Silent film organist Dennis "Jay Warren" Wolkowicz honored with street name

An honorary street sign was posted in Chicago's Portage Park last week commemorating silent film organist Jay Warren — real name Dennis Wolkowicz — who died last year.

The sign designating Jay Warren Way on Milwaukee Avenue at Cuyler Avenue was unveiled by Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th) on Thursday of last week. The Portage Theater, which he operated and tried to save, is located at the intersection.

More than 100 community members turned out for the honorary street renaming ceremony and reception afterward, according to the Six Corners Chamber of Commerce.

Wolkowicz died Feb. 24, 2025, at the age of 74. He was a graduate of Gordon Tech High School.

As noted by his widow, Linda Stagner, in an obituary last year, Wolkowicz started out playing the accordion "like all good Polish boys." But he later learned to play the organ, and in the mid-1980s, he gave his first performance on the 17-rank pipe organ at the former Gateway Theater at 5216 W. Lawrence Ave., now home to the Copernicus Center.

Wolkowicz adopted the name "Jay Warren" because some had a hard time pronouncing his last name, Stagner said in the obit story.

Wolkowicz and his business partners also took over the Portage Theater, at 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave., in the mid-2000s, his obit story noted. When the organ pipes were removed from the Copernicus Center, there were plans to move them to the Portage, but this did not work out, the obit said.

The Portage, which dates back to 1920, was sold in 2012.

Wolkowicz was also the founder of the Silent Film Society of Chicago, and performed at theaters, churches, and other sites such as the City News Café at 4018 N. Cicero Ave., where he had been set to play the day he died, his obit said.

Matthew C. Hoffman, who hosts classic film series at the Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge, worked with Wolkowicz for several events. In a blog post after Wolkowicz did last year, Hoffman wrote about Wolkowicz's talent.

"He could've probably played the score to Nosferatu in his sleep he had played it so many times. He never got tired of The Phantom of the Opera, though, which was his favorite, but he admitted to me there were some Chaplin features, like The Kid, that he probably needed a break from. I was impressed with him when I showed the silent epic Wings at the Pickwick. Jay insisted on performing at the matinee and evening performances, and that's not a short film either. I would sometimes kid him that we should show Abel Gance's five-and-a-half hour Napoleon. He always made his performances appear easy because he was never turning pages on a cue sheet. It was all in his head, but nonetheless. he practiced at home before these shows."

The obit also noted Wolkowicz's ties to Six Corners — Milwaukee and Cicero avenues and Irving Park Road — noting that he grew up nearby and lived his whole life in the same house.

Following the ceremony honoring Wolkowicz, a reception for the Silent Film Society of Chicago was held at the Six Corners Chamber of Commerce office.