Dorothy H. Rochmis; Editor, Critic

Dorothy H. Rochmis, Los Angeles area film critic for Jewish publications. Rochmis, adamant that her colleagues in the news media never be told her age, was active in the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and earned the Film Critic of the Year Award from the Greater Los Angeles Press Club in 1963. She published her reviews in the California Jewish Voice, the Los Angeles Jewish Community Bulletin, the Jewish Journal and the Heritage Southwest Jewish Press. She also was an editor with the West Coast Review of Books, Israel Today, ShowBiz West and Law Enforcement News. Rochmis, a scholar on the history of the Holocaust, also was prominent in the Jewish cultural community. She translated Yiddish literature, particularly the material of poet Sholem Aleichem, for actor Nehemiah Persoff for his one-man play about Aleichem, “the Yiddish Mark Twain.” Rochmis also wrote a whimsical glossary for the book “The Encyclopedia of Jewish Humor” by Henry D. Spalding, and sent charming letters to The Times Food section about traditional Passover fare. On Friday in Los Angeles.