She keeps going
Despite dying in 1962, Marilyn Monroe is still expected to bring ’em in — whether they’re theatergoers or book buyers. Monroe converted to Judaism when she married playwright Arthur Miller in 1956, and their troubled marriage was the subject of Miller’s semi-autobiographical 1964 play, “After the Fall.” A revival of the play, revised by the 89-year-old Miller, will open at the Roundabout Theater in New York on June 11. Actress Jessica Hecht (“What About Joan”) has a supporting role.
Likewise, when actor Eli Wallach recently announced he was writing his memoirs, it was a Monroe anecdote that the New York Post highlighted. Wallach co-starred with Monroe and Clark Gable in “The Misfits,” a 1960 film written by Miller. Wallach told the Post that he was among the few who knew that Gable was guaranteed an extra 50K a week if the film’s production ran into overtime. When Monroe apologized to Gable for constantly being late, Wallach recalled Gable simply smiling and saying, “Don’t worry. Take your time.”
Zac P. Diddy
Hot fashion designer Zac Posen, 23, was probably the youngest person ever to speak to the Harvard Business School when he appeared there April 13. Posen’s ready-to-wear line has flown off the shelves, attracting regular people as well as celeb customers (Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman). The New York-born, London-trained Posen was a success almost as soon as he shopped his designs around New York a few years ago. Mom Susan, a former corporate lawyer, helped launch his company and is its CEO.
Posen’s Harvard talk included a video of his February 2004 New York fashion show with music by hip-hop megastar Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. Combs’ own Sean John clothing line is a great seller. The two met at fashion shows and last month announced their partnership. Combs will buy half of Posen’s company, giving Posen an infusion of capital — but Posen will retain creative control.
This is almost certainly the first time that an African American celeb and a white fashion designer have teamed up in a truly equal, big-time fashion business partnership, as opposed to a black celeb licensing his name to a non-black-owned clothing company (think Nike and Michael Jordan). It’s a good development and we wish Combs and Posen a lot of mazel.
Love life update
Pretty actress Marla Sokoloff (“The Practice”) has had some choice Jewish boyfriends. Sokoloff, 23, was linked the last few years with the smoldering James Franco (“James Dean”). Us Weekly (May 3) reports she’s dating Jaron Lowenstein of the Evan and Jaron Band. She was “spotted” celebrating his 30th birthday with him at an L.A. restaurant.
Jaron and Evan Lowenstein are the incredibly handsome, identical twin brothers who got a lot of publicity in 2001 when one of their songs climbed high on the charts. That they don’t play on Shabbat also attracted a lot of notice. However, they do need a hit pretty soon to regain their momentum. Sokoloff is also a musician — she sings and plays rhythm guitar in an L.A. band called Smitten.
Franco, like Sokoloff, is from the Bay Area. He grew up in Palo Alto, while Sokoloff grew up in Danville. His father, artist Doug Franco, is not Jewish. His mother, author Betsy Verne Franco, is and her mother, Mitzi Levine Verne, founded the prominent Verne Art Gallery in Cleveland. Our friend at the Cleveland Jewish News tells us that James, who paints on the side, gave his grandmother a painting of his as a Chanukah present last year. Look for him next month as he reprises his role as Harry Osborn, star Tobey Maguire’s best friend, in “Spiderman II.”
Columnist Nate Bloom, an Oaklander, can be reached at [email protected].