This Delaware 'demon' got around; he once had a home in a Wilmington restaurant

Patricia Talorico, Delaware News Journal
Updated ·3 min read

The tale of the Delaware "demon," recently featured in an installation of our new "Do You Remember?" feature, has an even deeper history in the First State than we thought.

From 1984 to 2004, a towering statue of a fertility god from a 1950s Hollywood movie, that to some resembled a demon, sat off Route 13 across the Smyrna Rest Area. It served as a roadside attraction and helped promote a local travel agency.

When the business moved, the statue stayed in its spot until it was bought by a New Jersey man who transported it to Lumberton, New Jersey. It's no longer there but might now have a home in a backyard in Southampton, New Jersey, which is in the Pine Barrens.

The "demon" of Smyrna statue had a home at Piane Grill in Wilmington, according to this 1970 News Journal article. The Hollywood prop was in several locations in Delaware before moving to New Jersey in 2004.
The "demon" of Smyrna statue had a home at Piane Grill in Wilmington, according to this 1970 News Journal article. The Hollywood prop was in several locations in Delaware before moving to New Jersey in 2004.

The pagan god statue, which has four horns on its head, red glowing eyes and held a headless serpent in one hand, served as a prop in Tarzan movies, had a role in 1955's "The Prodigal" with Lana Turner, and later was used in 1961's science fiction flick "Atlantis, the Lost Continent."

It was believed the statue first came to Newark in the early 1970s and sat off Ogletown Road and often was loaned to use for parties, parades, and other events.

But we just uncovered a Dec. 29, 1970, News Journal photo and clipping from our archives that shows that the statue actually first came to Wilmington.

Various news stories over the years have put the height of the statue at about 11 feet, but the 1970 News Journal clipping said that the Hollywood prop, which was then called "a mythical monster," was 20 feet tall.

A demon pagan statue that was a movie prop from the 1955 biblical epic "The Prodigal" was once a Delaware landmark and sat near the Smyrna Rest Area from 1984 to 2004. It was sold and moved to owner Denney Van Istendal's yard on Route 541 in Lumberton, New Jersey, where it caused some questions in the community. It was moved again in later years.
A demon pagan statue that was a movie prop from the 1955 biblical epic "The Prodigal" was once a Delaware landmark and sat near the Smyrna Rest Area from 1984 to 2004. It was sold and moved to owner Denney Van Istendal's yard on Route 541 in Lumberton, New Jersey, where it caused some questions in the community. It was moved again in later years.

The movie prop was purchased in the spring of 1970 from an MGM studio auction in Hollywood, according to News Journal archives, and then given on Christmas Eve to Robert Piane, a longtime Wilmington restaurateur and caterer. Piane found the statue in front of his home on Sylvanus Drive in Rockwood Hills, a neighborhood in north Wilmington.

The pagan statue at that time was intact and one of its hands still grasped a serpent. The serpent's head was later broken off and stolen when it moved to Newark.

For a time, the statue was parked at Piane's restaurant Piane Grill, which once was located in downtown Wilmington at 913 N. Market St. Having a giant statue in a restaurant isn't that usual. Buddakan in Philadelphia has long been known for the eye-catching 10-foot gold Buddha statue in its dining room.

Piane, who had prepared meals for many visiting politicians through the years in Delaware including Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and Walter Mondale, later changed the name of the restaurant to La Dolce Vita.

The statue was gone from the site when it closed in 1977.

Piane, president of the Delaware Restaurant Association from 1969 to 1970, died in 2018.

"Do you remember?" is an occasional News Journal/Delaware Online feature that looks at the history behind long-gone Delaware buildings, objects, businesses, and places.  

Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2861 and follow her on X (Twitter) @pattytalorico Sign up for her Delaware Eats newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Hollywood 'demon' statue's first home in Delaware was restaurant