Day: November 25, 2017

Bruce Springsteen’s childhood home in N.J. is for sale

FREEHOLD, N.J. — Much of Bruce Springsteen’s recent works, including his autobiography, Born to Run and Springsteen on Broadway, are based on his childhood experiences in his hometown of Freehold.

Now, one of his childhood homes is for sale.

The two-family home at 39 Institute St. in Freehold where the Springsteens lived from 1955 to 1962 is for sale for $269,900.

The house has been on the market for two weeks, said agent Barbara Conti of Gloria Nilson and Company Real Estate.

“It’s getting a lot of activity,” said Conti, a Freehold resident. “It’s more investors who are interested because it’s a two-family home.”

The price does not include a “Boss boost,” Conti said, which has been the case with other former Springsteen homes that have recently gone on the market. The former Springsteen bungalow in the West End Court in Long Branch where he wrote “Born to Run” sold for $94,000 last year after it originally went on sale for $299,000.

“I watched that,” Conti said. “They were crazy. This house is priced according ot the condition and what the owners can get when they rent.”

The Springsteen family lived on the left side of house, where an impressionable 7-year-old Bruce Springsteen saw Elvis Presley on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956, a moment that is highlighted in the book Born to Run and the Broadway show. The Boss posed next to a tree at 39 Institute for a photo that appeared in the Born in the U.S.A. tour book.

“People are always looking at the house. They stop and take pictures,” Conti said.

In 1969, Bruce Springsteen moved out of Freehold to Ocean Township and then subsequently to several other Jersey Shore towns en route to rock ‘n’ roll stardom as his parents and youngest sister moved to California.

“I would come back and visit these streets many, many times, rolling through them on sunny fall afternoons, on winter nights and in the deserted after-hours of summer evenings, out for a drive in my car,” Springsteen writes in Born to Run.

“I would roll down Main Street after midnight watching, waiting, for something to change. I would stare into the warmly lit rooms of the homes I passed, wondering which one was mine. Did I have one? I’d drive past the firehouse, the empty courthouse square; past my mom’s now-dark office building; past the abandoned rug mill, down Institute Street to the Nescafe plant and baseball field; past my copper beech tree, still rooted and towering in front of the emptiness that was once my grandparents’ house (on Randolph Street); past the memorial of white crosses for our fallen war heroes at the town’s end; past my dead at the St. Rose of Lima Cemetery — my grandmother, grandfather and aunt Virginia — then out to the pitch-black highways of Monmouth County.”

“This town, my town, would never leave me, and I could never completely leave it, but I would never live in Freehold again.”

Rance Howard, Ron Howard’s father, dies at 89

Rance Howard, father to Han Solo movie director Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard, died on Saturday. He was 89.

Ron announced the news in a statement posted to Twitter. “Clint & I have been blessed to be Rance Howard’s sons,” he tweeted. “Today he passed at 89. He stood especially tall [for] his ability to balance ambition [with] great personal integrity. A depression-era farm boy, his passion for acting changed the course of our family history. We love & miss U Dad.”

Howard enjoyed a Hollywood career that spanned more than six decades. Following his first credited movie role in 1956’s Frontier Woman, he went on to appear in films like 1966’s An Eye for an Eye, 1974’s Chinatown, 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 2001’s A Beautiful Mind, and 2013’s Nebraska.

He also appeared in a number of his son’s films, including Grand Theft Auto (Ron’s feature film directorial debut), Splash, Coccoon, Parenthood, and Apollo 13.

Meanwhile on the small screen, Howard accumulated characters across Seinfeld, Diagnosis Murder, Dallas, Murder, She Wrote, Married with Children, Babylon 5, and Ron’s Happy Days.

Howard was last seen on screen in Broken Memories, a film about a son struggling with his father’s Alzheimer’s. Ron and his daughter, Jurassic World star Bryce Dallas Howard, represented him well at the premiere in Beverly Hills, California earlier this month.

“He has an undying love of the process, which has made him appreciate every day on a film or television set,” Ron said of his dad (via The Hollywood Reporter), who wasn’t able to attend the event. “And he’s never lost the youthful excitement for being a part of a process that tells a story that reaches audiences in different ways and reflects the work of a team of collaborators that share that excitement and that always rubbed off on me, that joy of being lucky enough to be among the storytellers.”

Bryce added, “He’s had a 65-year career where he has never broken out as a movie star. … He’s never made the money that people dream of, and yet he’s carved out this incredibly unique and remarkable and beautiful career of a character actor. He’s an example of that stick-to-it-ness and what that adds up to in a life.”

Howard’s late wife, Judy Howard, passed away earlier this year in January. He is also survived by actress and granddaughter Paige Howard.

Uma Thurman breaks silence on Harvey Weinstein: ‘I’m glad it’s going slowly – You don’t deserve a bullet’

Uma Thurman has finally broken her silence over disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, admitting she’s “glad” the sexual assault scandal surrounding the producer is progressing slowly.

The 47-year-old actress starred in Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, both produced by Harvey’s former business Miramax, and said she was waiting for her anger to subside before she addressed the allegations made against the film executive, who has been accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault and even rape by women in the industry.

But Uma decided to reveal her feelings about the situation in a hard-hitting post on Instagram, as she wished her followers a happy Thanksgiving on Thursday.

Alongside a picture of herself in character as The Bride in Kill Bill, Uma wrote: “I am grateful today, to be alive, for all those I love, and for all those who have the courage to stand up for others. I said I was angry recently, and I have a few reasons, #metoo, in case you couldn’t tell by the look on my face. I feel it’s important to take your time, be fair, be exact, so… Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! (Except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspirators – I’m glad it’s going slowly – You don’t deserve a bullet) -stay tuned Uma Thurman.”

The fact Uma used the #metoo hashtag suggests she may also have been a victim of Weinstein’s misconduct, while fans took the actress’ “stay tuned” remark as a promise that she’ll be going public with her tale in the near future.

Uma was previously approached for a comment about the Weinstein scandal back in October, when she told Access Hollywood: “I don’t have a tidy soundbite for you because I’ve learned I am not a child and I have learned that when I’ve spoken in anger, I usually regret the way I express myself. So I’ve been waiting to feel less angry and when I’m ready, I’ll say what I have to say.”

Uma’s Kill Bill co-star Daryl Hannah is among those accusing Weinstein of sexual misconduct, previously alleging that she had to barricade herself in her hotel room at one point to keep him out.

Weinstein is currently being investigated by police in New York, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and London. He has strongly denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.