Dame Esther Rantzen has criticised Maureen Lipman's views on 'Jewface' casting, calling it 'sad' that Dame Lipman objects to Dame Helen Mirren playing former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in an upcoming film.
In a letter to the Times newspaper, Rantzen wrote: “Omid Djalili, who is a Baha’i, delighted audiences in Fiddler on the Roof as Tevye, whose Judaism is intrinsic to his character and the plot, Sir Ben Kingsley is a Quaker who was nominated for a Bafta for his role as the Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern in Schindler’s List.
"And Lipman herself triumphed as Joyce Grenfell, even though Lipman is Jewish and Grenfell was a Christian Scientist.
“The crucial criterion is that they all created authentic characters rather than racial caricatures.”
