By Arlene Hinkemeyer
As part of its 75th anniversary celebration, Valley Stream Central High School will present its Distinguished Alumni Award to actor/director Steve Buscemi, a member of the class of 1975, on Friday, March 4.
A student assembly, to which the community is invited, will take place in Central High's Keller Auditorium from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. Arrangements will be made to allow parking on Fletcher Avenue.
Presentations will be made to Buscemi by the school, the alumni association, the Village of Valley Stream and other elected officials, after which Buscemi will speak to students about his years at Central and his career. Afterward he will answer questions in a smaller group setting with students in the Performing Arts Program.
Buscemi, who grew up in Valley Stream from the age of 8, attended Shaw Avenue Elementary School and Memorial Junior High. His parents, John and Dorothy Buscemi, still live in the community. Buscemi reportedly made his acting debut in fourth grade, as the cowardly lion in Shaw Avenue's production of "The Wizard of Oz."
He didn't pursue acting again until his senior year at Central, when he took Lynne Lappin's acting class and appeared in "Fiddler on the Roof." In the meantime, Buscemi was a varsity wrestler under legendary coach Harold Earl. He also played soccer and was a member of the Varsity Club.
After graduation, he attended Nassau Community College for a time, and then moved into Manhattan to study acting at the famed Lee Strasberg Institute. Buscemi did stand-up comedy, and wrote and performed his own theater pieces in performance spaces and theaters downtown. He supported himself as a firefighter assigned to Engine Company 55 on Broome Street in Manhattan from 1980 to 1985.
In 1986, he was cast in his first leading role, in the movie "Parting Glances," and other roles quickly followed. Now, 30 years after graduation, he has built a reputation as a unique character actor, portraying some of the most unforgettable roles in American cinema, many of them for the Coen Brothers.
A few of his more than 70 film credits include "Mystery Train" (1989, for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination), "Miller's Crossing" (1990), "Billy Bathgate" (1991), "Barton Fink" (1991), "Reservoir Dogs" (1992, for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for best supporting actor), "The Hudsucker Proxy" (1993), "Twenty Bucks" (1993), "Pulp Fiction" (1994), "Billy Madison" (1994), "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead" (1995), "Fargo" (1996), "Con Air" (1997), "The Big Lebowski" (1998), "Armageddon" (2000), "The Wedding Singer" (2000), "Ghost World" (2001, for which he won an Independent Spirit Award and a New York Film Critics Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe for best supporting actor), "Mr. Deeds" (2002) and "Coffee and Cigarettes" (2004).
Buscemi has become a respected writer and director as well. He made his feature film-writing and directorial debut with "Trees Lounge" in 1996, in which he also starred. Part of the film was shot in Valley Stream in the summer of 1995, with a number of Valley Streamers serving as extras. A special screening was held in two theaters at the Green Acres Cinema on Nov. 7, 1996, to benefit the Lynne C. Lappin Theatre Scholarship and the family of close friend and classmate John Urso. The film was dedicated to Lappin.
The prison drama "Animal Factory," in 2000, was Buscemi's second feature directing effort. His third and most recent, "Lonesome Jim" (2004), starring Liv Tyler and Casey Affleck, was screened at the Sundance Film Festival last month.
Buscemi's television credits include directing and acting in the hit HBO series "The Sopranos." During the third season, he was nominated for an Emmy and a Directors Guild of America award for his direction of the "Pine Barrens" episode. In the show's fifth season, Buscemi earned an Emmy nod for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Tony Soprano's cousin.
Buscemi, who lives in Brooklyn, is married to filmmaker Jo Andres. They have a teenage son, Lucian. Buscemi's brothers, Jon, Michael and Kenneth, are also Central High graduates, members of the classes of 1974, 1978 and 1982, respectively.
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