1. Daniel Day-Lewis & Lena Dunham Win at Golden Globes
The Golden Globe® for Best Actor in a Drama was given to Daniel Day-Lewis on Sunday night in Los Angeles. The half-Jewish actor, who won the award for his role in Lincoln, has now received seven Golden Globe nominations. The Method actor won the same award for his turn in 2007’s There Will Be Blood.
In the TV realm, Lena Dunham also won big. The half-Jewish actress scored honors for lead actress in a TV comedy — as well as best TV comedy series for her HBO show, Girls. Dunham, who is often described as both “spontaneous and articulate,” trembled as she thanked her fellow honorees, “women that inspire me deeply, and have made me laugh and comforted me at the darkest moments of my life,” she said.
2. Lincoln Leads the Oscar Nominations
Lincoln, Steven Spielberg’s film about the 16th president and his battle to end slavery, rounded up plenty of votes for the 85th Academy Awards®, topping all films with 12 nominations, including best picture and best director.
Spielberg, who is Jewish, has six previous directing nominations, including Oscar® wins for Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List. Daniel Day-Lewis, who is half Jewish, was also nominated in the best actor category for his work on the film. The Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 24th.
3. Poet Harvey Shapiro Dies at Age 88
Harvey Shapiro, the poet, author and New York Times editor who helped inspire Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” died Monday at the age of 88.
Shapiro, who was born in Chicago in 1924 to Ukrainian-Jewish parents, was highly admired and said to have chosen “newspaper work over the time-honored academic vocation of his peers.” In the early 1960s, Shapiro made what was almost certainly his most inspired assignment. Reading about one of Dr. King’s frequent jailings, he telephoned the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Mr. Shapiro suggested the next time Dr. King was in jail for any significant period, he should compose a letter for publication. His suggestion led to the epochal assignment, “Letter From Birmingham Jail.”
Harvey died on Monday morning in Manhattan. He was 88 years old.