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The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg

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Wikipedia article






'The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg' is a 1998 documentary film written, directed, and produced by Aviva Kempner about Hank Greenberg, first baseman of the Detroit Tigers, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. A Jewish player who chose not to play on Yom Kippur in 1934 during a heated pennant race, Greenberg had to face a great deal of antisemitism. In 1938 he nearly broke Babe Ruth's 60 home run record by hitting 58 home runs.

Like many players of the era, Greenberg had his career interrupted by military service during World War II. Initially, Greenberg was classified as unfit for service due to flat feet. However, upon re-examination, he was cleared. Before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Congress had released men over age 28. After the attack, Greenberg immediately reenlisted in the United States Army Air Forces.

In 1947, Greenberg, as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates and playing his final season, was one of the few ballplayers to give a warm welcome to Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson, the majors' first black player in many years. Robinson later said, "Class tells. It sticks out all over Mr. Greenberg".

Production



Kempner states that the film took 13 years to make. "It was all about raising money for the rights to the archival and feature footage. That was so expensive that I had to stop and start about 20 times." After its theatrical run, 'The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg' was acquired by Cinemax for its 'Reel Life' series.

Film credits



Produced by

*Aviva Kempner .... producer

*Ari Daniel Pinchot .... associate producer

Directed by

*Aviva Kempner

Written by

*Aviva Kempner

Cast overview



*Reeve Robert Brenner .... Himself interviewee

*Hank Greenberg .... Himself (archive footage)

*Walter Matthau .... Himself interviewee

*Alan M. Dershowitz .... Himself interviewee (as Alan Dershowitz)

*Carl Levin .... Himself interviewee (as Senator Carl Levin)

*Stephen Greenberg .... Himself interviewee

*Joseph Greenberg .... Himself interviewee (as Joe Greenberg)

*Rabbi Max Ticktin .... Himself interviewee

*Bill Mead .... Himself interviewee

*Lou Gehrig .... Himself (archive footage)

*Basil 'Mickey' Briggs .... Himself interviewee

*Don Shapiro .... Himself interviewee

*Bert Gordon .... Himself interviewee

*Joe Falls .... Himself interviewee

*Henry Ford .... Himself (archive footage)

*Fr. Charles Coughlin .... Himself (archive footage)

*Dr. George Barahal .... Himself interviewee

*Ira Berkow .... Himself interviewee

*Harold Allen .... Himself interviewee

*Robert Steinberg .... Himself interviewee

*Charlie Gehringer .... Himself interviewee (also archive footage)

*Herman 'Flea' Clifton .... Himself interviewee

*Billy Rogell .... Himself interviewee

*Birdie Tebbetts .... Himself interviewee (as George 'Birdie' Tebbetts)

*Ernie Harwell .... Himself interviewee

*Elden Auker .... Himself interviewee (as Eldon Auker)

*Dick Schaap .... Himself interviewee

*Goose Goslin .... Himself (archive footage)

*Dizzy Dean .... Himself (archive footage)

*Harvey Frank .... Himself interviewee

*Marilyn Greenberg .... Herself interviewee

*Harriet Colman .... Herself interviewee

*Alva Greenberg .... Herself interviewee

*Mickey Cochrane .... Himself interviewee

*Charlie Grimm .... Himself interviewee (archive footage)

*Michael Moriarty .... Himself interviewee

*Max Lapides .... Himself interviewee

*Gabby Hartnett .... Himself (archive footage)

*Joe Louis .... Himself (archive footage)

*Shirley Povich .... Himself interviewee

*Al Rosen .... Himself (archive footage)

*Rip Collins .... Himself interviewee

*Tommy Bridges .... Himself (archive footage)

*Joe DiMaggio .... Himself (archive footage)

*Jane Briggs Hart .... Herself interviewee

*Harry Eisenstat .... Himself interviewee

*Bob Feller .... Himself interviewee (also archive footage)

*Hoot Robinson .... Himself interviewee

*Rudy York .... Himself (archive footage)

*Hal Newhouser .... Himself interviewee

*Barney McCosky .... Himself interviewee

*Bobo Newsom .... Himself (archive footage) (as 'Buck' Newsom)

*Paul Derringer .... Himself (archive footage)

*Junior Thompson .... Himself (archive footage)

*Bucky Walters .... Himself (archive footage)

*Franklin Delano Roosevelt .... Himself (also radio broadcast) (archive footage)

*Del Baker .... Himself interviewee

*Arn Tellem .... Himself interviewee

*Barney Ross .... Himself (archive footage)

*Caral Gimbel .... Herself interviewee

*Glenn Greenberg .... Himself interviewee

*Sander Levin .... Himself interviewee (as Congressman Sander Levin)

*Walter Briggs, Jr. .... Himself (archive footage) (as Walter 'Spike' Briggs, Jr.)

*Walter Briggs, Sr. .... Himself (archive footage)

*Happy Chandler .... Himself (archive footage)

*Bill Shuster .... Himself (archive footage)

*Steve O'Neill .... Himself (archive footage)

*Paul Richards .... Himself (archive footage)

*Virgil Trucks .... Himself interviewee

*George Kell .... Himself interviewee

*Billy Herman .... Himself (archive footage) (as Billy Hermann)

*Jackie Robinson .... Himself (archive footage)

*Kenesaw M. Landis .... Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

*Connie Mack .... Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

*Maury Povich .... Himself interviewee (uncredited)

*Babe Ruth .... Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Awards



*'2001 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards' "Best Feature Documentary"

*'2001 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards' "Best Documentary" (tied with The 'Filth and the Fury (2000)')

*'2001 Columbus International Film & Video Festival' "Silver Chris Award Religion"

*'2001 Florida Film Critics Circle Awards' "Best Documentary"

*'1998 Hamptons International Film Festival' "Audience Award for Most Popular Documentary (Aviva Kempner) tied with Red, White & Yellow (1998)"

*'2001 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards' "Best Documentary"

*'2000 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards' "Sierra Award for Best Documentary"

*'2000 National Board of Review, USA' "Best Documentary"

*'2001 National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA' "Best Documentary"

*'2000 New York Film Critics Circle Awards' "Best Non-Fiction Film"

*'2001 Peabody Award'

*'1999 Washington Jewish Film Festival' "Audience Award for Documentary (Aviva Kempner)"

Reception



On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "Certified Fresh" award with an aggregate score of 97% based on 63 positive and 2 negative critic reviews. The websites consensus reads: "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg is an affectionate, often very funny portrait of a baseball pioneer."

See also



*'Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story', 2010 documentary film

Further reading



Books

*'[https://books.google.com/books?id=or8LOAAACAAJ The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-by-Position Ranking of Baseball's Chosen Players]', Howard Megdal, Collins, 2009,

*'[https://books.google.com/books?id=irG7GQAACAAJ&dq=Jewish+baseball&hl=en&ei=ySsHTKe5HsP7lwfv0tizDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=18&ved=0CHoQ6AEwEQ The New Big Book of Jewish Baseball: An Illustrated Encyclopedia & Anecdotal History]', Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz, Perseus Distribution Services, 2007,

*[https://books.google.com/books?id=qJEQTaE7JEAC&dq=%22baseball+almanac%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s 'Jews and Baseball: Entering the American mainstream, 1871-1948'], Burton Alan Boxerman, Benita W. Boxerman, McFarland, 2006,

*'[https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZzxydPInwgC&dq=Jewish+Athletic+Hall+of+Fame&source=gbs_navlinks_s The Big Book of Jewish Baseball: An Illustrated Encyclopedia & Anecdotal History]', Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz, SP Books, 2001,

*'[https://books.google.com/books?id=0-BMAAAACAAJ The Jewish Baseball Hall of Fame: a Who's Who of Baseball Stars]', Erwin Lynn, Shapolsky Publishers, 1986,

*'[https://books.google.com/books?id=G2o8AAAACAAJ Jewish Baseball Stars]', Harold Uriel Ribalow, Meir Z. Ribalow, Hippocrene Books, 1984,

Sources



*[http://www.peabody.uga.edu/news/pressrelease.asp?ID=80 Peabody Award]

*

*[https://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Hank-Greenberg/dp/B00005O5L9 Amazon.com editorial review]

References




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