About Elizabeth Expertise I`m an avid collector of all-things-Peck, and believe that I can field most any question related to his career, co-stars, or personal life.
Expert: Elizabeth Date: 6/17/2003 Subject: Peck's ethnicity
Question Dear Elizabeth: I thought I once read that Gregory Peck was at least partly Jewish. Is this true? Thanks for responding.
Sincerely,
Merl Kimmel
Answer Hi Merl. :)
No, he wasn't Jewish, either by bloodline or religion. But I sure can pinpoint the source of this rumor, it's a question that is asked often. In the forties, he made a wonderful film called "Gentleman's Agreement" in which he portrayed a newsman posing as a Jew to find out first hand what anti-Semitism felt like. At that time in history, it was considered a very controversial topic, and nobody could believe that Gregory Peck would risk his career by participating in such a project (this was, of course, before anyone realized that he would spend his life working for human rights causes). Rumors flew left and right that Gregory Peck must be at least partly Jewish to have taken such a risk on behalf of Jewish people.
Actually, he was, by blood, Irish/English/Scottish and, by religion, Irish Catholic.
Sigh. I had to go back through this entire response and change it to reflect past tense. I don't think I'll ever get used to that. :(
