Jack Black, well-known for his acting career, has a mother with an equally impressive resume.
Judith Love Cohen, who had a diverse professional background including dancing with the New York Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company and writing children’s books, also worked as an engineer in the space program.
A recent Facebook post highlighted another significant achievement in Love Cohen’s career: her involvement in designing a system that contributed to the safe return of the Apollo 13 astronauts.
According to the post, Love Cohen played a role in creating the Abort-Guidance System, which ultimately rescued the Apollo 13 crew.
The post further shared an intriguing anecdote about the day Jack Black was born.
Love Cohen left work to go to the hospital but brought along a printout of a problem she was working on.
Later that day, she called in the solution to her work problem and also announced the birth of her son, Jack Black.
While some stories circulating online can be too far-fetched to believe, this particular one is genuine.
Neil Siegel, Love Cohen’s son, wrote about his mother’s life and accomplishments after her death in 2016 at the age of 82.
The connection between Love Cohen and Siegel was first detailed by Snopes in April 2025, tracing it back to a Reddit post.
Love Cohen, an electrical engineer with degrees from the University of Southern California, worked for the TRW company on aerospace projects.
Although she contributed to multiple space program systems throughout her career, she regarded her work on the Apollo program as the highlight of her professional journey.
Specifically, Love Cohen played a crucial role in developing the Abort-Guidance System, which played a vital role in safely bringing the Apollo 13 astronauts back to Earth after an oxygen tank exploded onboard the spacecraft.
Siegel’s remembrance emphasizes Love Cohen’s presence at the TRW facility in Redondo Beach when the Apollo 13 astronauts expressed their gratitude for the system.
Siegel’s recollection also includes the story of Jack Black’s birth, with Love Cohen taking a work problem to the hospital and later finding the solution.
He shared a photo from 1959 that was originally intended for publication in Look magazine but never made it to print.
The photo features Love Cohen alongside the Pioneer spacecraft.
In May 2019, almost three years after his mother’s passing, Jack Black posted the same photo on his Instagram account, captioning it with “Miss you mom.”
In conclusion, our research supports the claim that Jack Black’s mother played a significant role in designing a system that contributed to the safe return of the Apollo 13 astronauts.
Her contributions to the Apollo program were outlined in Neil Siegel’s remembrance, which also included the story of her involvement on the day Jack Black was born.
