Editor’s note: A version of this story was originally published in 2016. It has been updated by Nicolette Cavallaro.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Being deemed the “forgotten borough” hasn’t stopped Staten Island from have a long list of celebrity visits throughout the years.
From TV and movie stars, to musicians, authors and sports legends, the borough has seen its fair share.
Here are some of the more famous faces that the Advance/SILive.com has captured while the celebrities were on Staten Island.
David Johansen
New York Dolls frontman David Johansen, right, seen at Wave Street in Stapleton in the mid-1980s, is one of the many celebrities to have lived on Staten Island.
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, “Godfather” unit production manager Fred Caruso, and Carl and William Gertz, from left, looked over the movie’s wedding cake while filming on Longfellow Avenue on Emerson Hill in 1972.
Madonna
Madonna used an Advance umbrella to shield herself from the sun while filming her music video, “Papa Don’t Preach,” on Staten Island in May 1986.
O.J. Simpson
Former Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson bowled at the grand opening of the Showplace Entertainment Center in Travis in 1987.
Al Pacino
Actor Al Pacino celebrated his birthday while filming “Donnie Brasco” on the docks of Staten Island Boat Sales in April 1996.
John F. Kennedy
Staten Island commuters reached out to shake John F. Kennedy’s hand during his presidential campaign visit to the St. George Ferry Terminal in October 1960.
Joan Crawford
Actress Joan Crawford and Jim Smith shared drinks and conversation in her stateroom aboard a container ship berthed in Stapleton in this 1970 photo. Smith, who worked for the ship company at the time, was longtime executive director of the Miss Staten Island Scholarship Pageant.
Yogi Berra
Yankee great Yogi Berra autographed a baseball for Nicholas Meola, 9, of Tottlenville, during the March of Dimes Celebrity Golf Outing at LaTourette Golf Course in New Springville.
Richard Nixon
In his successful bid for the presidency in 1968, Richard Nixon made a campaign stop at the Tavern on the Green in New Dorp.
Bobby Darin
Former Advance Memories columnist Mike Azzara with singer Bobby Darin and their friends, Hugo, Jack and Ronnie, on the beach in 1950. In later years, Darin’s hit song “Mack the Knife” was played on jukeboxes at Ocean Breeze establishments like the Towers, Rocky’s, Enquist’s and Dements.
Paul Newman
Paul Newman tasted food for the Newman’s Own and Good Housekeeping Recipe Contest in 1996. The Academy Award winner lived at 30 Daniel Low Terr. in St. George as a struggling actor.
Nelson Rockefeller
Ambrose Coppotelli, Kevin Sheehy, former Gov. Nelson Rockefeller and Jack Demyan visited the former Demyan’s Hofbrau, Stapleton, in the late 1960s.
Rodney Dangerfield and Joe Pesci
Rodney Dangerfield and Joe Pesci filmed a scene from “Easy Money” outside Alfonso’s Bakery, in Castleton Corners, in August 1983.
Gianni Russo
Gianni Russo, Kevin Sheehy and Assemblyman Ed Amann visited the Demyan’s Hofbrau, Stapleton, in early 1972. Russo, an actor/singer who famously played Marlon Brando’s son-in-law in “The Godfather,” is a Rosebank native.
Nancy Reagan
In March 1980, soon-to-be first lady Nancy Reagan sat with Guy Molinari in the former Wah Ting restaurant on Hylan Boulevard in Dongan Hills.
Bobby Thomson
Baseball legend Bobby Thomson signed autographs at Borough Hall on Dec. 6, 1951, just months after hitting a home run to win the National League pennant for the New York Giants. The home run was affectionately called “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” by fans. Thomson was brought to Staten Island at the age of 2 and lived in the borough throughout his major league career.
Roy Campanella and Floyd Patterson
Baseball Hall of Famer Roy Campanella, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ catcher, and Floyd Patterson, the youngest man ever to win the world heavyweight boxing title, chatted with Mount Loretto residents in a photo believed to have been shot in the early to mid-1970s.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis at the wheel of the ferry Pvt. Joseph Merrill with Capt. Joseph Zaccone on July 31, 1976.
George Bush
President George Bush with Congresswoman Susan Molinari at a fundraiser in the Shalimar, New Dorp, in February 1990.
Robert F. Kennedy
Sen. Robert Kennedy visited Staten Island with Congressman John M. Murphy as a guest at the Staten Island Banner Democratic Association on Oct. 3, 1965, in the Tavern on the Green, New Dorp.
Gerald Ford
Joe Sciacca, Gerald Ford and Richard Bolton at a fundraising dinner of the County GOP in the Tavern on the Green in 1971.
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