragement helped sustain me during the writing of this book also included Barry Allen; Glen Barrow; Edward Bernds; Dorian Carli-Jones; Felipe, Felipito, and Martha Caseres; Danny Cassidy; Marilyn Engle; Ronnie Gilbert; Gary and Jillian Graver; Kendall Hailey; Charles Horton; Penn and Elaine Jones; Jonathan Lethem; William Link; Blake Lucas and Linda Gross; Larry Mantle; Connie Martinson; Christie Milliken; Morris Polan; Lou Race; Diana Rico; Victoria Riskin, David Rintels, and Fay Wray; Jonathan Rosenbaum; Margaret Ross; John Sanford; Michael Schlesinger; Kathryn Sharp; Michael Shovers; Abraham Smith; Julia Sweeney; Gore Vidal; Edward Watz; Bob Werden; Michael Wilmington; and Fiona, Charlotte, and Sam Zomer.
Among those at Simon & Schuster who worked on this book, I thank my editor, Bob Bender; his assistant, Johanna Li; Felice Javit of the legal department; and copy editor Virginia Clark, who once again enhanced my writing with her film scholarship.
Joseph McBride
Los Angeles, California
1993–1997
NOTES ON SOURCES
INTERVIEWS BY THE AUTHOR
SPIELBERG FAMILY MEMBERS:
Daniel Guttman, Samuel Guttman, Deborah Guttman Ridenour, Ruth Schuhmann Solinger, Arnold Spielberg
CINCINNATI:
Leonard M. Bailey, Rev. Arnetta Brantley, Edith Cummins, Bill Dabney, Anastasia Del Favero, Hugo Del Favero Jr., William Del Favero, Jean Gaynor, Dr. Bernard Goldman, Rev. Fred Hill, Dolores Del Favero Huff, Terry Johnson, Dr. Jacob Rader Marcus, Roslyn Mitman, Bonita Moore, Willie Perdue, Benjamin Pritz, Louise Pritz, Dr. Ida Cohen Selavan, Meyer Singerman, Peggie Hibbert Singerman, Richard Singerman, Olga Sorrell, Mildred Friedman (Millie) Tieger
HADDON TOWNSHIP, HADDONFIELD, AND CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY:
Veronica Adams, Mildred Bonaventura, Jane Bonaventura Caputo, Bill Davison, Jon Davison, Charles F. Devlin, Charles J. Devlin Jr., Mrs. Charles J. Devlin Jr., John DiPietropolo, Pat Berry DiPietropolo, Vincent DiPietropolo, Bill Esher, Judith Myer Flenard, Glenn Fuhrman, Miriam Fuhrman, Dr. Mitchell Fuhrman, Barbara (Bobby) Harris, August (Gus) Knoblach, Loretta Knoblach, J. Wesley Leas, Rabbi Albert Lewis, Scott MacDonald, Stanley (Sandy) MacDonald, Gerald McMullen, Robert J. Moran Jr., Robert J. Moran Sr., Jane MacDonald Morley, Edward G. Myer, Louise Bonaventura Patterson, Dr. Darryl Robbins, Grace Robbins, Marjorie Robbins, Helen Rutan, Peter Rutan, Dr. Dennis Satanoff, Jane Fuhrman Satanoff, Barbara Schwartz, George F. Schwartz Jr., George F. Schwartz Sr., Carol Adams Spinelli, Lisa Toll, Michael Toll
PHOENIX AND SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA:
Howard Amerson, Susan Roper Arndt, Sam Baar, Rick Barr, Rick Blakeley, Steve Blasnek, Jean Weber Brill, Phyllis Brooks, Dr. J. Calvin Bruins, Margaret Burrell, Barbara Callahan, Charles Carter, Dr. Forrest Carter, Lynda Carter, Judge Charles G. Case II, Richard E. Charland, Coette Childers, Clynn Christensen, Rick Cook, George Cowie, Phil Deppe, Mary DiCerbo, Mike DiCerbo, Tim Dietz, Jackson Drake, Betty Castleberry Edwards (Mrs. Roger Sheer), Jim Emery, Nancy Engebretson, Cynthia (Cindy) Gaines Fleetham, Richard T. Ford, Shirley Frye, Bill Gaines, Bob Gaines, Sylvia Gaines, Katherine Galwey, Rodney Gehre, Dan Harkins, Kay Harmon, Guy Hayden Jr., Guy Hayden III, Karen Hayden, Robert V. Hendricks, Bill Hoffman, Lynn Hoffman, Richard Y. (Dick) Hoffman Jr., Angela Jacobi, George Jacobi, Betty Johnson, Mike Keefe, Karen Hakes Knight, Susan Smith LeSueur, Clifford Lindblom, Nancy Hay Lindquist, Clark (Lucky) Lohr, Steve Lombard, Mike Loper, Peggy M
cMullin Loper, Michael W. McNamara, Vance Marshall, Warner Marshall, Terry Mechling, Del Merrill, Betty Michaud, Ferneta Miller (formerly Ferneta Sulek), Harold Millsop, Michael Neer, Lawrence Olden, Donald W. Penfield, Haven Peters, Terry Peugh, Art Piccinati, Chris Pischke, Fred Pratt, Frances Preimsberg, Bob Proehl, Martha Rook Reedy, Pete Repp, Nina Nauman Rivera, Patricia Scott Rodney, Paul G. Rowe, James L. Seeman, Carole Sheer, Mrs. Leonard Sheer, Carol Stromme Shelton, Louis K. Sher, Brenda Simmons, Tom Simmons, William J. Simmons Jr., William J. Simmons Sr., Barry Sollenberger, Jim Sollenberger, Junia Sollenberger, Mark Sollenberger, A. D. Stromme, Steve Suggs, Sharyn Galwey Sunda, Walter Tamasauckas, Craig Tenney, Floyd Tenney, Bill Thompson, Doug Tice, Marie Tice, Walter Tice, Audrey Dalessandro Watkins, Betty Weber, Alan Wesolowski, Sherry Missner Williams, Eleanor Wolf, Beth Weber Zelenski, Frank Ziska Jr., Daniel Zusman, Dorothy Zusman, Janice Zusman, Lloyd Zusma
SARATOGA AND LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA:
Sheila M. Arthur, Mike Augustine, Don Baroni, Bonnie Parker Bartman, Dutch Boysen, Kathy Shull Cappello, Jill Tucker Carroll, John J. Cody, Jane Craft, Diana Hart Deem, Peter Fallico, Sally Farrington, James Fletcher, Nancy Frishberg, Al Gibson, Dr. Peter Griffith, Tim Haggerty Sr., Kendra Rosen Hanson, Susan Didinger Hennings, Marilyn Holmes, Tom Holwerda, Judith Kreisberg Kirchick, Grant Koch, Leo McKenna, Carol Magnoli, Skippy Margolis, Larry Mercer, Lee Mercer Jr., Kerry Mohnike, Susan Bomen Moman, Laurie Oberhaus, Carl Pennypacker, Philip H. Pennypacker, Eloise Peters, Jim Peters Sr., Bert Pfister, Rhoda Porter, Connie Roberts, Hubert E. (Hugh) Roberts, Henry Rogalsky, Jim Roszell, Dallas Sceales Jr., George Scott, Don Shull, Marge Shull, Dr. Kevin Skelly, Connie Skipitares, Gene Ward Smith, Douglas H. Stuart, William Teplow, Leslie Watkins, Joseph Wharton, Dan Wilson, Ron Wolyn
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