OUR FAMILY PHOTOS AND EXPERIENCES WITH STEVEN SPIELBERG AND HIS VERY FUNNY MOTHER

Steven Spielberg has no idea who we are. Yet, he was willing to have his photo taken with our daughter when she was a Freshman in Theatre Studies at USC in 2008, a school that rejected his application for admission.

Spielberg also stood with our son, a greeter, at CNN in 2017, when Moss was a graduate student studying Cinema Studies in his school years at NYU, allowing another souvenir photo for our family.

Then, there were the times when our daughter was in college in Los Angeles when we visited and spoke with Spielberg’s mother, Leah Adler, at her restaurant, The Milky Way, and took family photos with her. She was cleverly engaging and downright funny. For example, when we walked into the restaurant, she would question us while appearing to be seriously concerned, “Reservations?" When we sheepishly replied, “No,” she quickly changed demeanor and chuckled, “Ah, come on in,” as she promptly seated us.

Located on Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles, the menu at her kosher dairy restaurant included “different” tasty dishes at very reasonable prices. Followed by laughter was her deadpan response to the reason for the low prices. She chuckled, “I don’t need to raise the prices, so why should I?”

About her famous son, Spielberg’s petite mother quipped, she wakes up saying, “My son, he’s who?”

What started my trip down memory lane was a post a friend replied to after the Golden Globe Awards broadcast on January 12, 2023. He commented on a post on Facebook by Joseph Waks:

“Did you know that during the filming of Schindler’s List, Robin Williams would call Steven Spielberg and do stand-up comedy to comfort the director?

“Spielberg and the late actor had worked together on the 1991 film Hook, where the two became friends. Schindler’s List was released 2 years later in 1993.

“During the 25th anniversary of the Oscar-winning film at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018, Spielberg said he relied on weekly phone calls from Robin Williams to keep his spirits up.

“‘Robin knew what I was going through, and once a week, Robin would call me on schedule and he would do 15 minutes of stand-up on the phone,’” Spielberg said. “‘I would laugh hysterically because I had to release so much.’” Humans of Judaism

That was my entre to respond to my friend Igor’s post:

[By] Sharon Mark Cohen

He should have called his mother. We met her at the restaurant she owned, The Milky Way, on Pico in Los Angeles. She was a riot and so good to speak with!

[By] Sharon Mark Cohen

Igor, two of our children met Steven Spielberg. That is a picture of our younger son with him. Also, we walked past Robin Williams on the red carpet in L. A. Yep!

[By] Igor Lekhtman [to]

Sharon Mark Cohen very cool!

On that Sunday morning in 2008, soon after Rina walked into The Milky Way with a group from college, they were excited to find that Steven Spielberg entered with his family for brunch. The leader of Rina’s group approached him to speak with her group. Spielberg readily agreed to meet with them after his meal.

Spielberg, with a caring, calming energy, gave the group of aspiring actors sage advice. He suggested there are many necessary supporting roles, such as writers, talent agents, managers, and more, and that they shouldn’t limit their prospects. His words were well-taken. After years in the business, Rina moved on to advertising and has not looked back.

Years ago, while in graduate school, my friend Kevin worked at Amblin Productions in L.A. Before meeting Spielberg at a company function, Kevin called me for advice. To calm his nerves, I told him not to worry and that Steven was a nice Jewish boy. Kevin called to tell me I was right. My daughter’s impression so many years later reconfirmed my opinion.

At the grand opening of the movie theatre in our township in 2007, they offered a free viewing of West Side Story. From the minute he saw that production, Moss was catapulted into a life of movies. Then, he met Steven Spielberg, his idol, one-on-one, and today Moss is a creative producer making and editing videos.

As for Spielberg’s mother, Leah Adler, we had memorable conversations with the quick-witted fashionista when we dined at The Milky Way on more than one occasion. I recall our discussion when I told her that before my time, my grandfather was an ice and coal delivery man, and she talked about the burlap aprons the ice man donned. The way to describe an afternoon spent at The Milky Way is spiritual.

While Robin Williams was busy being interviewed and filmed, and we didn’t speak with him when we saw him on the red carpet, we enjoyed seeing his impish smile face to face. Moss said the comedic genius Williams was there promoting World’s Greatest Dad in 2009.

That information from Moss allowed me to track down the negative and have it redeveloped to post here. Somehow, our hard cover photo albums from 2009-10, before iPhones and The Cloud, are missing. A photo of the five of us with Mrs. Adler is somewhere in our files.

As our friend Igor replied, what our family has experienced is “very cool.” Thinking about those "very cool" experiences made me realize that no one will know about such hamische (Yiddish for down-to-earth) experiences without me posting about them and bringing up the conversation. That would be a mistake.

Life is short, so enjoy it and talk about it. Share the good times. Hey, maybe someday Steven Spielberg will know who we are. Meanwhile, we have these photos to remind us of those good times. After seeing The Fabelmans, a semi-autobiographical story about the lives of the Spielbergs, our minor connections were especially memorable.

Adler’s part, played by Michelle Williams, was spot on. It got me thinking about the time at the Milky Way as Adler segued, moving from our table with a twisted smirk, and noted that Steven’s father was coming into the restaurant later that day. With a whisper, a shrug of the shoulders, and an off-beat smile, she added, “With his second wife.”