Jewish News

LOS ANGELES (JTA)—Kirk Douglas, the legendary actor who portrayed legions of tough guys and embraced his Jewish heritage later in life, died at his home in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, February 5. He was 103. Over a career that spanned 87 films—including 73 big screen features and 14 on television—the blond, blue-eyed Douglas, dimpled chin [...]

Beverly Pepper, a sculptor famed for her monumental iron and steel works, has died. Pepper died Wednesday, Feb. 5 at her home in Italy. She was 97. Pepper was born Beverly Stoll in Brooklyn in 1922. She moved to Europe in the late 1940s and in the early 1950s settled in Rome with her husband, [...]

Virginia Beach—Jean Rutherford died on January 26, 2020, after a nine-year journey with frontotemporal dementia. Jean had an abundant, loving, and playful heart. An avid gardener and nature lover, Jean savored sitting on her screened porch overlooking the Elizabeth River while visiting with family, friends, and her beloved grandchildren. Born on December 7, 1936, in [...]

Richmond—Lorraine Flax Hecht, age 97, passed away peacefully on Friday, February 7, 2020. Lorraine was preceded in death by her husband, Arnold; her brother, Jack; and son-in-law, Andy. She is survived by her daughters, Diane Wagner (Alan), Barbara Edwards (Kendall) and Sharon Trimmer; along with her grandchildren, Karen, Lauren, Melissa, Brittany, Aaron; and her five [...]

Hingham, Mass.—Stanley Goldstone, D.M.D. ff Hingham, formerly of Sharon, succumbed to the ravages of Parkinson’s disease on Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 91 years of age. Loving husband of Dolores “Dolly” Goldstone. Loving father of Jaymie Adachi (Jiro), stepfather of Susan Kaplan (Ivor), Richard Mullen (Kim) and the late Nancy Mullen. Cherished grandfather of Shannon, [...]

Knoxville, Tenn.—Dr. Patricia Lee Speer, age 64, passed away on December 11, 2019. She was preceded in death by her father, Mr. Harold G. Speer and former spouse, Dr. Richard Bass. Dr. Speer is survived by her sons, Philip A. Bass (Stephanie) and Benjamin J. Bass of Norfolk, Va.; her mother, Ruby Speer of Knoxville, [...]

Virginia Beach—Ann Siegel Goodman, 96, of Virginia Beach, passed away January 17, 2020 surrounded by her family. She was born to Emma and Herman Kravitz in Haddonfield, N.J. and grew up with two loving sisters, Shirley and Doris. She was married to Arthur Siegel for 39 fabulous years until his passing and then happily married [...]

Author Elizabeth Wurtzel, best known for her memoir Prozac Nation, died at age 52 after a five-year fight with breast cancer. Wurtzel’s blockbuster memoir, Prozac Nation, which came out in 1994 when she was only 27 years old, detailed her struggles with anti-depressants. Wurtzel was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2015. The same year, [...]

Gladys Bourdain, who convinced an editor to publish the first article written by her chef son Anthony, has died. Bourdain died in hospice on Friday, January 10 in the Bronx, New York. She was 85. She worked for nearly 25 years as a copy editor at the New York Times beginning in 1984, “developing a [...]

Buck Henry, the screenwriter and director who earned an Oscar nomination for his script for the 1967 film The Graduate, has died at 89. Henry, born Henry Zuckerman in 1930, died Wednesday, January 8 in Los Angeles, according to reports. The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by Mike Nichols, won Nichols an Oscar for [...]