Star-Crossed: A Hollywood Love Story in Three Acts

When Austin (Peregrino) was inducted into the College of Fellows at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, Calif., he described himself as a survivor “from a strange and mythic land called Hollywood.” Austin organizes his life into three parts. In act one, Austin name-drops along his Hollywood road—with an analysis of Judaism in show biz, partially instigated by his Jewish wife. His movie and television days brought him into contact with stars, including Charlie Chaplin, whom he particularly admired. Austin was later blacklisted, having been a member of the Young Communist League during his college days. Despite his later success, Austin wanted something even beyond his career and marriage. Act two tells of his religious conversion and service as a Roman Catholic lay minister, working as a prison chaplain, “touching glass” to say hello to convicts. Act three expresses wisdom: widowed and nearly blind, Austin thinks on the convergence of Judaism and Christianity—not assimilation, not synthesis, not conversion, “but an integrated understanding of the past.” His seasoned thoughts about convergence matter the most. (July)