Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
4 min read
She was one of the first to speak out against Kanye West. Now the Academy-Award winning actress gave a knockout acceptance speech.
When Jamie Lee Curtis won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the mesmerizing movie, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” – a career milestone at age 64 – she thanked her behind-the-scenes team and family in a poignant Oscar speech.
Curtis played Deirdre Beaubeirdre, a tax inspector, as well as her evil alter-ego in another universe.
“I know it looks like I'm standing up here by myself, but I am not. I am hundreds of people…My bae Michelle (Yeoh), Ke (Huy Quan), Stephanie (Hsu) – the entire group of artists who made this movie – we just won an Oscar,” she said.
“To all of the people who have supported the genre movies that I've made for all these years, the thousands and hundreds and thousands of people, we just won an Oscar. Together.”
Curtis’ humble words during this pivotal moment illustrate the Jewish trait of Hakarat Hatov – gratitude. In the spotlight, overwhelmed with her surprising success, Curtis graciously shone the light on everyone else – not herself, thankful for the army of people who banded together to create this accomplishment.
Curtis also paid homage to her iconic parents, Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, (born Bernard Schwartz) pointing out that both were nominated for Oscars more than 60 years ago, in different categories – her mom was nominated for her supporting acting work in "Psycho," and her dad received a best actor nomination in 1959 for "The Defiant Ones."
In the pressroom, she was asked if they were looking down on her tonight and smiling.
“I think we are them in our actions, and in our deeds, and in our ideas, and then we build our own and we give them to our children and that's how the world goes on. So I am a product of them and I am a proud product of them. And I know they would be incredibly proud of me, of course.”
Upon hearing one of the journalists in the pressroom was from Hungary, Curtis joked that she loved her heritage – “the country of my family. Tony Curtis came from Hungary!”-- and she sang a Hungarian song.
Like her father, the veteran actress has been working on revitalizing her Hungarian grandparents’ hometown synagogue in Mateszalka.
“Today I represented my family at the pre-opening (opens 6/26) of the brand new Tony Curtis memorial museum and cafe in Mátészalka, Hungary where my grandparents, Helen and Emanuel Schwartz emigrated from,” she said on an Instagram post.
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“They have created a beautiful exhibition of images from his life and they have costumes from his movies and his paintings and awards. It is just down the street from the synagogue that my family worshiped in so long ago. It is empty now, as the entire Jewish population was exterminated but the building stands as a living tribute to those who lived there and continue to live there and I have committed myself to partner with the mayor to raise needed funds from the local corporate and private community to refurbish and retrofit this extraordinary building as a community center for celebrations and art and music.”
Curtis has always been vocal about the issues that matter to her. Looking at her social media posts, you often see examples of her making a difference in the world, sharing animal rescue posts, being involved with Children's Hospital Los Angeles and supporting friends.
Last year, she was horrified to see Kanye West’s comments against Jewish people and was one of the first to raise her voice and speak out last year. On social media she wrote: “The holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. Your words hurt and incite violence. You are a father. Please stop.”
A few days later she tweeted: “Btw....I am NOT looking to cancel anyone. I AM looking to OPPOSE antisemitism, white supremacy, fascism, transphobia and other oppressive regimes and ideologies where the sole intent is the silencing, obliteration and annihilation of others.”
She said in an interview, “We’ve got to stand up to it. If we can’t stand up to it, we’re in trouble.”
