John KampfeHome, New Jersey Profiles, Rutgers University

This is the second installment of a two-part series discussing Rutgers University’s success in developing future contributors to the entertainment industry. Click here to read Part 1.

The 1980s were a watershed decade for Rutgers University. Several students during that period moved on to prominent careers in the entertainment industry in the years afterwards. They’ve gone on to win Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe awards for their achievements in their respective industries.

Calista Flockhart, a member of the Class of 1988 who grew up in Medford, was a sophomore at Rutgers’ prestigious Mason Gross School of the Arts when she met a fellow Mason Gross student, Parsippany’s Jane Krakowski. They were introduced by Flockhart’s roommate, who was Krakowski’s best friend.

Fast forward about a decade later and Flockhart and Krakowski were starring together in Fox’s Ally McBeal. Flockhart won a Golden Globe Award in 1998 for her portrayal of the title character. She was nominated two additional times for Golden Globes and twice for Primetime Emmys, all for Alley McBeal. Krakowski also was nominated for a Golden Globe for the role of “Elaine Vassal” on the series.

From there they went their separate ways. Krakowski would go on to win a Tony Award in 2003 for her portrayal of “Carla” in the Broadway revival of Nine. She then played “Jenna Maroney/Dusty Springfield” in the long running hit NBC comedy series 30 Rock for which she was nominated for four Primetime Emmys. She garnered yet another Primetime Emmy nomination last year for her portrayal of “Jacqueline White/Jacqueline Voorhees” on the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Flockhart currently can be seen as “Cat Grant” on the CW series Supergirl.

Krakowski wasn’t the only 1980s Mason Gross product to win a Tony Award. Class of 1985 alum Roger Bart took home a Best Actor in a Musical Tony in 1999 for the Broadway revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Bart is member of the Mel Brooks stock company of actors. He has appeared in several Brooks vehicles both on Broadway and in film. Bart was nominated for another Tony in 2001 for Brooks’ hit musical The Producers. You might remember him for his over-the-top portrayal of “Carmen Ghia” in the 2005 film version of the play.

Park Ridge-raised James Gandolfini was an actor of moderate success on the stage and big screen when he landed his signature role as mob boss “Tony Soprano” on the HBO mega-hit The Sopranos in 1999. The show made the 1983 graduate of Rutgers College a superstar and won him a Golden Globe Award as well as three Primetime Emmys. Gandolfini also was nominated multiple more times for each award. He was a proud and visible alumnus of Rutgers. Gandolfini appeared in television commercials promoting the school’s football program in the early 2000s and could be seen frequently on the sidelines of Rutgers football games. Tragically, he died of a heart attack in 2013 while vacationing with his son in Italy.

HBO also was the launching pad for another Rutgers grad’s rise into stardom. Kristin Davis, who graduated from Mason Gross in 1987, starred as “Charlotte York” on the long-running hit Sex and the City. The role gained her Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominations. She previously appeared for one season as “Brooke Armstrong Campbell” on Melrose Place. Davis was so good in playing a bitchy character that viewers apparently hated her to the extent that the show’s producers had to write her out of the series. Davis, whose father was a professor at Rutgers, lived for a time in Highland Park.

Rutgers also has produced two comedians of note who were both born in Newark, BIll Bellamy and Judy Gold.

Gold, who grew up in Clark, has appeared in several stand-up comedy specials on TV. The 1984 Rutgers College alum also has two Daytime Emmy Awards to her credit — in 1998 and 1999 — for her work as a writer and producer for The Rosie O’Donnell Show.

Bellamy, who graduated from Livingston College in 1989, has a long list of acting credits, including Any Given Sunday and The Brothers on the silver screen and in Mr. Box Office on TV. He also co-starred earlier this year as “Sanders” in Kindergarten Cop 2. Bellamy is credited with introducing the phrase “booty call” during an appearance on Def Comedy Jam in 1992.

North Plainfield native John DiMaggio got his start as a stand-up comedian as well but his claim to fame has been as one of the most decorated voice actors in the business. He’s the voice of such characters as “Bender,” the robot on Fox’s cartoon series Futurama, and “Jake the Dog” on Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time. His work has landed him a slew of honors, including a dozen Behind the Voice Actors Awards. DiMaggio attended Mason Gross School of the Arts for a few years in the late 1980s but left before getting his degree to pursue that comedy career. Interestingly DiMaggio got his start in acting in front of the camera with a regular role on the CBS drama Chicago Hope. He also portrayed “Steve Ballmer” in Pirates of Silicon Valley.

DiMaggio wasn’t the only North Plainfield-bred Rutgers student to find success in the world of acting. Molly Price had a long run as “Faith Yokas” on the NBC crime drama Third Watch. Married to real-life New York City Fire Department firefighter Derek Kelly, who made several appearances on the show, Price discussed what it’s like being the wife of one of “New York’s Bravest” in the special Third Watch episode “In Their Own Words” following the terrorist attacks on 9/11. The 1988 Mason Gross graduate also added to the Rutgers flavor of Sex in the City by playing “Carrie Bradshaw’s” (Sarah Jessica Parker) friend “Susan Sharon” for two episodes.

Did you know that the California biker gang drama Sons of Anarchy was the brainchild of a New Jersey native and Rutgers grad? Kurt Sutter, who was born in Rahway and raised in Clark, created the hit FX series and also starred in it as biker boss “Big Otto Delaney.” That led to three Primetime Emmy nominations for the Livingston College Class of 1986 member. Previously he wrote and was an executive producer for another hit FX series, The Shield.

A hard-hitting starting defensive back on the Rutgers football team in the mid-80s found success not on the gridiron but in the world of film. Union City-raised Luis Moro received wide acclaim for his 2004 movie Love and Suicide, the first film to be fully shot on location in Havana, Cuba in 30 years. The 1987 Mason Gross graduate starred in the groundbreaking movie as “Alberto” while also earning co-producer and co-writer credits.

Rutgers alums from the 1980s also made their marks behind the scenes.

Trenton-born William Mastrosimone has achieved great success as a writer for the stage, and big and small screens. Mastrosimone’s play Extremities, considered controversial for its time for its tackling of the subject of rape, was actually first produced at Rutgers before making its way first to Broadway and then to the silver screen with Farrah Fawcett in the lead role. The 1980 Mason Gross graduate won a Golden Globe Award for penning the 1992 miniseries Sinatra. Mastrosimone also was twice nominated for Emmy Awards for The Burning Season and the miniseries In the West.

Screenwriter Robert Pulcini and his wife Shari Berman have collaborated on several films, including American Splendor for which they were nominated for an Oscar. Pulcini, a Cherry Hill native, was a member of the Rutgers University-Camden Class of 1989. His other credits include Cinema Verite (nominated for six Golden Globes) and The Nanny Diaries.

Broadway director Rob Jess Roth scored a Tony nomination in his debut on the “Great White Way,” for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. The 1985 Livingston College graduate grew up in River Edge. Roth also is a noted director of rock concerts for such artists as KISS, Cyndi Lauper, Alice Cooper and Steve Miller.

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