
Acting
Fyvush Finkel
Born 1922-10-09 · Brooklyn, New York, USA
Fyvush Finkel, born Philip Finkel, was an American actor from New York City, the son of Jewish immigrant parents from Eastern Europe. His career began in the Yiddish theatres of Manhattan where his talent for peppering his singing with comedic inflections gained him notoriety and consistent casting for over thirty years. He finally made his Broadway debut in 1964 as a member of the original production of Fiddler on the Roof, playing Mordcha the innkeeper. During the 1990s he began working in television and came to the attention of producer David E. Kelley, who cast him in two of his successful series: Picket Fences and Boston Public, the former earning him an Emmy (Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series) in 1994. After Boston Public was cancelled in 2004 he returned to the theatres of New York, eventually retiring after the conclusion of the production of New Jerusalem in 2007. He passed away at his home in New York at the age of 93 due to heart problems.
Acting credits
6.6Eugene, a young teenage Jewish boy, recalls his memoirs of his time as an adolescent youth. He lives with his parents, his aunt, two cousins, and his brother, Stanley, whom he looks up to and admires. He goes through the hardships of puberty, sexual fantasy, and living the life of a poor boy in a crowded house.
Brighton Beach Memoirs
1986
6.7It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances Sy Ableman.
A Serious Man
2009
6.2New York concierge Doug Ireland wants to go into business for himself and refurbish a hotel on Roosevelt Island, N.Y., but he needs an investor. With a few weeks left before his option on the site runs out, Doug agrees to help wealthy Christian Hanover conceal his affair with salesgirl Andy Hart from his wife. Despite his own attraction to Andy, Doug tries to stay focused on getting Christian to invest $3 million in his project.
For Love or Money
1993
5.9A young district attorney seeking to prove a case against a corrupt police detective encounters a former lover and her new protector, a crime boss who refuses to help him.
Q & A
1990
6.8A look at President Richard M. Nixon—a man carrying the fate of the world on his shoulders while battling the self-destructive demands from within—spanning his troubled boyhood in California to the shocking Watergate scandal that would end his Presidency.
Nixon
1995
6.3The story of a group of friends in turn of the century New York, from their early days as street hoods to their rise in the world of organized crime...
Mobsters
1991
5.4Four retired mobsters plan one last crime to save their retirement home.
The Crew
2000
4.7Joe Gower's job is skating through library shelves, fetching books. A police officer/friend of his is chosen to participate in a charity dance performance. Gower agrees to take his place in the show by posing as a police officer. He falls for a female officer in the show and gets into various scrapes with fellow cops and also crooks. And he dances.
Off Beat
1986
5.7Based on the book by Thomas M. Disch and intended as the third film in the series, this sequel was finished and released prior to 'The Brave Little Toaster To The Rescue'. Whilst trying to protect their new "Little Master" the anthropomorphic appliances set off on an epic adventure and make many new friends along the way.
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars
1998
7.1Irrepressible writer-comedian Carl Reiner, who shows no signs of slowing down at 94, tracks down celebrated nonagenarians, and a few others over 100, to show how the twilight years can truly be the happiest and most rewarding. Among those who share their insights into what it takes to be vital and productive in older age are Mel Brooks, Dick Van Dyke, Kirk Douglas, Norman Lear, Betty White and Tony Bennett.
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast
2017
6.7Every story needs a brave and trustworthy guide, and Deli Man's is the effusive and charming Ziggy Gruber, a third-generation delicatessen man - his uncle and great-uncle owned Berger's in the diamond district, and the Woodrow Deli on Long Island. His grandfather owned the famous Rialto Delicatessen on Broadway, and Ziggy was stuffing cabbages atop of a crate when he was eight. Now he is owner and maven (as well as a Yiddish-speaking French trained chef) of one of the country's top delis, Kenny and Ziggy's in Houston – yes, Texas…Shalom y'all. Of course the story of deli isn't Ziggy's alone. Deli Man has visited meccas like the Carnegie, Katz's, 2nd Avenue Deli, Nate ‘n Al, and Canter's, as well as interviewed some of the great connoisseurs of deli, including Jerry Stiller, Alan Dershowitz, Freddie Klein, Dennis Howard, Jay Parker (Ben's Best), Fyvush Finkel, and Larry King.
Deli Man
2015
6.1When God distributed wiseness and foolishness through a newly created world, one of the cherubs accidentally dropped all the foolishness on a tiny village called Chelm. So everyone in the village is very dumb. Recently orphaned boy Aaron and his friendly goat Zlateh live there with Aaron's uncle Shlemiel. When an evil sorcerer and his monster attack the village, Aaron and Zlateh have to defend it themselves.
The Real Shlemiel
1995
5.0Harry Stone always dreamed of making "The Great American Movie." Instead, he made "The Pickle" - a teenage sci-fi flick about a flying cucumber. Harry just wanted to get out of debt; now everyone he's ever known, loved and neglected is standing in line for tickets.
The Pickle
1993
5.0Tommy Wilhelm is a salesman. An honest, hard-working guy who has lost his job, his girlfriend, and left part of his sanity behind as he heads to New York to pick up the pieces of his life. He's always been able to sell, but caught in a downward spiral, he must, in addition, face the father who never really understood him, while trying to balance his newly precarious existence.
Seize the Day
1986
NRA documentary film about three generations of female Jewish comedians and the complexity and challenges of their relationship to comedy, Judaism, and gender. The film profiles Molly Picon, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, and Wendy Wasserstein, as well as contemporary comedians Judy Gold and Jackie Hoffman.
Making Trouble: Three Generations of Funny Jewish Women
2007
5.3A basketball-savvy teen reluctantly agrees to coach a brilliant but self-centered tech whiz who has lost everything when her startup goes bust and personal life is left in ruins. Discovering that success at her new job depends on becoming a team player in the office and on the company's, up till now, all-male basketball team, she enlists his help in a desperate attempt to save her job and her future-an experience that ultimately changes both of their lives forever.
Game Day
2019
NRHonorary Mayor of Hollywood, Johnny Grant, leads us through the history of this special holiday in the City of Angels.
Elf: Christmas in Tinseltown
2004
6.8The story of the Jewish holiday Chanukah through the eyes of the Rugrats, who imagine themselves as the main characters. Meanwhile, Grandpa Boris and his long-time rival, Shlomo, feud over who will play the lead in the local synagogue's Chanukah play.
A Rugrats Chanukah
1996
NRA young film student finds creative inspiration in her grandfather's stories about the Hasidic movement, its history, beliefs, and impact on Jewish culture.
The Other Men in Black
2013