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16 Mar, 2025
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Uncle Floyd, Kirsten Dunst, Isley Brothers, Brooke Shields among N.J. Hall of Fame nominees
@Source: nj.com
From Kirsten Dunst to Uncle Floyd, The Isley Brothers, Brooke Shields and Bon Jovi, stars of stage and screen are vying for places in the latest class of the New Jersey Hall of Fame. The hall opened its public vote Saturday, asking people to pick their top two choices in six different categories of 10 nominees each. This year, the New Jersey Hall of Fame nominated 12 women and at least 50 men, including two groups/families. The public vote (see below) and other factors — including living nominees' ability to participate in an induction ceremony — determine who is chosen for the hall. The New Jersey Hall of Fame’s first permanent physical home, the New Jersey Hall of Fame Entertainment and Learning Center, opened in June at the American Dream megamall in East Rutherford. While previous induction ceremonies were in-person events with an audience, celebrity appearances for the 2024 ceremony, which welcomed Meryl Streep, Paul Rudd, Kevin Smith and more to the hall, were privately pre-taped at the center. Here’s a rundown of the performing arts and entertainment nominees for 2025. Kirsten Dunst Dunst, who grew up in Brick and Point Pleasant (see our 2019 interview with Dunst) before moving to California as a child, rose to fame as a child actor in ’90s movies like “Interview with the Vampire” and “Little Women” and is known for films like “The Virgin Suicides,” “Bring it On,” “Mary Antoinette,” “The Beguiled” and the “Spider-Man” movies. In 2011, she won best actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in “Melancholia.” In 2022, Dunst, now 42, received her first Oscar nomination for “The Power of the Dog.” Her most recent film performance was her starring role as a photojournalist in the 2024 film “Civil War.” Her TV credits include “Fargo” and “On Becoming a God in Central Florida.” Uncle Floyd “Uncle” Floyd Vivino, a truly Jersey talent, was born in Paterson and grew up in multiple towns, including Glen Rock, where he attended high school. The local TV star rose to fame with his “Uncle Floyd Show.” The show featured Vivino’s piano stylings, celebrity guests and musical performances as well as a cast of sidekicks (puppet and human), and had everyone in the New York-New Jersey area, including David Bowie and John Lennon, tuning in starting in the 1970s. The Isley Brothers While the soul and R&B stars have roots in Cincinnati, they are also closely associated with Englewood and Teaneck. The Isley Brothers started their label, T-Neck Records, in 1964. The current members of the group are Ronald Isley and Ernie Isley. Past members were Marvin Isley, Vernon Isley, Rudolph Isley, O’Kelly Isley Jr. and Chris Jasper. Their 1969 hit song “It’s Your Thing” won a Grammy in 1970, while their songs “Shout” (1959) and “Twist and Shout” (1961) were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and 2010, respectively. The Isley Brothers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Brooke Shields Shields, a model and actor, grew up in Haworth and attended Dwight-Englewood School and Princeton University. She has been in the spotlight since she was a baby in ads for Ivory Soap. As a teen, she was dubbed “the look” of the ’80s. When she was 12, Shields starred in the controversial Louis Malle film “Pretty Baby” (1978), going on to lead the movies “Blue Lagoon” (1980) and “Endless Love” (1981). From 1996 to 2000, Shields, now 59, starred in the NBC sitcom “Suddenly Susan.” She is the current president of the Actors' Equity Association, the union for stage actors and stage managers. James L. Brooks Brooks was born in Brooklyn and grew up in North Bergen. The director, writer and producer, an alum of Weehawken High School, co-created the Emmy-winning TV series “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Taxi” and is the founder of Gracie Films, the production company behind the long-running, Emmy-winning animated series “The Simpsons.” He’s won three Oscars — best director, best picture and best adapted screenplay for “Terms of Endearment” (1983). He was also nominated for “As Good as it Gets” (1997), “Jerry Maguire” (1996) and “Broadcast News” (1987). His producer credits include “Big” (1988) and the 2023 New Jersey-set film “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” based on the beloved Judy Blume book. Marilyn McCoo Singer, TV host and actor Marilyn McCoo was born in Jersey City before growing up in Columbus, Georgia and Los Angeles. McCoo, 81, was the lead singer of the pop and soul group The 5th Dimension, who won Grammys for record of the year, song of the year and more for the 1967 song “Up, Up and Away.” The group’s 1969 song medley "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," from the 1967 musical “Hair,” hit No. 1 and won the Grammy for record of the year. The Fifth Dimension’s other big songs included a 1969 cover of Laura Nyro’s “Wedding Bell Blues” and “One Less Bell to Answer” (1970). McCoo also hosted the music TV show “Solid Gold” in the 1980s. She was nominated for another Grammy for her 1991 solo album “The Me Nobody Knows.” Celeste Holm Holm, a New York native, lived in Washington Township, Morris County. The actor won an Oscar for her performance in “Gentleman’s Agreement” (1947). She was also nominated for Academy Awards for her roles in “Come to the Stable” (1949) and “All About Eve” (1950). In 1943, she became the first actor to play Ado Annie in the musical “Oklahoma!” on Broadway. Holm, who made her Broadway debut in “Gloriana” in 1938, also enjoyed a long career in TV and kept working in film until shortly before her death in 2012, at 95. David Bryan The Bon Jovi keyboardist, singer and songwriter was born David Bryan Rashbaum in Perth Amboy. He grew up in Edison and became a founding member of Bon Jovi in 1983 after performing with Jon Bon Jovi since they were teens, first in a band called Atlantic City Expressway. Bryan, 63, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Bon Jovi in 2018. He’s also a Tony-winning composer, having written music and lyrics for the musical “Memphis,” which won the awards for best musical, best original score, best orchestrations and more in 2010. Michael Uslan Michael Uslan is “the boy who loved Batman” so much he became the producer of every Batman and Batman-universe film since “Batman” in 1989. The comic book superfan, who lives in Essex County, was born in Jersey City, spent his first years in Bayonne and grew up in Ocean Township. In 1979, he bought the film rights to Batman from DC Comics with his producing partner, Benjamin Melniker. Uslan is also chairman of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, having served on the commission since 1984. Uslan, 73, tells NJ Advance Media that he’s proud to possibly follow “in the Batman footsteps of my Jersey Shore boys Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito and Cesar Romero,” all previous inductees to the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Tito Puente Puente is usually associated with New York. But the New Jersey Hall of Fame tells NJ Advance Media that the Latin music icon, who was 77 when he died in 2000, spent some of his later years living in Teaneck and Totowa. Puente, King of the Timbales, was born to a Puerto Rican family in Spanish Harlem. He embraced music from an early age, and was a working musician by his teens. The Juilliard-trained talent became known for his mambo and Latin jazz compositions. Puente, a six-time Grammy winner, received the Billboard Latin Music Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. After his death, in 2003, Puente was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. How to vote To cast your votes for the New Jersey Hall of Fame and see nominees in five other categories — sports, enterprise, public service, arts and letters, and education, research, engineering and science, visit the hall’s voting page. Thank you for reading. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter/X, @amykup.bsky.social on Bluesky and @kupamy on Instagram and Threads.
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