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[Sharon007]

Nice guy? The scoop on Jackson patriarch

Veteran restaurateur Stanley Wozniak -- long used to hosting VIPs from Rat Packers to Harrison Ford to Jon Bon Jovi -- hit it off last week with an unlikely patron at The Joynt nightclub.

The former owner of Jilly's expected Jackson 5 sire Joseph Jackson to "be demanding" during his 80th birthday party at the new River North hot spot. Au contraire.

"I was thrown for a loop," said Wozniak, Frank Sinatra's one-time road manager. "He's the complete opposite of what I've read about him. I expected him to be a pompous ass. He couldn't have been nicer to my staff and everybody." The birthday boy lingered after the bash ended at 11 p.m., moving from a private room to chat with regulars until 1 a.m. at the main bar.

Michael Jackson's pop -- surrounded by relatives, recording execs and hip-hop artists -- held court at the club July 24 under the glare of TV cameras. A crew taped the private bash for the reality show "Meet Joe Jackson," which follows the ex-Gary resident's efforts to reunite (and re-manage) his sons' band.

The series also will chart Jackson's efforts to launch new talents with partner Rick Neville with Chicago-based Chi-Coast Entertainment.

Due to producers' mandates, TV viewers will have to wait until the show airs this fall to learn which Jackson kids joined Dad to sip champagne and nibble Mediterranean tapas at the red-carpet event. According to Wozniak, they also will learn the ex-steelworker -- who, according to some reports, is a mere 79 -- is far from the overbearing taskmaster portrayed by the media.

Jackson won him over by confiding he's never "taken a dime" of his children's earnings, much less pilfered their accounts, Wozniak said. He also displayed his cell phone, with his nine children on speed dial. Michael, Janet, La Toya and so forth each have an assigned ring tone. "He talks to all of his kids on a regular basis, and they have their holidays together at the Encino compound," the club owner said.

Source: The Times Online