Part I : Childhood Tidbits from Brooklyn Raised Celebrities

Photo by Jessie Pearl

Pat Benatar

Pat Benatar was born on Jan. 10, 1953 in Brooklyn as Patricia Mae Andrzejewski. Her father worked with sheet metal, and her mom was a beautician who was trained as an opera vocalist. Her parents never pushed their daughter in a musical direction, but when teachers at Daniel Street Elementary School heard her voice, they had Benatar take voice lessons during gym class, according to Sari Rosenberg of Lifetime. She did her first solo at the age of eight, and of course, there was plenty of time to be a cheerleader, enjoy the beach and got to the movies. Benatar eventually went to Lindenhurst High School, and stood out enough in the musical and theater department, that she gained acceptance to the Juilliard School of Music. Remarkably, the 80s icon declined and pursued a degree in health education at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She lasted a year and married her high school sweetheart, Dennis T. Benatar. He was a soldier, and they moved to Virginia where he was stationed.

Richmond had her making a name for herself as a cabaret singer. The couple then moved back to NYC and taking the stage at Catch A Rising Star Comedy Club proved her big break. The owner saw the talent and signed on as her manager. Benatar continued to do Judy Garland numbers and signed a contract with Chrysalis Records in 1978. The road to rock began when she hooked up with Cleveland rock guitarist and second husband Neil Giraldo.

And she continues to hit us with her best shot.

Marv Albert

Yes, Marv Albert did once play basketball. On the playgrounds of Manhattan Beach, he saw the likes of Connie Hawkins and Billy Cunningham. The big names and talent were mostly found on Court One, where Marv never had the honor. However, Albert had a decent jump shot but needed plenty of screens and couldn’t go to his left.

So obviously not rising any further than the school yard, he listened incessantly to games on the radio. Albert became obsessed with the medium, and his parents bought him his first tape recorder. Still, Marv told blogger Thomas Beller that he was shy and wasn’t the kind of kid who would do a play by play on the school yard. So where does Marv’s signature exclamation come from. An NBA referee named Sid Borgia would occasionally mark a foul and one with, “yes, and it counts!”

Not quite taking the cue at the time, Marv’s friend would always imitate the outburst, and it took a couple of years for the possibility to sink in. Dick Barnett hit a buzzer beater in the playoffs against the Sixers, and Marv let loose for the first time. “Yes.”

The feedback was great, but the moniker didn’t really take off until the Knick’s championship run of 1970. “Now, it's a national thing, you hear it on schoolyards everywhere,” he told Beller.

Woody Allen

Allen Konigsberg grew up at 1215 East Fifteenth Street in Brooklyn and later adopted the name Woody. He had a crush on a girl named Nancy Kreisman and never let his feelings be known. She had a dog named Woody, and adopting the name was the best he could do. Nonetheless, Woody loved sports, movies and jazz. He took the clarinet and Saxophonist Sidney Bechet became his idol. The comedic genius also loved magic and put it to use. Always looking for an edge, Woody got involved in a crooked dice game and took advantage with a set of loaded dice that he purchased at Circle Magic Shop on Fifty-first Street and Broadway.

Mischief aside, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first film Woody saw at age five, and there was a very foretelling take away. He ran up to touch the screen and appears to have decided right then that real life wasn’t nearly as good as what was happening on celluloid, according to David Evanier’s Woody : The Biography.

A scene he would later recreate in the Purple Rose of Cairo. Cecilia walks out of the screen, joins real life and then returns to the film for the better. However his writing career began in high school. He submitted little quips to NYC newspaper columnists like Earl Wilson and soon enough was writing jokes for national entertainers. Since then, the obsessive need to create has not let up for not even a single day.

Please Like My Page on Facebook

Author can be reached at [email protected]