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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/35439/full/35439/rich-tv-producer-to-keep-his-millions-all-in-the-family/ <br /><br /> <b>Rich TV producer to keep his millions ‘All in the Family’</b> <br /> Friday, August 1, 2008 | by <br /><br /><p>The man who can claim some credit for having Sammy Davis Jr. kiss Archie Bunker on television is going to leave most of his fortune to Jewish causes.<br /><br /> Michael “Mickey” Ross, a former producer of and writer for the iconic American sitcoms “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons” and “Three’s Company,” in recent months has given some $14 million to create Jewish studies programs at UCLA and the City College of New York.<br /><br /> Ross gave $4 million to endow a Yiddish chair at UCLA, the university announced earlier this month.<br /><br /> In April, he donated $10 million to City College, from where he graduated in 1939, to establish the Michael and Irene Ross Center for Jewish Studies and to endow a Yiddish chair there.<br /><br /> And the 89-year-old Ross will leave most of the rest of his fortune to other Jewish- and Yiddish-related causes, according to a longtime friend and legal consultant who spoke with JTA but asked not to be identified.<br /><br /> Ross has no heirs and his wife, Irene, died several years ago.<br /><br /> His friend said Ross intends to “leave more than 90 percent of his assets to Jewish charities.” He said much of the remaining gifts could go to Yiddish projects.<br /><br /> Ross produced the classic 1972 episode of “All in the Family” in which the lovable racist Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O’Connor, finds the briefcase of Sammy Davis Jr., a black and Jewish entertainer who plays himself.<br /><br /> Bunker is excited to have the celebrity in his home, but has trouble keeping his prejudices in check — a fact hammered home by the look on his face as he receives a parting fat one on the cheek from Davis.<br /><br /> Born Isidore Rovinsky, Ross grew up in a Yiddish-speaking home he has said was permeated by “the essence of Yiddishkeit,” according to a news release from City College announcing his gift.<br /><br /> Ross was never particularly religious, the friend said, but “he loves to speak Yiddish.”<br /><br /> According to the friend, Ross is unable to give interviews because of declining health; he has suffered several strokes in recent years. The friend said Ross is still lucid and making his own decisions. — jta</p> <p> </p>

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