'Green Book,' Movie About Paramus Man, Wins Best Picture Oscar

PARAMUS, NJ — In a shocking best picture win, "Green Book," which chronicles the life of the late Frank Anthony Vallelonga Sr., aka Tony Lip, a Paramus native, won three Academy Awards at the Oscars Sunday night.

The best picture win was an upset as Netflix's "Roma" was the heavy favorite to win the night's top prize.

"We made this film with love, we made it with respect, and we made it with tenderness," producer Jim Burke said on stage.

Director Peter Farrelly praised Viggo Mortensen, who plays Vallelonga Sr., without whom he said the film would not have been made.

Frank Anthony Vallelonga Jr.'s brother, Nick won an Academy Award for best original screenplay, along with Farrelly and Brian Hayes Currie. The film was also nominated for best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali, which he won, best actor for Mortensen, and best film editing. Mortensen plays Vallelonga Sr., who died in 2013.

Frank Anthony Vallelonga Jr., Nick's brother, owns Tony Lip's Italian Restaurant and Pizza in Franklin Lakes.

"My dad was a larger-than-life-character," Nick Vallelonga told NorthJersey.com. "In the old days, they would have called him a Damon Runyonesque guy. I could make five movies about my father."

Ali won the Academy Award for best supporting actor.

Ali plays Dr. Don Shirley, an African-American concert pianist who is driven around the deep south by Vallelonga Sr. in 1961. It is the second best supporting actor Academy Award for Mahershala. He won his first for his performance in "Moonlight."

Here's one factor into why #GreenBook defeated #Roma in the best picture race at the #Oscars https://t.co/eQY9GUkkkm pic.twitter.com/5cMNMlAibb
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 25, 2019

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com