[Previous entry: "All Hail The "Boo Hoo Bounce""] [Next entry: "Nonstop To Nowhere"]

01/10/2008: "RIP Johnny Grant"

There are those who say that Hollywood's time has passed; that few features are made there any more and more television comes from Canada than Hollywood; that today's actors just don't understand how to be stars the way they did decades ago. Those people are probably right, but the mystique of Hollywood had lived on - primarily through the efforts of Johnny Grant, the unofficial "mayor" of Hollywood. Now, the town will have go to on without him - Grant passed away yesterday at the age of 84.

A veteran of radio and movies, Grant was best known for his role as the leading promoter of the Hollywood image. A long time producer of the Hollywood Christmas Parade, Grant was familar to many as the Master of Ceremonies for the Hollywood Walk of Fame. From his penthouse in the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel he could look down on the stars - both those in the sidewalk and those occupying the town. Long a supporter of the USO, Grant has only recently returned from an entertainment trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Too often, we see the passing of an individual as the end of an era. Sadly, in this case, it is very much true.