Mel Brooks Receives an Honorary Oscar Award and Tribute From Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane

On January 9 an Honorary Oscar statuette was presented to Mel Brooks at the Academy's 14th Governors Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

At the ceremony, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick honored the iconic producer, writer, and actor with some comedy and song created just for him.

Here is their tribute to Mel Brooks, followed by Brooks receiving the Oscar and giving his acceptance comments.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

   

   

(A tip of the kippah to Esther Kustanowitz for bringing these videos to our attention)

Throwback Thursday at the Oscars: Norma Shearer and Carl Laemmle - Jewish Winners in 1930

With all the glitz and glamour associated with the Academy Awards coming up on February 9, we're going back 90 years to take a look at the laid back awards announcement that was made in awarding the Oscars for best performances in 1930. 

It was a year that saw two Jewish nominees walk away with the coveted gold statuette. Norma Shearer received the Oscar for her Best Actress performance in The Divorcee. And Producer Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures, took home the award for All Quiet on the Western Front as Best Picture.

As P.J. Grisar wrote in The Forward,

Norma Shearer, a Canadian-American actress who converted to Judaism in 1927 to marry MGM mogul Irving Thalberg, holds the distinction of being not only the first Jewish woman to win an Oscar, but the first performer overall. (Writers Benjamin Glazer, Ben Hecht, Joseph W. Farnham, né Frohman, and director Lewis Milestone, né Lieb Milstein, were the first Jewish winners in the first Oscars ceremony.)

Oscar winner producer Carl Laemmle was born in 1867 to a Jewish family in Laupheim, in the German Kingdom of Württemberg. In 1906, Laemmle quit his job and started one of the first motion picture theaters in Chicago.

Laemmle remained connected to his home town of Laupheim throughout his life, providing financial support to it and also by sponsoring hundreds of Jews from Laupheim and Württemberg to emigrate from Nazi Germany to the United States in the 1930s, paying both emigration and immigration fees, thus saving them from the Holocaust.

Let's go back to 1930 and watch these two members of the entertainment world receive their awards. 

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO

#Throwback Thursday    #TBT

The Great Jewish Comedians: Groucho Marx Gets an Honorary Oscar

Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian and film and television star. 

He was known as a master of quick wit and is widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers and imitators.

His Wikipedia entry reports that he made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show You Bet Your Life.


His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the world's most ubiquitous and recognizable novelty disguises, known as "Groucho glasses": a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache.


In this video clip, Jack Lemmon presents Groucho Marx with an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of his brilliant creativity and for the unequaled achievements of the Marx Brothers in the art of motion picture comedy at the 46th Academy Awards in 1974.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)