Posted on 12/14/2001 5:35:30 PM PST by wimpycat
Arab-Americans: Making a Difference
by Casey Kasem
There are about 3 million Arab-Americans. As a community, weve been making a difference by demonstration our loyalty, inventiveness, and courage on behalf of the United State for over 100 years.
Among Americas activists who are making a great difference are the founder of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), Candy Lightner, and Americas --- and probably the worlds foremost consumer advocate, Ralph Nader. Back in 1960, Ralph Johns, a key participant in the civil rights movement, encouraged the famous Woolworth sit-in at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Among business leaders is the founder of an international, billion dollar engineering firm, Jacobs Engineering Group, Dr. Joseph Jacobs. A former chemist with dozens of patents became Armand Hammers successor as Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Occidental Petroleum Dr. Ray Irani. The former head of the Federal Aeronautics Authority, Najeeb Halaby, was CEO of Pan-American Airlines. An internationally respected financial expert and economic forecaster is Dr. Ray Jallow. Paul Orfalea founded the worlds biggest international chain of copying service stores, Kinkos, and Waleed and Malik Ali founded MPI, the worlds largest home-video distributor of documentaries.
Entrepreneur Tony Ismail founded the Alamo Flag Company in Dallas and Built it into the largest retailer of flags and related items in the US today. Wood-working furniture maker Sam Malouf, whose quality pieces are in demand, has had many of his creations exhibited in museums.
The Texas lawyer who won the biggest settlement in US history, on behalf of Pennzoil ($10 billion dollars!), is one of this countrys most successful attorneys, Joseph Jamail.
Some of the famous people you may know in the entertainment world are singer-songwriter Paul Anka who was one of Americas first pop teen idols. Ukelele-plucking, falsetto-singing Herbert Khaury became famous as "Tiny Tim." In the world of rock, there was the late, legendary Frank Zappa. On the West Coast, Dick Dale was the King of the Surf Guitar. One of todays superstars is singer-dancer Paula Abdul. The first teenage singer to have her first two singles hit Number One is Tiffany. Speaking of music, two of Americans landmark shows on radio were created by two Arab-Americans, Don Bustany and yours truly - - "American Top 40" and "American Country Countdown." Recently, I added "Caseys Top 40" and "Caseys Countdown."
On Broadway, playwright Fred Saidy wrote two classics, Finians Rainbow and Bloomer Girls. Opera prima donna Rosalind Elias hit the high notes at the Met. For avant-garde "Dancer of the Year" in 1992, The New York Times picked Elie Chaib, a 20 year male Broadway veteran with the Paul Taylor Company.
Turning to television, Lucie Salhany, chair of Fox Broadcasting Co., was the first woman to direct a television network. She now heads the United Paramount (TV) Network.
Among TV directors, two Arab-Americans have each helmed over 300 episodes for the network. Assad Kelada has done numerous pilots for series Like "Family Ties" and episodes of "The Fact of Life," "Whos the Boss?" "WKRP in Cincinnati," etc. After directing Broadway hits like "Sweet Charity," "Mame," and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," John Bowab switched to TV and has directed "Soap," "Benson," "Bosom Buddies," "The Facts of Life," and the last season and a half of the "The Cosby Show."
Did you know that the highest-rated episode in television history was the last episode of "M*A*S*H"? The actor who played the role of not-so-crazy Corporal Klinger for its entire 11-year run was the talented Jamie Farr.
On NBC-TV, "Saturday Night Lives" bandleader for many years was G.E. Smith. His familys Lebanese name, Haddad, means blacksmith.
The best known Arab-American was also the founder of St. Judes Childrens Research Hospital - - the late, great comedian and actor Danny Thomas. His daughter is Emmy Award-winning actress Marlo Thomas, and his son is a television and film producer and multi-Emmy winner for the "The Golden Girls" Tony Thomas.
The leading man who starred in the movie Flashdance was Michael Nouri, more recently seen in TVs "Love and War" sitcom. Actress Amy Yasbeck and actor Tony Shalhoub who currently plays Antonio are both featured in the TV series "Wings." Crusty but soft-hearted Mel in TVs "Alice" was portrayed by the late Vic Tayback. One of the co-stars of the series "Empty Nest" was Kristy McNichol. Khrystyne Haje, who was picked by People magazine as one of the "50 most beautiful people in the US", was the star of TVs "Head of the Class."
Two other fine movie and television actors who also starred in popular TV dramas are James Stacy, who played the title role in "Laramie" and M Michael Ansara, who played Cochise in "Broken Arrow."
Among the many other performers, and award-winning comic actress from San Diego recently scored a hit as a fun-loving nun in the Sister Act films, Kathy Najimy. The head of Carolco Pictures, handling the Rocky, Rambo, and Terminator films, among other, is "billion-dollar producer," Mario Kassar.
The producer who presented the epics the Message: The Story of Islam (a biography of Mohammed) and Lion of the Desert, not to mention all the blockbuster Halloween chillers, is Moustapha Akkad. The co-writer-director of the loony comedy hit Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is Tom Shadyac, who recently directed Eddie Murphy in the remake of the Nutty professor.
Fouad Said was the cinematographer who designed Cinemobile - - the first customized van for filming on locations while working on the TV series "I Spy." One of show businesss legendary talent managers was George "Bullets" Durgom. Who through the years, managed Jackie Gleason, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Marilyn Monroe, to mention a few. Mike Toney played Fat Sally in Martin Scorseses film Casino.
Among Oscar winners: Best Actor for the movie Amadeus- F. Murray Abraham. Winner for Best Screenplay Adopted From Another Medium - - his novel, The Exorcist - - William Peter Blatty. The first woman to receive an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Thelma and Louise - - Callie Khouri.
For Best Song "Last Dance" from Thank God, Its Friday- composer Paul Jabara. Also, set decorator Emil Kuri, nominated for films like Mary Poppins, won the Oscar twice for The Heiress and Disneys 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
In the military world, US Air Force Col. James Jabara became the worlds first jet ace during the Korean War. West Point graduate and 4-star General George Joulwan commands both the US and NATO forces in Europe.
In World War II, Army officers like Maj Gen. Fred Safay fought alongside Gen. Patton, and Brig. Gen. Elias Stevens served on Gen. Eisenhowers staff. In 1994, one of our Navys ships, the destroyer escort USS Naifeh, was named in honor of an Arab-American Navy Lt. Alfred Naifeh of Oklahoma.
In politics, US Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-ME) has retired. A new Arab-American Senator is Michigans Spencer Abraham. New Congressman, Nick Joe Rahall II, and Congresswoman Pat Danner from Missouri. Today, the first Arab American ever appointed to a US Cabinet position is the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala.
One of CNNs political commentators is the former White House Chief of Staff and Governor of New Hampshire, John Sununu. Then theres Americans longest-serving White House chief of protocol, Ambassador Selwa Roosevelt. Her assistant, Thomas A. Nassif, also served as US Ambassador to Morocco. A special Presidential envoy was the late Ambassador Philip Habib. A 50-year veteran with United Press International is the dean of the White House press corps feisty Helen Thomas, whos covered eight Presidents since 1961.
Others who have served in high elective office include former US Senators James Abourezk and James Abdnor, both of South Dakota; former Congressional members Mary Rose Oakar of Ohio, George Kasem of California, Abraham Kazen, Jr. of Texas, and Toby Moffett of Connecticut. Victor Atiyeh was the popular governor of Oregon.
In sports, the Heisman Trophy-winner who threw the "miracle touchdown" pass for Boston College some years back was Doug Flutie, more recently the Canadian Football Leagues Most Valuable Player. Also quarterback Jeff George of the Atlanta Falcons, and Philadelphia Eagles coach Rich Katite who now coaches the NFLs New York Jets. Dont forget former linebacker for the Chicago Bears and an NFL Hall of Famer, Bill George, or former Cleveland Brown Abe Gibran.
The former owner of the Miami Dolphins has a football stadium named after him Joe Robbie. One of the owners of Baseballs St. Louis Cardinals was Fred Saigh. In auto racing, Bobby Rahal won the Indy 500 in 1986 and is the all-time earnings champ among Indy car racers. Major League baseball player Joe Lehoud played with the Boston Red Sox. The founder of the Professional Bowlers Association is Eddie Elias. In the ring, Petey Sarron won the world feather-weight championship in 1936-1937; Zuhair "Steve" Mansour was weightliftings Gran 3-time U.S. National Chess Champion is Seattles Yasser Seirawan.
In the world of fashion, the prestigious CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year Award for 1990 and 1991 went to Arab-American Joseph Abboud. Hes the only designer to win the award tow years in a row. J.M. Haggar of Haggar Slacks manufactures more mens slacks than anyone in the world. In addition, Farah Brothers manufactures mens and womens slacks; and Maloof Brothers manufactured Mod-O-Day womens dresses.
Another inspiring success story was that of writer-lecturer on business and success, Nido Qubein. When he came to the United States as a teenager, he could barely speak English. He went on to become president of the National Speakers Association and the youngest member inducted into the International Speakers Hall of Fame.
In education, Jack Shaheen, Emeritus Professor of Mass Communications at Southern Illinois University, is also a film critic, consultant on the Middle East for CBS, and author of books like the TV Arab. Columbia University professor Edward Said is a will-known literary and social critic, as well as a respected music reviewer whose column appears in The Nation. David Adamany is President of Wayne State University in Detroit. The 1990 Pulitzer Prize for biography (Jackson Pollock: An American Saga) went to the author of three other national bestsellers as well writer-publisher Steven Naifeh of South Carolina.
In science and medicine, one of Americas most famous pioneers is Houston heart surgeon, Dr. Michael DeBakey, who invented the heart pump. Today hes Chancellor of Baylor Universitys College of Medicine. The winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Chemistry is Harvards Dr. Elias Corey. Geologist George A. Doumanis explorations helped prove the theory of continental drift; he has a mountain peak named after him in Antarctica. Another American geologist, Farouk El-Baz, helped plan all the Apollo moon landings and later pioneered the use of space photography to study the Earth. Finally, the courageous astronauts who lost their lives aboard the space shuttle Challenger included several racial and ethnic groups: African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, Anglo-American, Jewish-American and an Arab-American: a school teacher, Christa McAuliffe.
Weve all heard this quote before, "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," a famous quote by an Irish American President, John F. Kennedy. These words, that inspired an entire generation, were first written by, among others, the Arab-American author of the Prophet, Kahlil Gibran, more than 60 years ago.
Quite frankly, I was surprised at seeing Doug Flutie, Sen. George Mitchell, F. Murray Abraham, and the founder of Haggar slacks on this list. F. Murray Abraham (the "F" stands for Fahrid) is an Orthodox Christian, according to a 11/1/98 New York Times article about Arab American actors, and is the son of a Syrian father and Italian-American mother. He's one of my favorite actors.
All of us saw the 'difference' they made on September 11.
Either you're an American or your not an American. People need to drop this hyphenated crap.
Saudi Arabia, for example, had better shape up or they will find themselves akin to the Soviet Union during the cold war--America's #1 enemy.
More Arabs than people in this country!
But thanks for dumping your negative comments on the thread without reading beyond the first few lines, anyway!
I wonder who's older, Casey or Dick Clark?
You're welcome.
I just wanted to post here to "make a difference" so I could join the ranks of others who have "made a difference". :-)
You either know what you stand for or spend your life deciding.
Being an American ought to matter more than where you or, even worse, your ancestors came from.
People who persist in the hyphenated, not entirely American pose, make me sick.
Well, gee, I don't know why don't you ask those who refer to themselves as Italian-Americans, Irish-Americans, African-Americans, German-Americans, Greek-Americans and Polish-Americans? I hope you aren't singling out any one group of hyphenated-Americans over another for doing the same thing.
I think one reason why this list is such a surprise to many people, like myself, is that the Americans of Arab descent, the ones who are 3rd, 4th and 5th generation Americans anyway, is that they don't identify themselves as "Arab-American". They don't all vote one way--they're all over the political spectrum.
I bet you didn't even know that "Haggar" in Haggar slacks was referring to the American of Arab descent who founded the company? I didn't before today. Most hyphenated-Americans want you to know right away where their roots are, even if their family hasn't set foot in their "mother" country in generations. My brother-in-law is Irish--meaning he's really Irish, from Dublin. He gets pissed off when some Bostonian or New Yorker whose family has been here 150 years refers to himself as "Irish", when he's never even seen Ireland.
Contains strong language.
So 4th generation Americans wearing those "Kiss Me, I'm Irish!" T-shirts make you sick, too?
Never-the-less, I think F. Murray Abraham is a great actor. I don't think I ever saw him play a part that he didn't impress me.
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