Jon Bernthal, Who Plays Tony Soprano’s Father in The Many Saints of Newark, is From MoCo. Jon Bernthal is know for his many roles in television series and movies, such as The Walking Dead, The Punisher, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Accountant, Ford v Ferrari, and more.
He grew up in the Cabin John area and graduated from Sidwell Friends in DC in 1995. He still has family in the area and is spotted hanging out in MoCo all the time.
In the Many St. of Newark, which was released this past Friday, Bernthal plays Johnny Soprano, the father of future fictional crime boss Tony Soprano. The movie is a prequel to the HBO series The Sopranos that ran from 1999-2007. In the film, Tony Soprano is played by Michael Gandolfini, son of the late James Gandolfini.
Below is a photo of Jon Bernthal hanging out at the Lego Store in Montgomery Mall earlier this year.
This young man grew up in the Woodside Forest neighborhood of Silver Spring. He attended Montgomery Hills Junior High with Sylvester Stallone in the late 50s. He then moved on to Blair High School, where he was a year ahead of Goldie Hawn and graduated with journalist, Carl Bernstein (teamed with Bob Woodward to do much of the original reporting on the Watergate Scandal, which led to the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon).
He majored in economics at Columbia University’s Columbia College and graduated with honors before graduating as valedictorian from Yale Law School. After a stint as a lawyer in Connecticut and Washington D.C., he became a college professor at American University, Cal, and Pepperdine. He jumped into politics as a speechwriter and lasers for President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford. Time magazine even speculated that he could be Deep Throat, but it was later revealed to not be the case.
His acting career took off when he portrayed a teacher who spoke in monotone in the 80s hit Comedy, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, with Matthew Broderick. He played a similar monotonous character in for a decade or so in Clear Eyes commercials before landing his own game Show, Win Ben Stein’s Money, on Comedy Central. Though He currently lives in California, he still owns an apartment at Watergate building in Washington D.C. He is Ben Stein.
“Joe Tippett scored on a one-yard run and Jon Genua added the extra point to give No. 8 Damascus a 28-27 victory over No. 13 Annapolis in overtime last night.” – Washington Post, November 13, 1999
Now Joe Tippett has found himself starring in HBO’s Mare or Easttown, one of the most talked about mini-series’ currently on television. Tippett, who graduated from Damascus High School back in 2000, has had many roles on television and on the big screen. You may have seen him on Boardwalk Empire, The Blacklist, Bull, Chicago Justice, Rise, Dirty John, Elementary, and many other popular shows and movies.
A public Facebook post by childhood friend Adam Callaway shares a fond MoCo memory of Tippett prior to the premier of the 2018 NBC series, Rise. “In about 30 minutes, a dude I’ve been fortunate to call a great friend since we were scrappy little Damascus Cougar football teammates, plays Coach Strickland on NBC’s #rise – premiering at 10:00 pm.
Joe Tippett, I knew you were onto big things the moment you deliberately fell down the stairs at Barking Dog in Bethesda only to sell it as real. The reactions and laughter in that place were priceless. Ya sold it like a pro. Proud of the work ethic you have shown honing one hell of a talent! And yeah I admit, you were always the best on air guitar and vocals for How’s It Gonna Be back in the day too.”
In an interview with Playbill, after landing the role of Coach Sam Strickland on the NBC series Rise, Tippett credits MCPS’s Robyn Weinstein Paley with being his mentor. Paley currently leads the Theater Department at Loiederman Middle School for the Performing Arts.
The seven-episode miniseries Mare of Easttown, which stars Kate Winslet as a detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigating a local murder, will likely captivate you early on and lead you on a roller coaster of twists and turns. Tippett has earned rave reviews for his role as John Ross in the miniseries.
Elliot Segal (Elliot in the Morning) to be Inducted Into the Radio Hall of Fame
Elliot Segal, host of Elliot in the Morning on DC101, is going into the Radio Hall of Fame. Elliot in the Morning debuted in 1999 and is broadcasted from the iheartradio studios at 1801 Rockville Pike in Rockville.
Other 2021 Radio Hall of Fame inductees include Dan Patrick and Kim Komando.
Congrats Elliot @EITMonline who will be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame! pic.twitter.com/XIMVQGCEh5
— DC⚡️101 (@DC101) August 24, 2021
About: The Radio Hall Of Fame is a project of the MBC, which is a designated 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The Radio Hall of Fame is supported via the generous donations from broadcasting companies and organizations creating programming for distribution on broadcast and satellite radio as well as radio personalities and radio management.
Sylvester Stallone is one of the first people mentioned when talking celebrities with MoCo ties. The actor/screenwriter/producer/director turned 75 earlier this month! Though he was born in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York, his parents (Frank and Jackie Stallone) moved to the area in early 50s to open a beauty school. The family lived in a home on Seminary Road from 1952-1962. While living there, Sylvester spent some of his attended Woodlin Elementary School, Montgomery Hills Junior High, and was enrolled at Blair High School.
Some have disputed that Stallone ever attended Blair High School while others believe he even graduated from the school. We have been able to confirm that he was briefly a enrolled at Blair, but moved to Philadelphia to attend high school. His family remained in and out of the area, with his dad owning salons in Silver Spring and Darnestown and his uncle running a beauty school in Potomac. His brother Frank Stallone, a singer/actor with a few songs that have charted, still frequents the area.
Whether you know how him as Rocky Balboa, John Rambo, Barney Ross from The Expendables movies, or from any of his other roles in blockbuster movies, Stallone is one of the biggest celebrities in the world. The first photo below comes from one of his childhood yearbooks while he was here in MoCo and the second photo is from his birthday post on Instagram earlier this month.
Happy Birthday, Sly!
Who Am I? MoCo Edition
This young lady in this photo attended E. C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Virginia where she performed in plays in the E. C. Glass High School Theater (her photo is displayed there). She was born Constance Elaine Womack in Boston Massachusetts, but moved to Rockville as a baby and spent the first seven years of her life there.
She now goes by Connie Britton and you might recognize her from her roles in Friday Night Lights, American Horror Story, Nashville, 9-1-1, Dirty John, and a lot more. Britton lived off of Norbeck and Bel Pre.
I was born in Washington DC and grew up in Chillum Heights (Prince George’s County) before moving to MoCo, where I graduated from Northwood High School in 1966. My first notable film roles were in Airplane!, 48 Hours, and Beverly Hills Cop in the early 80s. In 1987, I got a break on television and earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for my role in Wiseguy.
My most popular role has arguable been that of Mike Ehrmantraut, a former police officer turned private investigator, in Breaking Bad. I reprised the role in Better Call Saul and in the sequel film– El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. Who Am I? I’m Jonathan Banks.
We Honor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s 49th Birthday With Some Local Connections
To honor The Rock turning 49 years old, today we remember when MoCo was buzzing two years ago when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was in town for a meeting at the Total Wine headquarters in Bethesda.
The Rock posed with many excited employees and fans before and after his meeting, which was about getting his Teremana Tequila into Total Wine stores this March.
Before he became a WWE Superstar and A-list actor, you could find The Rock on Montgomery County Cable where he wrestled under the name Flex Kavana in Smoky Mountain Wrestling that was featured on the legendary local wrestling television show, Inside the Squared Circle.
The Rock also won the WWF Heavyweight Championship at Capital One Arena 21 years ago this week.
Fun Fact: His character from the movie Skyscraper, Will Sawyer, was from Rockville, MD!
In the featured photo, courtesy of Melissa Gonzalez De Bem (@MelissaDBem on Instagram), you’ll see The Rock posing with employees in the Total Wine headquarters located in Bethesda.
Updated 8/27/21 to include the premiere date of the rebooted series
The Wonder Years Reboot Premieres on September 22nd, Original Had Many MoCo Connections
The Wonder Years had a successful run from 1988-1993. Though the series was set in “Anytown, USA” many elements were pulled from right here in Silver Spring, where series writer/producer Carol Black was raised and graduated from Springbrook High School.
Co-creator Neal Marlens wanted the series to be set in Long Island, so you’ll see protagonist Kevin Arnold wearing a Jets jacket throughout the series, but a town was never mentioned and Black made sure to include as much of her childhood neighborhood as she could.
Now, the series is being rebooted. It will be produced by original star of the series, Fred Savage. The show originally tackled hard-hitting issues like the Vietnam War and the everyday struggles of growing up for teenaged boy in the 70s.
The reboot allows us to experience the same timeframe through the lens of a Black family, this time in Montgomery, Alabama. Executive producer, Lee Daniels, shared the first picture of the stars of the new series on his Instagram.
The show premieres on September 22nd on ABC.
A trailer can be see here:
The reboot will also feature Don Cheadle narrating the series. The original version featured Daniel Stern, who many know as Marv from Home Alone. Stern is also a MoCo native, growing up in Bethesda and attending Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School before leaving a bit early to pursue his acting career.
Original photo courtesy of ABC.
Wale, a 2002 Quince Orchard Graduate, Will Perform at WrestleMania 37
We previously told you about Omos, who attended high school in MoCo, making his debut during Night 1 of WrestleMania this weekend. Now we know that rapper Wale, who was born and raised in Washington D.C. before moving to Montgomery County will be performing Big E’s theme song during Night 2 of the event.
Wale attended Quince Orchard High School and The Mark Twain School, and graduated from Quince Orchard in 2002. He remains tied to the area with his appearances at many local sporting events (Redskins, Wizards, etc.).
WWE announced the following:
Grammy-nominated Nigerian-American rapper and producer Wale, who is featured on Intercontinental Champion Big E’s entrance theme song “Feel The Power,” will perform the entrance for The Powerhouse of Positivity at WrestleMania.
Although performing on The Grandest Stage of Them All is quite an honor, Wale is no stranger to WWE. He also performed The Street Profits out to the ring on NXT in 2019 and his song “My PYT” was an official theme song for SummerSlam in 2016. In addition, Wale hosted a rap battle between The Usos and The New Day on SmackDown in 2017 and his song “Ungrateful & Thankful” was created for WWE’s 2K19 video game soundtrack.
Wale even hosts an annual event called “WaleMania” around WrestleMania, which combines his love of sports-entertainment and hip-hop.
Wale’s performance will be during Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, streaming live as part of a two-night event, beginning at 8 ET/5 PT on Sunday, April 11, exclusively on Peacock in the United States and WWE Network everywhere else.
Featured photo courtesy of WWE
MoCo Wrestler Qualifies For Her 2nd Olympics
Rockville native Helen Maroulis qualified for her 2nd Olympics games this past Saturday night with a victory over Jenna Burkert in Fort Worth, Texas.
Maroulis is the first Olympic gold medal winner for the United States in women’s wrestling and is looking to repeat at this summer’s games in Tokyo.
Maroulis attended Magruder High School for three years before moving to Michigan for her senior year. Video of this Saturday’s win is below.
Kyle Snyder, who also won Olympic gold in wrestling at the 2016 Olympics, qualified for the Tokyo Olympics as well on Saturday with a win over Kollin Moore.
Snyder attended High School at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Olney.
The match and the celebration that follows… 🙌@helen_maroulis x #WrestlingTrials21 pic.twitter.com/o6Hh15Z4RE
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) April 4, 2021
