Ridgewood NJ, While most of us associated this phrase with Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, it was actually written and used by the most celebrated comedic actor of the late 19th century – Joseph Jefferson., who passed away 112 years ago, on April 23, 1905.
Joe Jefferson was the ‘Rock Star’ of his era. In 1859, he wrote and acted in a theatrical version of Rip Van Winkle. It was such a hit that audiences clamored for him to perform this role, which he willingly did for the next 40 years.
For 14 years, Jefferson lived in the house on Saddle River Rd., at the end of Hollywood Ave. While there, he entertained or met the key figures of his day. Grover Cleveland visited, and they fished in the Saddle River. A founding member of “The Players Club” in New York, he was friends with Edwin Booth, Samuel Clemens and Maurice Barrymore; and he communicated with Helen Keller and Nicole Tesla.
Jefferson’s passion for the theater has served as an inspiration for theatrical groups for more than a century. Locally, Ridgewood’s own troupe of Joe Jefferson Players, performed between 1936 and 1973. Today, Ridgewood High School’s ‘New Players’ (which launched the careers of Ali Stroker and David Turner) honors his memory by presenting two Joe Jefferson Awards each year for Technical Merit and Acting. David Turner (currently on Broadway in “Sunday in the Park with George”) won the award for acting in 1993.
The Schoolhouse Museum’s new exhibit “From the Revolutionary War to the 1960’s Revolution”displays photos and illustrations of Jefferson in the various roles he played; playbills from that era, those of the ‘Joe Jefferson Players’, and those from ‘The New Players’; the actual costume worn by Ali Stroker in the Glee Project; and more.
To see this display as well as other displays highlighting other significant events and people during this time, from wars, to the roaring twenties to the rocking 60’s; as well as histories of prominent Ridgewood area residents, visit the Ridgewood Historical Society’s Schoolhouse Museum, at 650 East Glen Avenue. The museum is open Thursdays and Saturday 1-3pm and Sundays 2-4pm. Please visit www.ridgewoodhistoricalsociety.org for more information.
According to at least a couple of sources, proficient prevaricator Brian Williams was born in Ridgewood. Surely he has some significant (fake news) memorabilia he can contribute to the museum’s exhibit.
Alec Baldwin: When asked for a report on his own life, he describes his early years as a ‘Grindingly middle class upbringing.’
Brian Williams: I did not know vegetables came fresh. I thought they were frozen bricks in the field. Salad was 1/8 of a head of iceberg lettuce sliced with a steak knife with a spoonful dollop of mayonnaise on the top. My mother’s goulash was one can Spaghettios and ¼ pound ground beef. We had Spam. We had what everybody else had.
Alec Baldwin: You grew up in New Jersey, right? Was it Ridgewood, New Jersey?
Brian Williams: Born in Ridgewood, New Jersey. We moved for the first eight or nine years of my life to Elmira, New York, and then most of my life was spent in Middletown, New Jersey, on the Jersey shore.