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Carrie Soloway, inspiration for trailblazing trans Jewish protagonist of ‘Transparent,’ dies at 88
(JTA) — Carrie Soloway, a Jewish psychiatrist in Chicago whose late-in-life coming out as a transgender woman formed the basis for her children’s hit Amazon TV series “Transparent,” died Nov. 21 at the age of 88.
Her death was announced this week on social media by Soloway’s children, Joey and Faith, who wrote she passed from natural causes.
“She was very humble in terms of publicity, she wasn’t interested in it,” Joey Soloway, the creator of “Transparent,” wrote in a statement announcing Carrie’s death. “She loved the show and us and the character, but sometimes she wasn’t in the mood to be everyone’s favorite trailblazer.”
“Transparent” followed the lives of the Pfeffermans, a Jewish family in Los Angeles, whose world shifts when the parent they’ve always known as Mort comes out as a transgender woman named Maura.
Since the show’s 2014 premiere, Carrie became a “reluctant icon” to the trans community, in her family’s words. She visited the White House under then-President Barack Obama and became friends with trans elected officials, while “Transparent” blazed a path for modern LGBTQ Jews exploring their identity.
Born in London in 1937, Carrie Soloway and her family survived Nazi bombing raids during World War II. In the 1950s the family settled in Chicago, where Carrie — then living as Harry — pursued a career in psychiatry, also serving for a time as an anesthesiologist at a U.S. Army base in Massachusetts. She was married to Elaine Soloway, an author, for 30 years.
Carrie came out as a woman to her children in 2012, at the age of 70; she did not reject her “deadname” or state her preference to be called by certain pronouns, as others in the trans community typically do. Two years later, “Transparent” debuted on Amazon Prime, inspired both by her life and the reactions of her family to the news, and starring Jewish actor Jeffrey Tambor as Carrie’s stand-in, Maura Pfefferman.
Four seasons of the show were produced, along with a two-hour finale movie. Joey Soloway, the show’s creator, themselves came out as nonbinary over the course of its run — mirroring the journey of one of the fictional Pfefferman children. In 2023, Faith Soloway — who was a writer, producer and occasional actor in the original series — revived the show as a stage musical.
Over the course of its run, “Transparent” was showered with awards and celebrated not only for its treatment of trans narratives, but also for its deeply rooted depiction of Jewish identity and ritual. The show traced the Pfefferman family roots back to Weimar-era Berlin and took them to Israel; a rabbi was a central character, and plotlines centered on Jewish rites of passage.
“‘Transparent’ is the most important show of my Jewish adulthood,” Matt Green, a rabbi at Brooklyn’s Congregation Beth Elohim who is gay, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It was a rare TV show that got right every aspect of the Judaism it was presenting.” He noted a scene at the show’s outset, in which Maura lights the Shabbat candles — “so rich in that candle lighting is so traditionally female.”
The show was not without controversy, particularly over the casting of Tambor, a cisgender man, to play Maura. Following allegations of sexual harassment, Tambor was fired from the show and his character killed off for the finale, a musical that ended with the controversial number “Joyocaust.” The stage musical version, which premiered in Los Angeles in 2023 and whose creators have said they intend for Broadway, recasts the story to more heavily represent trans and non-binary actors.
Carrie Soloway, meanwhile, continued her psychiatry profession and debated coming out of retirement. At the time of her death, she was working on a book about her profession titled “I’m Sorry, but We’re Out Of Time.”
“Rest in power, Moppa,” Faith Soloway wrote on Instagram, using a term of endearment for Carrie the siblings had worked into “Transparent.” “We love you forever.”
The post Carrie Soloway, inspiration for trailblazing trans Jewish protagonist of ‘Transparent,’ dies at 88 appeared first on The Forward.
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Downed Planes Raise New Perils for Trump as Tehran Hunts for Missing US Pilot
Traces of an Iranian missile attack in Tehran’s sky, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 3, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Two US warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, Iranian and US officials said on Friday, with two pilots rescued and a third still missing and being hunted by Tehran’s forces.
The incidents show the risks still faced by US and Israeli aircraft over Iran despite assertions from US President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that their forces had total control of the skies.
The first plane, a two-seat US F-15E jet, was shot down by Iranian fire, officials in both countries said.
The second plane, an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft, was hit by Iranian fire and crashed over Kuwait, with the pilot ejecting, two US officials said.
Two Blackhawk helicopters involved in the search effort for the missing pilot were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, the two US officials told Reuters.
The degree of injuries among the crew of the aircraft remained unclear. The status and whereabouts of the missing F-15E crew member was not publicly known.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing an area near where the pilot’s plane came down in southwestern Iran and the regional governor promised a commendation for anyone who captured or killed “forces of the hostile enemy.”
Iranians, who have been pummeled by American air power for weeks, posted gleeful messages celebrating the plane downings. Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X that the U.S. and Israel’s war had been “downgraded from regime change” to a hunt for their pilots.
Trump has been in the White House receiving updates on the search-and-rescue operation, a senior administration official told Reuters. The Pentagon and US Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NO SIGN OF END TO WAR
The prospect of a US service person being alive and on the run inside Iran raises the stakes for Washington in a conflict with low public support and no sign of an imminent end.
Iran has officially told mediators it is not prepared to meet with US officials in Islamabad in coming days and that efforts to produce a ceasefire, led by Pakistan, have reached a dead end, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The US and Israel opened the campaign with a wave of strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28. The war has killed thousands and threatened lasting damage to the global economy.
So far, 13 US military service members have been killed in the conflict and more than 300 have been wounded, according to the US Central Command.
Iran has rained down drones and missiles on Israel. It has also taken aim at Gulf countries allied to the US, which have so far held back from joining the war directly for fear of further escalation.
In a security alert on Friday, the US embassy in Beirut said Iran and its aligned armed groups may target universities in Lebanon and urged US citizens in the country to leave while commercial flights are still available.
Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the militant group fired at Israel in support of Iran.
TRUMP THREAT TO STRIKE BRIDGES, POWER PLANTS
On Friday, as Trump threatened to hit its bridges and power plants, Iran struck a power and water plant in Kuwait, underlining the vulnerability of Gulf states that rely heavily on desalination plants for drinking water.
On Thursday, Trump posted footage on social media showing dust and smoke billowing up as US strikes hit the newly constructed B1 bridge between Tehran and nearby Karaj, which was due to open this year, and said more attacks would follow.
“Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!” he wrote in a subsequent post.
On Friday, a drone hit a Red Crescent relief warehouse in the Choghadak area of Iran’s southern Bushehr province.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery had been hit by drones. Other attacks were also reported to have been intercepted in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Missile debris landed near the Israeli port of Haifa, site of a major oil refinery.
Oil markets were closed after benchmark U.S. crude prices gained 11% on Thursday following a speech by Trump that offered no clear sign of an imminent end to the war.
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US-Iran: Diplomatic Push Falters as Qatar Steps Back and Pakistan Talks Stall
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani speaks after a meeting with the Lebanese president at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Emilie Madi
i24 News – Diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran appear to have reached an impasse, as key regional mediators pull back and broader talks stall.
According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Qatar has informed US officials that it does not wish to take a central role in mediating between the two sides. Officials familiar with the matter said Doha has made clear it is “not willing” to lead negotiations or act as the primary broker.
At the same time, Pakistan-led efforts to bring Iranian and American officials together have also stalled. Mediators say Tehran has refused to attend proposed meetings in Islamabad, calling Washington’s conditions “unacceptable,” further underscoring the widening gap between the two sides and the growing difficulty of restarting dialogue.
Despite the deadlock, diplomatic channels have not fully closed. Turkey and Egypt are continuing parallel efforts to revive talks, with discussions underway about potential alternative venues, including Doha and Istanbul.
US President Donald Trump downplayed the impact of recent military developments on diplomacy, including the destruction of a US fighter jet during operations in Iran. Speaking in a brief exchange with an NBC News journalist, he said: “No, not at all. It’s war. We are at war.”
He further fueled speculation with a cryptic social media post on Truth Social, writing: “Keep the oil, anyone?” criticising international allies on Friday over rising fuel prices. Trump appeared to mock allies such as the United Kingdom, writing that they should “keep the oil.”
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Report: Iran Retains Significant Missile Capability Despite Weeks of US-Led Strikes
Iranian missiles are displayed in a park in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 31, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – Despite weeks of sustained airstrikes by the United States and its allies, Iran has reportedly managed to retain a substantial portion of its military capabilities, particularly its ballistic missile arsenal.
According to a report by The New York Times citing US intelligence assessments, Tehran has developed methods to mitigate the impact of the strikes, allowing it to preserve and restore key parts of its missile infrastructure.
While the Pentagon has claimed responsibility for striking more than 11,000 targets over five weeks and reducing the rate of Iranian missile fire, intelligence officials now caution that the actual damage may be more limited than initially assessed. Iranian forces are reportedly able to rapidly repair or reactivate missile launchers stored in heavily fortified or underground facilities, sometimes within hours of being hit.
Analysts also point to the widespread use of decoy sites, which may have drawn strikes away from operational assets. Many of the targeted locations are believed to have contained dummy installations, complicating efforts to accurately gauge the degradation of Iran’s ballistic capabilities. Combined with deep underground bunkers and dispersed storage networks, this approach is seen as enabling Tehran to maintain a higher level of readiness than publicly estimated.
US intelligence officials assess that this resilience reflects a deliberate strategy: preserving a credible long-range strike capability as both a deterrent and a bargaining tool in any future negotiations, while ensuring regime survival and continued regional influence.
Despite sustained air dominance claimed by Washington and its allies, Iran’s adaptive tactics continue to complicate battlefield assessments, leaving the true balance of power in the conflict uncertain.