He talked about the magical relationship his father had with Jimmy Stewart. So he was carrying on the legacy of his legendary director-slash-dad. was president of the largest film studio east of Hollywood, EUE Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, at the time. We dined at a Georgetown staple, Filomena’s Restaurant, an incredibly authentic Italian restaurant complete with a stout female pasta maker dressed in all white chef’s attire hand rolling gnocchi in the picture-window facing the street.įrank, Jr. We struck up a great conversation on Italian American heritage, and he invited me to lunch after his interview. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939).Īs each of these legacies were being interviewed, I found myself sitting with Capra while waiting for his turn to be questioned. was also there, representing his father, the decorated director of the 1930s and 1940s, who was responsible for other iconic films also starring James Stewart including 1934’s “It Happened One Night” (which became the first film to win the “Big Five” Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director), “You Can’t Take It With You” (1938) and “Mr. They were ALL uncles to me,” Deana said.įrank Capra, Jr. “It was nothing to have Jimmy Durante over for dinner, or Sammy Davis, Jr. The captivating panel members shared perspectives on what it was like to have famous fathers and far-from-private lives growing up. At the time, I was managing Lena Prima, daughter of New Orleans’ own trumpeteer-showman, Louis Prima, and Deana Martin, daughter of the “King of Cool,” Dean Martin, who were invited to participate in this panel discussion. for a consortium on “Legacies of Legends”, featuring sons and daughters of some iconic Italian-American figures. And as “It’s A Wonderful Life” turns seventy-five on January 7, I am looking back several years to an incredible lunch I had with Frank Capra, Jr., the son of the film’s famed director, Frank Capra, Sr. “Wizard Of Oz”, “Casablanca”, “Citizen Kane”, “Gone With The Wind”, “The Godfather”, the exclusive list goes on with timeless classic films that have touched the hearts of generations of movie fans around the globe. Ron Onesti: A little “George Bailey” in all of us
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