Do you watch “The Big Bang Theory” on TV? Or perhaps you were a fan of the 1990’s NBC sitcom “Blossom.” If you are, then you’ll know that actress Mayim Hoya Bialik plays Jim Parson’s nerdy, brainy girlfriend on the CBS hit and that she played the title role, Blossom Russo, on the older sitcom.
All women in the community are invited to meet Bialik and hear the inspirational story of her life when The Jewish Community of Louisville’s 2011 Annual Campaign Women’s Philanthropy Division bring her to Louisville for Big Bang Wednesday on May 11. The event will be at 6:45 p.m. at the Water Tower. The cost is $25 per person.
As Community went to press, event chairs Joy Kaplan and Linda Schuster were working with JCL staff to finalize details for the event. So circle the date on your calendar and check the next issue of Community for details.
Bialik was born in San Diego, CA, to first generation Jewish American parents, documentary film makers and teachers. Her acting resume also includes the role of the young Bette Midler in Beaches and guest roles on some of television’s most beloved shows of the 1980’s and 1990’s, such as “MacGuyver,” “Webster,” “Facts of Life” and “Murphy Brown.” In addition, she appeared in Woody Allen’s Don’t Drink the Water in 1994, HBO’s Fat Actress, and the HBO comedy series “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
At the end of “Blossom,” Bialik earned a B.S. from UCLA in 2000 in Neuroscience and Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and went on to the Ph.D. program in Neuroscience, also at UCLA. She completed her doctorate in 2007, for which she examined Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in adolescents with Prader-Willi syndrome.
Bialik was a dedicated student leader at UCLA Hillel, leading and starting a Women’s Rosh Chodesh group, chanting and blowing shofar for High Holiday services, and conducting and writing music for UCLA’s Jewish a cappella group.
Other recent appearances include recurring roles on “Secret Life of the American Teenager” and Fox’s “Till Death.” She also portrayed 1960’s activist Nancy Kurshan in Chicago 8, which was released in 2010.
Bialik is married to a graduate student who she met in calculus at UCLA, gave birth to a son in 2005, and a second son (born at home, largely unassisted) in 2008.
Bialik is a board member and co-founder and chair of Jewish Free Loan Association’s Genesis branch, and is an avid student of all things Jewish. She is devoted to a lifestyle of attachment parenting, homeschooling, natural family living, vegan cooking, and even makes her own shampoo. She currently studies weekly independently and through Partners in Torah. She keeps a traditional Jewish home, cares for her boys with her husband all on their own, and is thrilled to be working again, writing and speaking for a variety of Jewish groups around the United States.
This will be a thank-you event for the women of the community, and will offer those who have not yet had the opportunity to make their commitments to the JCL’s 2011 Campaign to do so.