6 Degrees (no Bacon): Jewish celebrity roundup

Baron Cohen’s ‘deadly’ prank 

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (6NoBacon)—Sacha Baron Cohen killed when he took the stage at the BAFTA Los Angeles Jaguar Britannia Awards Saturday night. Literally, he killed. An elderly woman.

 At least that’s what everyone there thought for a minute.

 The Jewish comic actor was being presented the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy by Grace Cullington, an 87-year-old in a wheelchair billed as Charlie Chaplin’s oldest living co-star.

 Cullington bestowed upon Baron Cohen a cane she said belonged to Chaplin. Baron Cohen then proceeded to use the cane as a prop in an impromptu Chaplin impersonation. All very sweet until the cane broke, causing him to fall... into the wheelchair. Cullington was thrown off the stage and, supposedly, to her death.

“Grace Collington is the oldest, sorry, was the oldest... I dedicate my award to her,” he said of his victim, according to Deadline. “It’s obviously a tragedy, but on the bright side, what a great way to go. She’ll probably make the Oscars in Memoriam section.

Baron Cohen added, “Anyway tonight is not about her, it’s about me.”

It was, of course, a prank. The lowdown on “Cullington” from the Los Angeles Times: “The senior citizen was actually a stuntwoman, and the only Cullington from the silent era was Margaret Cullington, who had a small part in Chaplin’s ‘A Dog’s Life.’ She died in 1925.”

We’re not sure what’s more impressive, Baron Cohen’s envelope-pushing shenanigans or a senior citizen stuntwoman.

Miley Cyrus to play Israel

Bust out the foam fingers, Israel! Yep, Miley Cyrus is coming to town.

The large-tongued singer who got the term twerking into the Oxford Dictionary will perform in the Holy Land this summer, Israel’s Channel 2 reports. The details are still thin, but it looks like the show will be slated for June in a venue to be determined.

While the performance is expected to be on a smaller scale than Rihanna’s recent performance, we have a feeling Miley won’t let RiRi outdo her on the controversy front. And who knows, she might just meet a nice (older) Jewish guy.

Rabin’s granddaughter bringing show to U.S.

Noa Rothman, the granddaughter of the late Yitzhak Rabin, just signed a deal to produce an American version of her Israeli show “The Prime Minister’s Children,” The Times of Israel reports.

 The series, which Rothman co-wrote, “focused on the public and private lives of a fictional Israeli prime minister, his wife and his two adolescent children,”according to The Times of Israel. “The U.S. version will follow a similar model but instead peer into the private rooms of the White House, making the audience privy to the inner workings of an American president.”

Sounds good. And if it follows in the footsteps of fellow Israeli imports “In Treatment” and “Homeland,” it likely will be.

Thanksgivukkah episodes we want to see

Thanksgivukkah isn’t happening for another couple of weeks, but already it has bestowed upon us many gifts, including a great recipe for roasted Brussels sprouts with pastrami and pickled red onion, a rapping turkey and a “Colbert Report” bit so funny the host himself lost it.

We have something else on our wish list for this holiday season, though, that only the network gods can deliver. We’re talking about the opportunity to watch our favorite TV characters engage in some ridiculous and hilarious holiday hijinks. That’s right, bring on the Thanksgivukkah episodes, TV-making people! We are ready.

Our best hope for some Latkey Day representation is probably on the “The New Girl,” “The Big Bang Theory” and—well, sadly—that’s really it.

Which is why our imaginations have run wild with dreams of what could have been if these two celebrations collided more than once every 70,000-odd years.

1. “Friends”: We’re thinking it would have been called “The One with the Menurkey.”

2. “The Goldbergs”: C’mon, can’t they just fudge it and pretend Thanskgivukkah was an ’80s phenomenon? They’ve been pretty loose with period accuracy as it is.

3. “Seinfeld”: How can one even begin to process a Festivus-Thansgivukkah mash-up? There are just far too many comedic possibilities to handle. This is clearly a job for the folks over at Modern Seinfeld.

4. “Curb Your Enthusiasm”: Perhaps Larry might ask the owner of the Palestinian chicken restaurant to cater his holiday feast?

5. “The O.C.”:  A shining moment surely for known Chrismukkah enthusiast Seth Cohen.

6. “Will & Grace”: A better merger than Thanskgiving and Hanukkah? The merger of the sitcom’s classic “Moveable Feast” episode and Thanksgivukkah.

7. “Arrested Development”: A celebration during George Sr.’s rabbi phase would have been pretty great.

8. “Sex and the City”: It’s all you, Charlotte York Goldenblatt! Unless, of course, the ladies would rather just skip the whole thing and do brunch. Or cocktails.

9. “The Nanny”: Thanksgivukkah gets the Queens treatment.

10. “Entourage”: Thanksgivukkah gets the Queens treatment, but this time at the Gold’s lair, where the boys come to celebrate. Vince hooks up with Ari’s barely legal niece, Turtle lights a joint off the menorah, Drama recounts the time he auditioned for the role of a Maccabee and Eric does nothing interesting.

Paula Abdul bat mitzvah off the Western Wall

Paula Abdul canceled her much-hyped bat mitzvah at the Western Wall, opting instead for a low-key ceremony in the town of Safed, The Times of Israel reports.

Per Israel’s Tourism Ministry, which hosted the former “American Idol” and “The X Factor” judge, the switch was due to jet lag. But the officiating rabbi, Eyal Riess of the Tzfat Kabbalah Center, claims it was to avoid the media.

Either way, the deed is done. Mazel tov!

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