The Jews in America Trilogy

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by Birmingham, Stephen;


  176

  “In certain strata”: ibid., p. 133.

  177

  “enable the social life”: quoted in New York Times, Oct. 6, 1982.

  178–80

  Details of City College: Howe, pp. 280–283.

  8. MINSTRELS AND MINSTRELSY

  182

  Carrie Jacobs Bond story: Woollcott, pp. 130–132.

  184

  Pelham Café: ibid., pp. 40–43, 46.

  185

  Berlin’s musical ability: ibid., pp. 35, 37.

  185

  Prince Louis: ibid., p. 51.

  186

  “about an Italian girl”: Mary Ellin Berlin Barrett to author.

  186

  “I suppose you’ve got a tune”: Woollcott, pp. 71–72.

  187

  Michigan: ibid., p. 77.

  188

  “whattle”: ibid., p. 76.

  188

  Appraisals of Berlin’s music: International Celebrity Register (New York: Celebrity Register Ltd., 1959), p. 73.

  189–90

  Jewish performers: Howe, pp. 556–558; Bermant, pp. 84, 100.

  192

  Douglas Fairbanks’s Jewish mother: Frances Howard Goldwyn to author.

  192

  Jewish performers who changed their names: Siegel and Rheins, pp. 14–16.

  9. HIGH ROLLERS

  195–208

  Details of Sam Goldwyn’s life and career: Frances Howard Goldwyn (Mrs. Samuel) to author.

  196

  “Is Sunday a legal day?”: ibid.

  199

  “the most colossal fake”: ibid.

  200

  “And this time for good”: ibid.

  201

  “A producer should not be hampered”: International Celebrity Register (New York: Celebrity Register Ltd., 1959), p. 297.

  202

  “Mr. Godsol is no longer with us”: ibid.

  202

  “because Metro isn’t”: Frances Goldwyn to author.

  202

  “Leo is my birth sign”: ibid.

  208

  “quality … clean things can be done”: ibid.

  210–11

  Lansky’s modus operandi: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, pp. 91–92.

  211

  Profits: Gosch and Hammer, p. 74.

  211–12

  Prohibition statistics and arrests: Newman, p. 83.

  212–13

  The numbers game: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, p. 150; Gosch and Hammer, p. 75.

  213

  Laundering money: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, pp. 250–251.

  213

  “It was like we had a printin’ press”: Gosch and Hammer, p. 367.

  213–14

  Bronfman’s modus operandi: Based on author’s experiences while working in an advertising agency for Seagram’s.

  214

  Bronfman quoted on types of liquor: Samuel Bronfman to author.

  215

  Bronfman’s social climbing: Newman, pp. 24–25.

  216

  “Our company”: ibid., p. 62.

  218

  The second Mrs. Stokes: Lettice Stokes to author.

  219

  “language instructor”: New York Times, June 21, 1933.

  10. LITTLE CAESARS

  222

  Class change and anxiety: W. H. Auden’s introduction to Yezierska’s Ribbon, pp. 16, 15.

  222–23

  Bronfman’s temper: author’s experience.

  223

  “I don’t get ulcers”: Newman, p. 29.

  223

  “The damn fool”: ibid., p. 39.

  224

  “It’s expensive!”: ibid., p. 40.

  224

  “Mary”: ibid., p. 33.

  224

  “I don’t want my sister to know”: ibid., p. 40n.

  224

  “Interest … office boy”: Samuel Bronfman to author.

  225

  “Imagine the secrets”: O’Higgins, p. 50.

  226

  bought the building: ibid., p. 58.

  226

  “Stella’s, of course!”: ibid., p. 105.

  227

  The Lehman Brothers story: ibid., pp. 93–95.

  227–33

  The Goldwyn stories, Goldwynisms, and so on: based on author’s interviews with Frances Howard Goldwyn, George Cukor, Roddy McDowell, Sam Marx, Ira Gershwin, Lucille Ball, Lillian Hellman, Minna Wallis and others.

  233

  “I have in mind a plan”: Lyons, p. 71.

  235

  The Dempsey fight: ibid., pp. 100–101; Dreher, pp. 72–73.

  236

  Corporate jealousies: Lyons, pp. 90–91.

  236

  “on the bridge”: ibid., p. 11.

  236

  “birth of the electron”: ibid., p. 14.

  238–39

  “Woe to America!”: Yezierska, Ribbon, pp. 216–217.

  11. DEALS

  241–42

  Aging whiskey: Newman, p. 133n.

  242

  Price of Rossville distillery: ibid., p. 134.

  243

  The naming of Seven Crown: Dr. Isaac Levine (son of Calman Levine) to author.

  244

  “I always like to have money”: ibid.

  244n.

  “Very Own”: Newman, p. 107n.

  245

  Men of Distinction: ibid., p. 137n.

  245

  Morgenthau and the tax bill: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, p. 80; Newman, p. 64.

  245–47

  The Rosenstiel stories: Cooney, pp. 225–227.

  247

  Bronfman-Rosenstiel partnership: Newman, p. 134.

  247

  Nicknames: Cooney, p. 226; Robert Gould to author.

  248

  Car-playing among industry rivals: Frances Howard Goldwyn to author; similarly, Helen Gould to author.

  248

  Seagram brands displayed: Newman, p. 39.

  248–51

  The Julius Kessler story: Dr. Isaac Levine to author.

  250

  “But you’re an old man”: Newman, p. 157.

  252

  “This is so much bullshit”: ibid., p. 143.

  252–54

  Rose Stokes’s last days, funeral: New York Times, June 21, 1933.

  253–54

  Rose’s memorial service: ibid., July 25, 1933.

  12. WAR

  256

  Joseph P. Kennedy story: Hecht, p. 520.

  257

  Kennedy and RKO: Lyons, pp. 143–144; Dreher, pp. 111–112.

  257

  “Sarnoff’s grand design”: Lyons, p. 143.

  257

  “A banker?”: Adolph Zukor to author.

  257–59

  Kennedy stories: Frances Howard Goldwyn (Mrs. Samuel) to author.

  258

  “tough customer”: Samuel Goldwyn files.

  259

  “de-Semitization”: Howe, p. 567.

  259

  “No writers”: Frances Goldwyn to author.

  259–60

  Hecht’s involvement with Bergson et al.: Hecht, pp. 529, 532, 536.

  260–65

  Jewish army fund-raising: ibid., pp. 538–543; also New York Times, Feb. 19, 1983.

  262

  “I called on David”: Hecht, p. 543.

  262

  “accept with pleasure”: Frances Goldwyn to author.

  264

  “We’re here to contribute”: Hecht, p. 543

  265

  “an investigation of propaganda”: New York Times, Aug. 19, 1941.

  266

  “The Zionists … turning in my grave”: Bergson quoted in New York Times, Feb. 19, 1983.

  268

  Impressions of Hillcrest Country Club: author’s.

  268

  “in this business”: Sam Marx to author.

  270 />
  “You will probably think it strange”: Goldwyn files.

  270

  “Please stop crying”: ibid.

  270–71

  Lansky and Jewish refugees: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, p. 297.

  271

  Bronfman’s philanthropy, Newman, p. 46.

  272–73

  Goldwyn and Danny Kaye: Frances Goldwyn to author.

  273

  “In dealing with my husband”: ibid.

  274–75

  “The Vanishing Jew”: Henry Popkin in Commentary, July, 1952. pp. 46, 51.

  275

  “This originates not in hate”: ibid., p. 46.

  13. AT LAST, A HOMELAND

  277

  Siegel in Hollywood: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, p. 176.

  277–78

  Plans for Las Vegas: ibid., p. 225.

  279

  Cohen’s cleanliness: Cohen, pp. 255–256.

  279

  “not good for anyone’s image”: ibid., p. 1.

  279

  “a three-card Monte dealer”: ibid., p. 234.

  280

  “We were insured”: ibid., p. 45.

  280

  “Knockin’ their own proposition”: Hecht, p. 610.

  280

  “Who the hell is Ben Hecht”: Cohen, p. 89.

  281

  “This guy got me so goddamn excited”: ibid., p. 91.

  282

  “Jewish people”: ibid., p. 93.

  282

  “America is our Zion”: Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk to author.

  282

  “When one has ten million dollars”: Doris Lilly to author.

  282–83

  Cohen’s party: Cohen, p. 91.

  283

  Lansky’s helper on the docks: ibid., pp. 92–93: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, p. 296.

  284

  Cohen’s orders to kill British officers: Cohen, pp. 91–92.

  285

  “To me, he was the greatest man”: ibid., p. 92.

  285

  Figures on Jewish deaths: Siegel and Rheins, p. 153.

  285

  “We had been talking”: Dalia Lamport to author.

  287–89

  Apfelbaum family history: Anna Potok to author.

  289

  “We loved it here”: ibid.

  14. TOUCHES OF CLASS

  292

  “he’s just a little old movie producer”: Frances Howard Goldwyn (Mrs. Samuel) to author.

  293

  Madame Rubinstein’s nomenclature: Patrick O’Higgins to author.

  293

  Bronfman children’s upbringing: Jack Clifford to author.

  293

  No business outside Canada: Edgar M. Bronfman, “Name Your Brand—In Any Market in the World,” Columbia Journal of World Business, vol. 4, no. 6 (Nov./Dec., 1969), p. 31.

  293

  “How long do you think”: Newman, p. 65.

  293–95

  Mayer’s life-style: Gail and Howard Strickling to author.

  295

  Goldwyn’s misspellings: Goldwyn files.

  295

  Goldwyn’s malapropisms: Frances Goldwyn to author.

  295

  “Find out how many stars”: ibid.

  296

  “How long have you and I”: Frances Goldwyn to author.

  297

  “A kind of love song”: ibid.

  296n.

  Parsons’s column: International Celebrity Register (New York: Celebrity Register Ltd., 1959), p. 573.

  297–99

  Gloversville story: ibid.

  299–301

  Lansky / Las Vegas story: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, p. 226; Gosch and Hammer, p. 316.

  302

  Siegel / Virginia Hill story: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, pp. 225, 237; Gosch and Hammer, p. 331.

  302–307

  Siegel, Hill, and the Flamingo: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, pp. 226, 235–241; Gosch and Hammer, pp. 316–319, 329–331.

  303

  “the situation”: Gosch and Hammer, p. 315.

  15. ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY

  312–13

  German opposition to changes at Emanu-El, including quotes: Rabbi Ronald B. Sobel to author.

  313

  The Sidney Weinberg story: Walter E. Sachs to author.

  314

  The Harmonic Club story: Rabbi Sobel to author.

  314–16

  David Sarnoff’s house: author’s impressions.

  316

  “I believe that television”: Lyons, p. 207.

  317

  “Think of your family”: ibid., pp. 207–208.

  317

  “If we let our imagination”: ibid., p. 208.

  317

  RCA Pavilion: ibid., p. 216.

  318

  “Good evening”: ibid., p. 275.

  319

  “Father of American Television”: ibid., p. 268.

  319

  “I don’t think this television thing”: Frances Howard Goldwyn (Mrs. Samuel) to author.

  321–24

  Five Towns and Woodmere Academy: Beverley and Allen Gasner and Sue Kaufman Barondess to author.

  322

  “a golden ghetto”: Sue Kaufman Barondess to author.

  322

  “Be civil”: Beverley Gasner to author.

  324

  “And your grandfather and I worked so hard”: ibid.

  16. CROWN PRINCES

  327–28

  The obituary: New York Times, Sept. 1, 1967.

  328–31

  The Calman Levine story: Dr. Isaac Levine (Calman’s son) to author.

  329

  “WE WHO MAKE”: Newman, p. 137.

  329

  The Willkie dispute: Dr. Isaac Levine to author.

  329

  “I am company policy”: ibid.

  330

  “You go to my enemy”: ibid.

  331

  “This call is not welcome”: ibid.

  332

  “But Father, don’t you know”: Newman, p. 174.

  332

  “But those Bronfmans”: Mrs. Arthur Lehman to author.

  332

  “the son of that Russian”: Mrs. J. L. Loeb to author.

  333n.

  Robert Sarnoff’s prediction: International Celebrity Register (New York: Celebrity Register Ltd., 1959), p. 666.

  334

  “Find Marshall”: Newman, p. 28.

  335

  “Sam was sitting”: ibid.

  335

  “My God!”: Sam Man to author.

  336

  “See him”: Newman, p. 35.

  336–37

  Rubinstein will: O’Higgins, pp. 279–280, 288, 293.

  337

  Bronfman/Holiday story: author’s recollection.

  338

  “If you’re saying”: Newman, p. 183.

  339

  “In real estate”: Robert Gould to author.

  339

  “We had a code of ethics”: Cohen, p. 183.

  340

  “Where are they going”: Mrs. Meyer Lansky to author.

  340–42

  Lansky’s family life: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, pp. 256, 230–231, 284–285.

  342

  “Don’t you know”: ibid., pp. 230–231.

  17. WITCH-HUNTING

  343

  “pervasive shaper of American thought”: James Trager, The People’s Chronology (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979), p. 999.

  344

  Hellman’s income: Siegel and Rheins, p. 447.

  345

  “Let’s take a look”: ibid., p. 449.

  345

  Dalton Trumbo story: Trager, p. 999.

  346

  “always had something to say”: Siegel and Rheins, p. 450.

  346

  Zero Mostel story: ibid., p. 451.

 
346–47

  John Garfield story: ibid., pp. 453–454.

  347–48

  Phillip Loeb story: ibid., pp. 454–457.

  350

  “Modern girls are conscious”: New Yorker, Aug. 10, 1925.

  350

  “As to being Jewish”: Dorothy Schiff, quoted to author by John Schiff.

  351

  “After all”: Frances Howard Goldwyn to author.

  352

  Lettice Stokes on Rose Pastor Mrs. Stokes to author.

  18. PEOPLE WHO ARE SOLID

  354

  “I was born”: Jack Rosenthal to author.

  354–57

  Lansky’s harassment by U.S. officials: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, pp. 284–285.

  356

  “bad tuning … because of the Kefauver Report”: ibid., p. 288.

  357

  Sandra Lansky story, including quote: ibid., pp. 290–291.

  357

  “You see, Richard had been drinking”: ibid., p. 322.

  358–59

  Lansky as bargaining chip: ibid., pp. 313–314.

  359

  “That’s life”: quoted in New York Times. Jan. 16, 1983.

  360

  “Bugsy and I”: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, p. 324.

  360

  “Most of what they wrote about him”: Mrs. Meyer Lansky to author.

  361–63

  Phyllis Bronfman story: Newman, pp. 165–166.

  362

  “make this building”: ibid., p. 166.

  363

  “This building”: ibid., p. 167.

  363

  Atlantic Acceptance bankruptcy: ibid., p. 164.

  364

  Edgar’s college escapade: author’s recollection.

  364

  Linen asked to intercede: Newman, p. 159.

  364

  Sam’s opposition to divorce: John L. Loeb, Jr., to author.

  364

  “I’ve set it up”: Newman, p. 21.

  365

  Edgar’s premarital settlement: ibid., p. 189.

  366

  “I told Edgar … after the marriage”: ibid.

  366

  “I hate to be taken”: ibid., p. 190.

  366–67

  Sam II kidnapping, including quotes: ibid., pp. 190–191.

  368

  “Tell me, Edgar”: ibid., p. 187.

  368

  Conoco takeover story: People, Dec. 28, 1982–Jan. 4, 1983, pp. 62–63.

  369

  “To turn a hundred dollars”: Newman, p. 19.

  369

  “What would my father”: People, Dec. 28, 1982–Jan. 4, 1983, p. 63.

  19. FROM POLAND TO POLO

  371–72

  Adolph Zukor story: Frances Howard Goldwyn (Mrs. Samuel) to author.

  372

  “God damn it”: Robert LaVine to author.

  373

  “I’m so sick”: Ralph Lauren to author.

  373

  “My mother wanted”: ibid.

  374

  “We wanted something”: ibid.

  374

 

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