It's November 17th... Happy Danny DeVito Day!
Danny DeVito’s appearance at the 2018 Asbury Park Music + Film Festival wasn’t just a homecoming — it was an opportunity for the city of Asbury Park to forever celebrate his name.
That’s why today - November 17th, DeVito’s birthday - is officially regarded as Danny DeVito day in the city.
As the New York Times reported in its April 27, 2018 edition, ”So it is perhaps fitting that on Saturday officials will announce at the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival that Mr. DeVito will be the first person in the history of the storied shore town to have his own day. Starting this year, Nov. 17, the day the actor was born, will be known as Danny DeVito Day, and Gov. Philip D. Murphy is expected to issue a statewide proclamation in his honor.”
Danny DeVito (right) with noted rock photographer / director and Asbury Park Music + Film festival board member Danny Clinch
DeVito’s interview with The Times reads like a love letter to his childhood surroundings, with the prolific actor, writer and producer paying fond homage to the region of his youth. “He recalled biking around the beach and the boardwalk in downtown Asbury Park, trampling flowers and riding through backyards, in search of summer flings and cold ocean dips,” the article continued. Area hot dog stands, DeVito said, offered the best opportunities to meet girls.
“It was really ridiculous,” he told the Times. “All these cars, just looking for girls, going around. Every once in a while someone kind enough who was of age would throw a beer in the car.”
DeVito remembered his first date at the now-defunct St. James Theater, while calling the city’s grand movie house, the Mayfair, his ‘Taj Mahal.’
“He never missed a screening at the Paramount,” the Times continued, “sometimes sneaking through a side door in Convention Hall — even if the projector was mounted high in an office, which gave the films a distorted, trapezoidal appearance.”
And so, it’s here - right here, in Asbury Park - where DeVito’s love for the silver screen was born.
On November 17th, 1944, DeVito was born himself — making 2019 his 75th spin around the sun. From everyone at the Asbury Park Music + Film Festival and beyond, we say, “Buon compleanno!”