Hollywood Christmas Parade

The Hollywood Christmas Parade took place every year for 75 years on the weekend after Thanksgiving in the Hollywood community in Los Angeles, California, United States. The parade's 3.5-mile route followed Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard and had many celebrities among its participants. In 2007, the parade was in jeopardy of being cancelled, but the City of Los Angeles has sponsored the parade and renamed it Hollywood's Santa Parade.

History

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce created the Hollywood Christmas Parade in 1928 to boost shopping. Originally called the Santa Claus Lane Parade, the inaugural event featured only Santa Claus and the actress Jeanette Loff.

The parade continued to grow in scale with the help of local businesses and the community. In 1931 Santa Claus rode a truck-pulled float instead of the reindeer-pulled carriage of previous years. American Legion Post 43 marched with a color guard, drum line and bugle corps.

The Parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 due to World War II, but the parade reopened in 1945 with record attendance.

In 1946 Gene Autry rode his horse in the parade and was inspired by the children yelling "Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus," to write the song "Here Comes Santa Claus" along with Oaklely Haldeman.

The parade continued to grow throughout the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, adding floats, animals, bands and celebrities.

In 1978 the parade was renamed to the Hollywood Christmas Parade to attract more celebrities and the parade was broadcast locally on KTLA-TV with the help of Johnny Grant. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who produces the parade, announced they would discontinue airing the parade on KTLA and other Tribune-owned stations due to rising production costs. In March 2007, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decided to end the parade's run due to lack of celebrities and a loss of $100,000 for the 2006 production, which The Associated Press said cost about $1 million to mount.

In 2007, the City of Los Angeles created a new parade to replace the Hollywood Christmas Parade, entitled "Hollywood's Santa Parade". Participating in the new parade became invitation only, and Bob Barker was the Grand Marshall for the parade. KTLA still airs the new parade, but it aired on a tape-delayed basis on December 16, 2007 due to KTLA's 60th Anniversary celebration which occurred on the weekend of the Parade.

Grand Marshals

* 1932 - Joe E. Brown
* 1978 - Bob Hope
* 1979 - Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner
* 1980 - Gene Autry
* 1981 - Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
* 1982 - Ron Howard
* 1983 - George Peppard
* 1984 - Michael Landon
* 1985 - William Shatner
* 1986 - Mickey and Minnie Mouse
* 1987 - Jimmy Stewart
* 1988 - Tony Danza
* 1989 - Sammy Davis Jr.
* 1990 - Arnold Schwarzenegger
* 1991 - Charleton Heston
* 1992 - Rosanne and Tom Arnold
* 1993 - Bob Hope and his wife Delores
* 1994 - Louis Gossett Jr.
* 1995 - Tony Danza
* 1996 - David Hasselhoff
* 1997 - Tom Arnold
* 1998 - Robert Urich
* 1999 - Beau Bridges
* 2000 - Frankie Muniz, Dennis Hopper
* 2001 - Peter Fonda
* 2002 - Mickey Rooney
* 2003 - Johnny Grant
* 2004 - Magic Johnson
* 2005 - Antonio Villaraigosa
* 2006 - George Lopez
* 2007 - Bob Barker
* 195? - Marjorie Main

Resources

* [http://www.hollywoodsantaparade.com/2007/Home.htm Hollywood's Santa Parade]
* [http://www.seeing-stars.com/Meet/HollywoodChristmasParade.shtml Hollywood Christmas Parade (seeing-stars)]
* [http://www.hollywoodchamber.net/speicialevents.shtml Hollywood Christmas Parade (Chamber of Commerce)]
* [http://www.sun-sentinel.com/la-me-then26nov26,0,1090742.story?coll=sfla-home-utility The Sun Sentinal]