The singer and actor, who was president of ZOA’s California chapter, died on May 21 at the age of 95.
By: Menachem Wecker – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org
Some 15 or 20 years ago, Mort Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, saw a man who looked a lot like entertainer Ed Ames at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington.
“He was tall. He stood out among everyone,” Klein told JNS. “I knew it wasn’t Ed Ames, because he was at an AIPAC conference. Ed Ames wouldn’t be at an AIPAC conference. He’s not a Jew!”
Klein asked the 6-foot-3 man if anyone had ever told him he looked like the singer and actor. “He said, ‘Sir. I am Ed Ames,’” Klein told JNS. “I said, ‘I bet you tell that to everybody. I can’t believe you’re Ed Ames. What are you doing here at an AIPAC conference?’”
Ames said “I’m a Jew and a Zionist,” Klein recalled. “I said, ‘You’re Jewish? Ed Ames is Jewish?’ I didn’t know.”
cont’d…