This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Johnny Grant | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | January 9, 2008 84) Hollywood, California, U.S. | (aged
Occupation(s) | Radio personality Television producer |
Years active | 1939–2008 |
Title | 13th Honorary Mayor of Hollywood |
Johnny Grant (May 9, 1923 – January 9, 2008) was an American radio personality and television producer who also served as the honorary mayor of Hollywood, in which capacity he was often present at Hollywood community functions, including the unveiling of new stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. An intersection just north of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue is designated "Johnny Grant Way". [1]
Grant was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina.[ citation needed ] He made his show business debut on the radio in 1939 as a local newscaster there. [2] According to publicity released by the third annual Hollywood Film Festival in 1999: [3]
He received national recognition for his unprecedented coverage of North Carolina's Irby Holmes murder trial. Mr. Grant convinced the judge to allow him to stand in the courtroom doorway and broadcast live periodic reports of the progress in the trial. According to court and station officials, this was the first time that a live microphone had been allowed in a courtroom. The defendant, a part-time preacher, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He asked the judge for permission to preach a final sermon and was refused, but he was allowed to write his sermon and Mr. Grant delivered it on the air.
After World War II, Grant moved to California and appeared as a disc jockey on Los Angeles area radio stations KGIL (1949–50) and KMPC (1951–59). [4] Along with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra, Grant co-hosted the first national telethon ever produced, a fundraiser to help send America's athletes to the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. [3] In the 1950s, he appeared in several films, often portraying uncredited fictional hosts. He played "Ed Harrison", an Ed Sullivan-type TV-show host, in the 1954 film White Christmas , and the Master of Ceremonies in the 1956 film The Girl Can't Help It .[ citation needed ] Grant also won two Emmy Awards. [1] He appears in the documentary Confessions of a Superhero, complaining about people who dress as superheroes seeking tips on Hollywood Boulevard. [5]
Grant was named honorary Mayor of Hollywood in 1980 by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and held the position for the rest of his life. Grant was recommended for the position by the previous mayor of Hollywood, Monty Hall, the host of the hit game show Let's Make a Deal . Grant claimed that his mission in life was bringing the Hollywood story to everyone. He played host to red-carpet arrivals at the Oscars, appeared in bit parts in movies and produced the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade. [6] Grant said of all his accomplishments in Hollywood, he was most proud of three things: the Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood postmark. "We're not supposed to have one because we're not our own city," he said. "But I got it." [7]
Grant arranged for stars from Hollywood to visit wounded veterans of the Vietnam War at places such as San Antonio's Brooke Army Medical Center, including such actors as the late Christopher George. [8] Grant was also a retired major general in the California State Military Reserve, a volunteer backup and support force of the California National Guard. He had been chairman of the Los Angeles City Fire Commission, the Los Angeles County Social Service Commission, and the Burbank, California Police Commission. [3] More recently, he had been a member of the Los Angeles City Cultural Heritage Commission. [1]
For contributions to the television industry, Johnny Grant was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6937 Hollywood Boulevard, and a second one for contributions to the Hollywood community at 6897 Hollywood Boulevard. [9]
Grant was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009. [10]
On January 9, 2008, Grant was not feeling well when he had lunch with Ana Martínez-Holler, a spokeswoman for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Later that afternoon he relayed the same to his business manager, Jim Harper, stating he felt "lousy". Later that evening, Grant was found unconscious in his bed, in a 14th-floor suite he lived in at the Roosevelt Hotel, by an associate. He was the only full-time guest at the hotel.
Paramedics were called, but Grant was eventually pronounced dead after they arrived, apparently of natural causes, at the age of 84. [11]
On January 11, 2008, Grant's sister, Peggy G. Adams of Goldsboro, North Carolina, announced that Johnny did not want a funeral service. Instead, there was a private memorial service held at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, California. Various publications reported that Grant wished for cremation, and for his ashes to be scattered under the Hollywood Sign. [12] The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has not set a timetable to name one or more persons to succeed Grant as mayor. [13] Gary Owens was among those interested in the post, and he claimed that Grant tapped him as his successor. [14] However, Owens died in early 2015. [15]
After his death, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Leron Gubler replaced Grant as the new MC of unveiling new stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Richard Steven Valenzuela, better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens died in a plane crash just eight months after his breakthrough.
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles County, California, mostly within the city of Los Angeles. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures, are located near or in Hollywood.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,765 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California. The stars are monuments to achievement in the entertainment industry, bearing the names of a mix of actors, directors, producers, musicians, theatrical/musical groups, fictional characters, and others.
Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry, nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades, beginning in the early 1930s.
Toluca Lake is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley 12 miles (19 km) northwest of downtown. The name is also given to a private natural lake fed by wells and maintained by neighboring property owners. Prior to the paving of the Los Angeles River in 1938 and L.A. well extraction in the late 19th and 20th century which lowered the water table, Toluca Lake was fed by artesian springs.
Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery is a cemetery at 1831 West Washington Boulevard in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, southwest of Downtown.
Rigdon Osmond Dees III, best known as Rick Dees, is an American entertainer, radio personality, comedian, actor, and voice artist, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown and for the 1976 satirical novelty song "Disco Duck".
Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollywood Hills and its eastern terminus is at Sunset Boulevard in Los Feliz. Hollywood Boulevard is famous for running through the tourist areas in central Hollywood, including attractions such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Ovation Hollywood shopping and entertainment complex.
Norman Lawrence Crosby was an American comedian born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was often referred to as "The Master of Malaprop".
Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso, known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice nominated for the Golden Globe Award in 1952 and 1964 and inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Irene Frances Rich was an American actress who worked in both silent films, talkies, and radio.
The Hollywood Christmas Parade is an annual American parade held on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It follows a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) route along Hollywood Boulevard, then back along Sunset Boulevard, featuring various celebrities.
Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue and Melrose Avenue. The street's intersection with Hollywood Boulevard was once a symbol of Hollywood itself. The famed intersection fell into disrepair during the 1970s but has since been redeveloped, with several high valued projects currently under construction. Three blocks of the Hollywood Walk of Fame lie along this street with names such as John Lennon, Johnny Carson, and Audrey Hepburn. South of Melrose Avenue, Vine turns into Rossmore Avenue, a residential Hancock Park thoroughfare that ends at Wilshire Boulevard.
Alice Beatrice Calhoun was an American silent film actress.
Arthur W. Ferguson, known professionally as Charlie Tuna, was a radio personality and television host based in Los Angeles, California.
Ray Briem was a radio personality who worked in Los Angeles most of his career, most notably at KABC. He was noted for his conservative viewpoints, historical knowledge, polished delivery and love of Big Band music. He was especially capable of debating liberal callers and guests, but his shows were not limited to politics. He interviewed a wide range of celebrities primarily from the golden age of radio, music, movies and television. He worked the overnight shift and received good ratings. Briem consistently drew the highest ratings of any overnight talk show in Southern California, routinely attracting about 15% of the available audience. He worked as a nationally syndicated host for a number of years, a time which he has recalled fondly for the variety and quality of callers.
Bill Welsh was a radio and television announcer.
The mayor of Hollywood was an honorary position in Hollywood appointed by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The office primarily served as the master of ceremonies of the award ceremonies for new plaques on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is administered by the Chamber, along with other community events.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)