From Hollywood to Hudson County: Jerry O’Connell revisits family ties to Jersey City
The 'Stand By Me' actor offered a glimpse into his past through a series of social media photos.
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Long before he made his Hollywood debut, actor Jerry O’Connell’s family story was unfolding in Hudson County.
For the “Stand By Me” and “Jerry Maguire” actor, memory lane is in the heart of Jersey City. Over the weekend, the film star took a tour of his old neighborhood, visiting several spots tied to his family history.
“Okay Jersey City! I hear you! Jersey City is gorgeous, diverse, rich in history and architecture and GREAT public transportation,” O’Connell said in a post on Instagram, tagging the Port Authority and several local haunts.
During his childhood tour, O’Connell started at a Loews Theater set to reopen this fall. He visited the NJ Trust Building in Journal Square, where he said his grandfather worked, as well as apartment buildings on Fairview Avenue where his grandparents, aunt and uncle lived. The actor also strolled past Bergen Supermarket, formerly Shelley’s, where his grandmother worked, snapped a picture of Academic High School, where his mother taught, and Bergen School, which his brother attended.
In another photo, O’Connell stopped for a selfie at Lisa’s Hairzone, formerly Broadway Joe’s. That, he joked, is where “Joe the barber told me to keep my head still or my ear would be chopped off.”
In other posts from his Jersey City visit, O’Connell posed in front of a PATH train and the local chocolate shop Lee Sims.
The posts drew hundreds of comments from current and former Jersey City residents, including some other celebrities such as Food Network chef Sunny Anderson, who previously spent time in Hudson County and reminisced about her favorite fried chicken place on Communipaw Avenue.
