Stacy Conradt
The Quick 10: 10 People Who Beat the Jersey Shore Stereotype
by Stacy Conradt - July 29, 2010 - 4:35 PM

q10

I hear Jersey Shore starts again tonight. I’ve never seen it and I have a feeling it would just make me mad (other shows that fall under this category: any of The Real Housewives shows, Toddlers and Tiaras, I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant). But you’d have to be living in a pop culture cave to not know who Snooki and The Situation are. Many Jerseyans are mad that this group has been chosen to represent their state and I can’t say I blame them. After all, there are plenty of totally respectable people from the Garden State too. Here are 10 of them.

1. Buzz Aldrin. Born in Glen Ridge, Buzz graduated from Montclair High School. Tom Cruise also spent several years in Glen Ridge and graduated from high school there.
2. Count Basie. Basie was born in Red Bank. Also hailing from there? Sebastian Bach. Maybe the two cancel each other out.
3. Abbott AND Costello. Bud Abbott was born in town Springsteen made famous – Asbury Park. His parents worked for Barnum and Bailey Circus, so it’s only natural that he ended showbiz. Lou Costello was born about 60 miles away in Paterson, but the two didn’t meet until they were both working at the Eltinge Burlesque Theater in NYC.
4. Thomas Edison. But you already knew that the Wizard of Menlo Park took up residence in, well, Menlo Park. He ended up moving to West Orange in 1886 and died there in 1931. He’s buried there too, in case you’re interested in visiting. Menlo Park was renamed Edison, N.J., in 1954. Let’s see Snooki achieve that!
5. Alfred Kinsey. Hoboken isn’t just home to Frank Sinatra, although he’s probably the most famous resident of the town. Kinsey was born there and went to school at Columbia High School.
6. Philip Roth. The Portnoy’s Complaint author was from Newark – as are many of his characters. If you ever want to know more about Mr. Roth’s Jersey upbringing, just pick up some of his books – they have a lot of autobiographical elements to them.
7. Meryl Streep. She was born in Summit, N.J., but grew up in Bernardsville. Hey, she should get together with the next person on our list and have a Jersey Shore premiere party…
8. Jack Nicholson. He grew up in Neptune City and went to nearby Manasquan High School. And unlike a lot of other celebs, Nicholson actually attends his high school reunions! In 2004, he showed up to his 50-year reunion with his aunt Lorraine. Another fun tidbit he was friends with Danny Devito, who also grew up in Neptune City. They had relatives who ran a hair salon together.
9. Carl Sagan. Carl wasn’t born in New Jersey, but he grew up there and graduated from Rahway High School.
10. Samuel Alito. Supreme Court Justice Alito hails from Hamilton Township, N.J., and stayed a Jersey Boy when he went to Princeton, graduating in 1972. Up until his Supreme Court appointment, he continued to live in New Jersey – West Caldwell, to be exact.

Any other famous Jerseyans (Jerseyites? I’ve seen it both ways) you’d like to claim? And how do you feel about Jersey Shore?

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Comments (33)

  1. Quit tracking mud through my cave, dammit!

    posted by anomdebus on 7-29-2010 at 4:41 pm

  2. Quick joke guaranteed to p!ss off Jerseyians:

    Why are New Yorkers always in such a bad mood?

    They know that the light at the end of the tunnel leads to New Jersey!

    posted by Pete on 7-29-2010 at 4:42 pm

  3. Both Derek Jeter and Shaq are from Jersey, too (I think?!?)

    posted by jamie on 7-29-2010 at 4:50 pm

  4. Alfred Steiglitz and Alan Alda. Oh, and the Jonas Brothers.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_New_Jersey

    posted by Jack on 7-29-2010 at 5:02 pm

  5. Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News -

    born in Ridgewood, New Jersey; moved to Elmira, New York for ten years, before moving to Middletown, New Jersey

    posted by Amy on 7-29-2010 at 5:02 pm

  6. Not born there, (obviously) but Einstein was a Jersey resident during his time at Princeton.

    posted by Bert on 7-29-2010 at 5:08 pm

  7. Who’s Snooki?

    posted by Mark on 7-29-2010 at 5:13 pm

  8. What’s The Situation?

    posted by PartiallyDeflected on 7-29-2010 at 5:25 pm

  9. “But you’d have to be living in a pop culture cave to not know who Snooki and The Situation are”

    I was happy in my cave. *crawls back in*

    posted by Bakedpotatoes on 7-29-2010 at 5:28 pm

  10. Kevin Smith

    posted by Steve on 7-29-2010 at 6:34 pm

  11. Glenn Danzig, Bruce Springsteen

    posted by DFF on 7-29-2010 at 6:46 pm

  12. Bruce Springsteen, hello? (Or is that too obvious?)

    posted by Steve from San Diego on 7-29-2010 at 7:06 pm

  13. Wow- didn’t realize Bud Abbott ENDED showbiz! I thought reality shows did that.

    posted by Bill Siderski on 7-29-2010 at 8:09 pm

  14. Only one of them is actually from NJ. They’re mostly New Yorkers.

    posted by Kris on 7-29-2010 at 9:13 pm

  15. Anne Hathaway, Queen Latifah, Jon Bon Jovi, Zach Braff, Danny DiVito, Kirsten Dunst, Lauryn Hill, Jane Krakowski, Laura Prepon.

    posted by Michelle on 7-29-2010 at 10:21 pm

  16. Jon Stewart, king of news

    posted by Dan on 7-29-2010 at 10:58 pm

  17. http://www.njhalloffame.org/

    posted by UBO on 7-29-2010 at 10:58 pm

  18. My cave is warm and cozy, and from what I hear, I don’t want to leave it.

    posted by KerriD on 7-30-2010 at 12:44 am

  19. Edison was born in Milan, Ohio.

    posted by Megan on 7-30-2010 at 2:25 am

  20. Zach Braff, Lauryn Hill, Andrew Shue, Elisabeth Shue, and Roy Scheider all went to the same high school in maplewood.

    posted by Mark on 7-30-2010 at 5:11 am

  21. Grover Cleveland, James Gandolfini, Zak Wylde, Whitney Houston, Jason Voorhes. Most of the Jerssey Shore are from New York.

    posted by Jeff on 7-30-2010 at 8:03 am

  22. Jeter is from Michigan

    posted by Helder on 7-30-2010 at 8:35 am

  23. My bad, he was born in Jersey, but raised in Michigan.

    posted by Helder on 7-30-2010 at 8:36 am

  24. Jason Alexander

    posted by justin on 7-30-2010 at 9:46 am

  25. The (Young) Rascals!

    posted by Henry on 7-30-2010 at 10:32 am

  26. Rick Nelson was born in Teaneck, as well.

    posted by Sara in Al on 7-30-2010 at 10:55 am

  27. I just dont understand why trash from NJ has been given their own show…

    posted by Jaime on 7-30-2010 at 11:43 am

  28. Martha Stewart is from Nutley

    posted by slcstace on 7-30-2010 at 12:07 pm

  29. Thanks for mentioning Hoboken. Eli Manning and Artie Lange also live here but they are not from Hoboken. Joe Pantoliano, of Goonies and Sopranos fame, is a true Hobokenite. I am born (in Hackensack) and raised (in Hoboken) in New Jersey and proud of it. Like you, I can’t watch these types of shows. I rely on The Soup with Joel McHale to keep me up to speed on them.

    @Jaime – please understand that, like other people have mentioned, most of the cast is from New York. Only one of the girls is actually from New Jersey, and it’s not Snookie.

    The most irritating part of that show (and that’s saying something) is that people assume that the cast is from New Jersey and that’s what all of New Jersey is like. New Jersey is one of the most diverse states in the country if not the most diverse. I live in Hoboken, which is home to many Italian immigrants. I have a lot of Italian friends and most are kids or grandkids of immigrants. Most are the exact opposite of the people on this show. Cake Boss, a reality show on TLC, is based in Hoboken, but even that’s portraying a stereotype at times for the sake of ratings.

    Don’t let a “reality” show on MTV (target audience = teenage girls) influence your thoughts on New Jersey. I hope they do a Jersey Shore cast reunion special in 25 years to see how they all turned out. I’m sure all that tanning will be regretted. The tanning thing is actually pretty serious. So many people, especially young women, are overdoing it with tanning, partly due to this show’s popularity. I’ll never understand why people thing having a ridiculously dark tan is attractive. There are serious health consequences that no one seems to think about.

    I’d like to claim one more New Jerseyan, even though he is not technically real: The Toxic Avenger – the first superhero from New Jersey.

    posted by Hobokenite on 7-30-2010 at 1:58 pm

  30. Typo in my previous comment. It should read: “I’ll never understand why people THINK having a ridiculously dark tan is attractive.”

    posted by Hobokenite on 7-30-2010 at 2:05 pm

  31. I see someone already commented about Thomas Edison being born in Ohio. He spent some of his childhood in Michigan as well. Kind of easy to beat a stereo-type if you’re not born and raised in the state that has the stereo-type. I’m not really sure why he even appears on the list.

    posted by Melissa J. on 7-30-2010 at 2:44 pm

  32. Tim Howard. Born in North Brunswick.

    posted by Donald H. on 7-31-2010 at 8:08 pm

  33. BON JOVI!!!!

    duh.

    posted by CArter on 8-6-2010 at 5:07 pm

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