some people believe Dave letterman is Jewish , and he pretends to be a regular middle American guy , because he is ashamed of his heritage. Is it true ? Letterman could be a Jewish name , but maybe not.
His mother Dorothy is or was a Presbyterian church secretary, so I doubt it.
Oh and he had his heart surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
On the other hand, it appears that Paul Shaffer is Jewish.
Hmm. So you’re saying that a Jew cannot be a “regular middle American” (whatever that is).
Well he’s got a shiny helmet.
If you’re saying that you doubt such exists, aren’t you saying that too?
I am hoping you didn’t quite mean that as it sounds… I was unaware that being Jewish makes it impossible to be a “regular American guy”. Jews seem pretty integrated into the larger society to me…
Nor does it entirely eliminate the possibility. Granted, if his father was Jewish and his mother not, the Jews wouldn’t consider him Jewish, but the gentiles would and I’m sure this is how the confusion arises in at least some cases. There’s also conversion later in life and a few other possibilities… but yeah, usually having a Presbyterian mother sort of eliminates the “Jew” label.
I think there are some folks convinced that every succesful entertainer is Jewish, whether there’s evidence for or against that or not.
Nope - I get nothing.
no , I’m just saying that Dave never mentions his religion or ancestery, he may be "passing " for Jewish , which used to mean a person that was hiding his true heritage , as to try and fit in to American society , because of fear of anti semitism.
Right. Because there’s a real “glass ceiling” for Jews in American comedy.
Wouldn’t that make him passing for gentile?
Does this really have anything to do with the question? If the best doctor is at a Catholic or a Presbyterian hospital, I have no problem going there over a Jewish hospital.
Not everyone whose name ends in -man, -berg, or -stein is Jewish. For example, baseball players David Eckstein, Morgan Ensberg, Lance Berkman, David Cone, and Walt Weiss are often thought to be Jewish but they aren’t. But Shawn Green, Brad Ausmus, and Jason Marquis are Jewish.
Also, in my experience, Jewish people from the Midwest tend to look and sound like everyone else from the Midwest, and not like 80-year-old men named Ira raised in Brooklyn but born in Galicia speaking Yiddish.
The Keller, Shore, and Schwartz I knew in Milwaukee were all Catholics.
Well, being Jewish is certainly not typical or the norm for American guys, given that Jews constitute only about 2% of the US population. But of course Jews can be “regular American guys” if by “regular” you mean “culturally integrated with other Americans” or “similar in many respects to the American mainstream” or whatever.
Funny, he doesn’t look Jewish.
And Paul Shaffer can’t be a regular Middle American guy because he’s. . . Canadian!!!
I found the following webpage by Googling on “David Letterman” and “Jewish”:
http://experts.about.com/q/David-Letterman-1189/David-Letterman-1.htm