Television

National debut of "Ding Dong School"

December 22, 1952

Ding Dong School, created by and starring Frances Horwich, was one of the first television shows to offer quality educational programmin

"Free To Be You And Me" Album Cover by Marlo Thomas

Release of "Free To Be You and Me"

November 27, 1972

Free To Be You and Me, the album of non-sexist stories and songs that helped shape the self-understanding and world view of a generation of children, was released on November 27, 1972.

Gertrude Berg debuts in "The Goldbergs"

November 20, 1929

Gertrude Berg's popular radio program, The Goldbergs, about an upwardly mobile American Jewish family debuted on NBC radio on November 20,

Gertrude Berg in "Molly" as "Molly Goldberg"

Gertrude Berg makes her television debut

October 18, 1948

Gertrude Berg made her television debut as Bronx housewife Molly Goldberg on NBC's Chevrolet on Broadway in 1948.

Thumbnail of Rachel King on Joyce Brothers's Win on the $64,000 Challenge, 2015

Dr. Joyce Brothers wins $64,000 for boxing expertise

October 27, 1957

Psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers put her boxing trivia to the test and came away with $64,000 on October 27, 1957.

Honor for children's television activist Peggy Charren

September 29, 1995

Frustrated with the educationally anemic cartoons filling her children's afternoons, education advocate and founder of Action for Children's Television (ACT), Peggy Charren began to push television stations and law makers to demand and develop more diverse and stimulating children's programming.

Barbara Walters becomes highest-paid journalist

October 4, 1976

On October 4, 1976, Barbara Walters became the first woman co-anchor of a major network evening news program.

Steve Benson on the Birth of Kitty Carlisle Hart Thumbnail

Birth of entertainer Kitty Carlisle Hart

September 3, 1910

Born on September 3, 1910 [some sources say 1911, 1914], Kitty Carlisle Hart began a musical career at a young age and kept performing into her nineties.

Thumbnail of Rachel King on Shari Lewis, 2015

Puppeteer and TV star Shari Lewis dies

August 2, 1998

Born in New York City on January 17, 1934, Shari Lewis was attracted to music and performance from a young age.

Irna Phillips produces "The Guiding Light" on TV

June 30, 1952

The Guiding Light debuted on CBS television on June 30, 1952.

Birth of multi-talented Ruth Hagy Brod

May 31, 1911

Born in New York City on May 31, 1911, and raised in Chicago, Ruth Hagy Brod had a varied career that took her from the newsroom to Latin America

Death of comedian Gilda Radner at 42

May 20, 1989

Gilda Radner's death from ovarian cancer on May 20, 1989 at age 42 cut short a vital life and comedic career.

Opera singer Roberta Peters is born

May 4, 1930

Soprano Roberta Peters had the longest tenure of any Metropolitan Opera soprano and has worked throughout her career to popularize opera.

Aline Milton Bernstein Saarinen becomes first woman to head overseas US TV news bureau

April 13, 1971

Aline Milton Bernstein Saarinen became the first woman to head an overseas television news bureau when she became chief of the National

Gertrude Berg's "The Goldbergs" premieres on television

January 10, 1949

Gertrude Berg's popular radio program, The Goldbergs, about an upwardly mobile American Jewish family moved to television on January 10, 1

Film poster for Transparent, an American Comedy-Drama Series

Television in the United States

Jewish women have had a long-standing, complex, often fraught relation to American television. They have had to battle a male-dominated production system and sexist stereotypes, but also have seen significant advances, in front of and behind the screen, resulting from the cable and streaming revolutions and third-wave feminist activism.

Barbra Streisand

From her Oscar winning performance in Funny Girl to her Golden Globe-winning direction in Yentl, Barbra Streisand has consistently made history in the entertainment industry. One of the most successful performers of the twentieth century, she also directs and produces movies. She also funds multiple charities through the Streisand Foundation.

Jewish Gender Stereotypes in the United States

Stereotypes of Jews have existed from their arrival in the New World to the present. Jews were portrayed as greedy, unscrupulous, and unrefined. However, Jews also created stereotypes about one another based on class, gender, and religion. Specifically, the Ghetto Girl, Jewish Mother, JAP, and others reflected tensions between genders about the place of Jews in the economy and culture.

Jo Sinclair

Jo Sinclair was an American-Jewish novelist whose works explored the repercussions of oppression in many forms: self-denial and self-destruction, antisemitism and Jewish self-hatred, repression of women’s sexual energy and sexual orientation, racism and the internalization of prejudice, poverty, and other forms of marginalization. Her work looked to self-knowledge as a means of emerging from one’s internalized ghetto.

Joan Micklin Silver

Award-winning director and screenwriter Joan Micklin Silver, born in 1935 in Omaha, Nebraska, wrote and directed the 1975 barrier-breaking independent film Hester Street, which sparked an interest in the lives of immigrant Jews. She also directed Crossing Delancey (1988), five other feature films, and several films for television.

Beverly Sills

Beverly Sills was a trailblazing opera singer who, after a robust singing career at the New York City Opera Company (NYCO) and the Metropolitan Opera House, became the first female director of the NYCO, and the first female chair of the Lincoln Center board. Sills defied the odds in her career accomplishments while raising two children with disabilities and being actively involved with several charitable organizations.

Aline Saarinen

Aline Saarinen first gained notoriety as an art critic and served as an associate art editor at the New York Times. Her career in art criticism segued into a career in television as a popular on-air personality. Saarinen’s presence on television led to her appointment as chief of the National Broadcasting Company’s Paris news bureau, the first woman to hold a position of this type.

Claudia Roden

Food writer and cookbook author Claudia Roden single-handedly opened up the world of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish foods to chefs, food critics and home cooks across the globe providing a new portal into understanding and experiencing Jewish food and culture.

Lilly Rivlin

Lilly Rivlin is a documentary filmmaker whose films are centered around feminism, the Arab-Israeli peace process, Jewishness, and her family relationships. Rivlin’s films The Tribe (1984), Miriam’s Daughters Now (1986), and Gimme a Kiss (2000), all of which explore Jewishness and family, are among her best.

Joan Rivers

In revues, nightclub acts, concert halls, and on television, Joan Rivers popularized and perfected a genre of comedy that challenged reigning social conventions. After breaking into Chicago’s comedy scene in 1961 at Second City, Rivers became known for her comedic routines, books, and the talk show for which she won an Emmy for in 1990.

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