Tribute to Hollywood's Legendary Mayor, Johnny Grant

As we began 2008, we lost one of the most beloved citizens of Hollywood…its legendary cheerleader, ambassador and honorary Mayor, my friend, Johnny Grant. This month, we gather to pay tribute and share our respects and stories of a life exceptionally well-lived. My thoughts are with Johnny this March as his fabled adopted town struggles with ways to do justice to his memory. Personally, Johnny kept me employed for many years. Between his Hollywood Christmas Parade and the Welcome Home Desert Storm Event, he allowed me many times to front one of his productions. He presided over my star on the Walk of Fame as he did hundreds of others. Those ceremonies wouldn’t happen without Johnny.

The smiling eyes behind the glasses loved it all and treated each newcomer to Hollywood as his new buddy. How do you thank a patriot, a star, a humanitarian, a producer, a business leader and best friend to Hollywood? I think we would all agree that the most fitting way is to continue the resurgence of Hollywood which he ushered in and nurtured. To celebrate with as much love as he did; to look at the Hollywood sign with the same awe and gratitude; to work for the town’s image and reputation with as much energy and enthusiasm; in short, to believe in the dream and the magic that the stars of Hollywood represent. It’s often been said, and in Johnny’s case is especially true, anybody can die…it takes courage to live. Johnny really lived…out loud…for 84 years.

Hollywood Remembers Johnny Grant
By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Los Angeles (AP) -- It was fitting that Johnny Grant would be memorialized on Hollywood Boulevard.  After all, Grant had been honorary mayor of Hollywood since 1980.  He also was master of ceremonies at more than 500 Hollywood Walk of Fame star unveilings, traveled with Bob Hope to entertain troops in four wars and saved the Hollywood Christmas parade from extinction more than once.

On Thursday, famous friends and fans of Grant, who died Jan. 9 at age 84, gathered to remember him at the venerable Pantages Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.  The foyer told his life story in scores of photographs of Walk of Fame events, mementos of his numerous trips overseas to entertain soldiers, his awards and other memorabilia.

Angie Dickinson, Connie Stevens, Stefanie Powers, Rhonda Fleming and Mamie Van Doren were among many celebrities who turned out, along with an Army band and a military color guard.

"Johnny put more people in cement than Al Capone," actor Jamie Farr of TV's "M-A-S-H" joked during one of many tributes.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called Grant "a great icon of Los Angeles," and "Hart to Hart" star Powers said, "There just won't be anyone like him ever again."

Dickinson, whose career has ranged from "Rio Bravo" to "Police Woman," called Grant "one of the most interesting men I have known."

Others on hand included Ruta Lee, Nancy Sinatra, Erik Estrada, Leeza Gibbons, Monty Hall, Jim Lange, Gary Owens, A.C. Lyles and Pamela Bach Hasselhoff. Bob Hope's daughter Linda showed up, representing the Hope family.  In the audience were visitors from Grant's hometown Goldsboro, N.C., where he had been a cub reporter on the radio station WGBR.

While in the Army during World War II, he visited Hollywood and decided it would be his future. After his discharge, he landed small roles in movies and began doing radio interviews in the lobby at Ciro's, a nightclub that attracted Hollywood greats in the 1940s and '50s.

He worked for Gene Autry at the Western star's radio station and in 1980 the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce named Grant honorary mayor. He was also chairman of the Walk of Fame, through which he ardently promoted Tinseltown.

To visit the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce CLICK HERE.

To view the full article CLICK HERE.

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