Johnny Grant

Infobox_journalist
name = Johnny Grant


imagesize =
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1923|5|9
birth_place = Goldsboro, North Carolina
death_date = death date and age|2008|1|9|1923|5|9
death_place = Hollywood, California
credits = (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".cite web |title = Johnny Grant's Bio |url = http://www.johnnygrant.com/johnnygrantbio.html |publisher = JohnnyGrant.com |accessdate = 2008-01-09]

Early life and career

Grant was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina.cite web |url = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004974 |title = "Johnny Grant (I) |publisher = Internet Movie Database |accessdate = 2008-01-10] He made his show business debut on the radio in 1939 as a local newscaster there.fact|date=January 2008 According to publicity released by the third annual Hollywood Film Festival in 1999:

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.cite web |publisher = Internet Entertainment Network |title = 3rd Annual Hollywood Film Festival - Aug. 4-9, 1999 - Johnny Grant, Ceremonial Mayor of Hollywood |url = http://www.hollywoodawards.com/grant |date = 2004-08-04 |accessdate = 2008-01-09]

Grant joined the Army Air Corps during World War II, hosting a daily radio show in New York City for servicemen and women.fact|date=January 2008 During this time, he interviewed many entertainment stars who were in the city.fact|date=January 2008 After his discharge, he stayed in New York, working as a reporter for station WINS. 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.

In the 1950s, Grant 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".

Honorary Mayor of Hollywood

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. He was perhaps best known for having hosted the more than 500 celebrities he inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with stars in the sidewalk.fact|date=January 2008 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.cite web |publisher = Hollywood Chamber of Commerce |title = Hollywood Icons: Hollywood's Honorary Mayor Johnny Grant |url = http://www.hollywoodchamber.net/icons/johnny_grant.asp |date = 2007 |accessdate = 2008-01-09] Grant also won two Emmy Awards.

Accomplishments

Grant served as a U.S.O. ambassador, joining the globe-trotting comedian Bob Hope in taking entertainers to war zones to perform for military personnel, and was the first recipient of the highest honor awarded by the USO, the United Service Organizations.fact|date=January 2008 He 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. More recently, he had been a member of the Los Angeles City Cultural Heritage Commission.

Grant was the only person ever to twice receive an Order of California, the state's highest honor.fact|date=January 2008

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."cite web |publisher = CNN |title = Johnny Grant, honorary Hollywood mayor, dies |url = http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/10/obit.grant.ap/index.html |date = 2008 |accessdate = 2008-01-10]

Death & Final Wishes

On January 9 2008, Grant was said to not have been feeling well when he had lunch that day 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, just before 7:00pm PST by an associate. He was the only full-time guest at the hotel.

Paramedics were called, but Grant was eventually pronounced dead after they had arrived, apparently of natural causes, at the age of 84.cite news |last = |first = |title = Johnny Grant, honorary mayor of Hollywood, dead at 84 |publisher = Daily News |url = http://www.dailynews.com/ci_7924618 |date = 2008-01-09 |accessdate = 2008-01-10]

On January 11 2008, Grant's sister, Peggy G. Adams of Goldsboro, North Carolina, announced that he did not want a funeral service when he died. Instead there was a public memorial service held at a later date. It is also mentioned in various published reports that Grant had wished for cremation and for his ashes to be scattered under the Hollywood Sign.cite news |last = |first = |title = Grant did not want a funeral |publisher = Goldsboro News-Argus |url = http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2008/01/11/grant_did_not_want_a_funeral/index.shtml |date = 2008-01-11 |accessdate = 2008-01-15] . The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has not set a timetable to name one or more persons to succeed Grant as mayor. [ [http://www.tibp.com/cgi-bin/foxweb.dll//wlx/cs/wlxENews?docid=45&cc=HWCA&action=DISPLISTDET Hollywood Chamber of Commerce statement] ] Gary Owens is among those interested in the post, and he claims that Grant tapped him as his successor. [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89161002 "Pin-Up Queen Turns Hollywood Mayor Race Pink"] (NPR, 2008)]

References

External links

* [http://www.johnnygrant.com/ Official website]
*imdb name|id=0004974|name=Johnny Grant