I told you so. Thats what Sopranos star Vincent Curatola would say to James Gandolfini, one of 12 New Jerseyans past and present to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame tonight. The two men ran into each other a few years ago, after Curatola had been named to the Hall of Fame Board of Commissioners. Curatola told Gandolfini that hed be a contender. Theyd never do that, Gandolfini told him. Jimmy had no ego, says Curatola of the actor, who died last year of a heart attack in Rome. Thats a hard thing to do when youre so celebrated, but Jimmy genuinely had no ego. If you start from that point in life, you can only go up. A handful of Sopranos stars walked the red carpet for the festivities at the Asbury Park Convention Hall tonight, including Tony Sirico, who played Paulie Walnuts Gualtieri, one of Tony Sopranos trusted capo in the benchmark series, Aida Turturro, who played Janice Soprano, Matt Servitto, who played FBI agent Dwight Harris, and Vincent Pastore, who played Sal Big Pussy Bonpensiero. They all spoke of a man so humble that if he were alive to receive the honor, He would have sent me to pick it up, Pastore says, and he would be sitting at the Wonder Bar across the street hanging out. Jimmy didnt like the limelight, Pastore continued. He was an actor. He believed in the camera and doing the work. But off-camera, he was a quietly generous man, particularly in his work with the Wounded Warriors Project. Hes in the Hall of Fame right now with the Lord, Sirico says. His wife, Deborah Lin, is accepting the honor in Gandolfinis stead. Another inductee tonight was former Gov. James Florio, who was once believed to be New Jerseys most unpopular governor. “I was a little apprehensive about having fewer votes than Gov. Livingston, who died in 1790, he said at the ceremony. At the height of his unpopularity, out-of-staters driving here would assume his first name was “Dump, he joked. Things change, he laughed. Inductee Brian Williams, the NBC newscaster, said he couldnt believe it when he heard he would be honored. I was born at 153. I grew up at 163 and now Im a homeowner at 98, he says. My whole life has taken place at some point of the Parkway. The 2014 class includes trailblazing farm-to-table chef Alice Waters, pioneering girl group The Shirelles, basketball great Patrick Ewing, and Howard Katz, the senior vice president of broadcasting and media operations for the NFL. Historical inductees are jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie, writer Dorothy Parker, suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and 19th century labor leader Peter J. McGuire. Maud Dahme, a Holocaust survivor and longtime Holocaust educator, is being honored as an unsung hero. Vicki Hyman may be reached at vhyman@njadvancemedia. Follow her on Twitter @vickihy. Find NJ/Entertainment on Facebook.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:17:23 +0000
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