10 Tough Jewish Characters in Movie and Television

June 7, 2012 By 30 Comments

* Walter Sobchak in “The Big Lebowski”: What a character, but an absolute tough Jew who defends the faith.  “Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax—You’re … right I live in the past!”

* Taylor Reese in “Knockaround Guys”: Vin Diesel’s character in the movie has him take off his jacket where he had a huge Star of David tattoo on his arm. He then beat the toughest bully in a neighborhood bar to a bloody pulp.

* David Greene in “School Ties”: Portrayed by Brandon Frasier, Greene is a working class tough kid who wins a football scholarship; handsome, smart and hard-working, he challenges his racist classmates and the school administration.

* Tevye in “Fiddler on The Roof“:  Perhaps the most famous Jewish character in theater or movies, he is indeed a tough man. He manages to keep his family together, knows when to laugh and keeps his faith despite tremendous difficulty.  He stands up to the thugs who disrupt his daughter’s wedding and keeps the faith.

There were some close runner-ups, including Charlton Heston as Moses, and multiple Kirk Douglas characters. The quintessential tough Jew, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, wrote movies and books all his life – and it’s fitting that today there are movies depicting tough Jewish characters.

Chazak Ve-ematz — Be Strong and Have Courage — are words from the Torah. It’s beautiful to see courageous Jews portrayed on screen as they are in real life.

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Ronn Torossian is the President & CEO of New York-based 5WPR/5W Public Relations (www.5wpr.com), a top 25 US PR Agency. He is a finalist for PR Executive of the Year in the 2013 American Business Awards, a past semi-finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year, and was named to the "40 Under 40" List for PR Week & Advertising Age. Ronn Torossian's Amazon best-selling PR book “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations” is available at bookstores nationwide. Residing in Manhattan, Ronn Torossian is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and is an active philanthropist. Connect with Ronn on Google+ and Twitter.

  • oldtimer

    How about BenHur, Moses, and David….

  • JerryJ26

    What about The Hebrew Hammer? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317640/

  • StephenD

    I know of a "Tough Jew" that went on a cross for crimes he didn't commit.

    Some call it the greatest story ever told.

    • mlcblog

      He saved me from utter destruction.

      • johnnywoods

        Me too.

  • kong.ming

    Doug "The Thug" Glatt from Goon.

  • Demetrius M

    StephanD – Good one – 5 thumbs up!
    I enjoyed Ben Kingsley playing Amos in The Assignment.

  • tagalog

    A real Jewish tough guy: Rosie Rosenburg of the 8th Air Force.

    Fictional tough guy: Irwin Shaw's Noah Ackerman in The Young Lions, who stands up to some antisemitic bullies in basic training in the Army who steal money from him by fighting them in fistfights one by one, gets beaten one by one, and finally gets tough enough that he beats the last guy.

    Also in The Young Lions is Captain Green, who is the U.S. officer in charge of the concentration camp that his unit liberates at the end of the war. When a rabbi asks if kaddish can be said for the dead Jewish prisoners, the local townspeoples' leaders protest that it would cause offense; Capt. Green orders machine guns to be set up on the guard towers, turned on the nearby town, and to open fire on the German citizens if there is any fuss. Tough.

    Brooklyn-born West Point grad Col. David "Mickey" Marcus, real AND a movie figure. Cast a Giant Shadow.

    William Holden as the Jewish violin player who becomes a professional boxer in Golden Boy.

    I also got a kick out of the GI Ranger (I think he's the BAR man) in Saving Private Ryan who taunts the German POWs in American hands, calling out to them "Ich bin ein Jude! Ich bin ein Jude!" Also Liebgott in Band of Brothers.

  • sharpsrifle

    I don't believe Thor is Jewish, nor is Captain America…as for the Hulk and Iron Man, who knows? Ben "The Thing" Grimm is EXPLICITLY Jewish, just as a note (and you just have to love when he hollers, "It's clobberin' time!" just before he cleans some villain's clock–and causes massive destruction at the same time).

  • Schlomotion

    I disagree with most of those nominees. These guys are better, I think:

    1) Oliver Reed as Proximo in Gladator.
    2) Dustin Hoffman as Babe in Marathon Man, Lenny Bruce in Lenny, Carl Bernstein in All the President's Men.
    3) Til Schweiger as Hugo Stiglitz in Inglorious Basterds. (Eli Roth plays a loser.)
    4) Gila Almagor as Rachel in Ha-Hov (The original The Debt).
    5) Edward G. Robinson as Dathan in The Ten Commandments.
    6) Peter Strauss as Eleazar ben Yair in Masada.
    7) Eric Bogosian as Barry in Talk Radio.
    8) Howard Stern as himself in Private Parts.
    9) Ian McKellen as Magneto from X Men.
    10) George Arliss as Benjamin Disraeli in Disraeli.

    • tagalog

      Edward G. Robinson as Dathan? A tough Jewish guy? Well, the character is a Jew, so there's that…

      • Schlomotion

        He's tough from the standpoint of the archetype of the court Jew. He's not righteous, but he represents the toughest sycophant, trumped by Moses.

        • tagalog

          The toughest sycophant? Okay, I guess. "I suck up to those more powerful than me in a really tough way!"

    • aspacia

      Oh, please the goy, polytheist as a Jew. What are your smoking??

    • choi

      You are one sick FK

    • Ghostwriter

      I'm amazed you're even here,Schlomotion,considering how much you hate Jews and all. You'd probably have your beloved Palestinians kill these characters simply because they were Jewish.

  • Seth Bullock

    Add Commander Susan Ivanova on Babylon 5
    Sol Star on Deadwood (he had "sand")
    Ari Gold on Entourage
    Hesh on The Sopranos

  • marios

    Golda Meir role in "A Woman called Golda". Golda Meir was tough outstanding, courageous Jewish woman with principals. The most of Israel PM's are not up to her level. Ingrid Bergman's is one of the best role.
    However there were so many outstanding, prominent, tough heroes in Jewish history but leftists Hollywood prefer avoid this subject. … though anti-Semites blame them anyway that they "occupied" Hollywood. Such an irony.

  • Supreme_Galooty

    Sandy Koufax. If they haven't made a movie about him, they should. True gentleness is strength. The warrior's hands are the hands of the healer. It is not necessary to act like a tough guy in order to be tough. A lot of gentle tough guys out there. I know.

  • Fred

    How about Sammy Franco. Great martial arts guy. Look at his bio and photo with Jewish Star on his arm.
    http://www.sammyfranco.com/sammy.html

  • Stuart Parsons

    The tough Jew who died on a Cross did not actually die on the Cross. According to Moshe Allah in His best selling ‘The Holy Quran’, ‘they (the Jews) only thought they had killed him’.

    • johnnywoods

      The "tough Jew" who died on the cross did actually die and then resurrected still bearing the nail prints in HIS hands and feet . One day soon we will all get to see HIM with those scars and some of us will rejoice and others will tremble in terror. Maranatha!

    • stern

      The bracketed (the Jews) makes me wonder about your motivation. Unless I have been totally misinformed, wasn't it the Romans who nailed him?

  • Mercilis

    Rick in Casablanca, he was a tough Jew from NY. Read As Time Goes By for an explanation as to who he is.

  • suz

    Ziva David on NCIS, for sure.

  • SCREW SOCIALISM

    What about the real Mossad?

    They ensure that those who shed Jewish blood are punished.

    • stern

      Well, they used to. Unfortunately, they're reined in by a politically government these days. But still, love your nomination.

  • Mercilis

    What about Lepke Buchalter and Abe "Kid Twist" Reles (Peter Falk) in Murder, Inc. Benny Siegel in Bugsy, Noodles (deNiro) in Once Upon a Time In Americaand Dutch Schultz,

  • blackdog52

    My favorite is Robert Shaw's Major Kabokov, the sage, war weary Israeli commando who thwarts a terrorist attack on the superbowl in "Black Sunday" (1977).

  • ygalg

    why mixing fictional characters with real actual people who substantiate true heroism? this sort of gesture discredit the meaning the article meant to deliver.