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OFF THE STREETS
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HOLLYWOOD'S WALK OF FAME
Would you like trash piling up on your wife's star?
By ANDY MURCIA
of TheColumnists.com
Ann Jillian fans intent on visiting Hollywood often ask me if my wife ever got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I feel compelled to answer them in detail. I also must admit that I get a bit tired of answering that question over and over again. I thought if I write this column I can refer all future inquiries to it. I also hope to be informative about the Walk of Fame.
Back in the 1980's and 1990’s when Ann was well known for being an award winning actress, singer and dancer, I asked her if she would like a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I had met the guy who deals them out and he liked Ann a lot. I always felt confident that he wanted her to have one providing we requested it correctly.
Much to my surprise, Ann, good-naturedly said, “no, thank you.”
I didn't get it at first. I mean, isn’t getting a star her industry’s stamp of approval, a sign that she’s made it? And isn’t it the public's way of acknowledging that she’s a star?
Ann told me it was not her union, the Screen Actors Guild, who gave them out, nor did the public have any way of voting anyone a star. She was right. It was exclusively the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce that issued them.
I pushed on and asked if she wanted one no matter who gave them out. Again Ann sweetly responded, “No, thanks.”
I asked her why. Ann explained that, ever since she first started acting as a young girl, having her name on a dirty sidewalk in a dangerous area of Hollywood never appealed to her. She viewed it strictly as a tourist attraction, which it surely is to this day. The fact that she admired and respected so many of the names attached to those stars had no bearing on her decision.
Going to auditions and acting jobs in Hollywood with her mother holding her hand, Ann walked by a lot of these bronze stars. She would often find them littered with rubbish and usually would stop to push it away from those famous names. It made her kind of sad. She didn’t like seeing names that she admired treated in such a manner. Many were soiled with all the crud one usually sees on a street in a high crime part of town.
I thought about what she said and soon decided I agreed with her. Over the last 25 years I’ve seen drunks and drug addicts puke, urinate and bleed on those stars. Hookers, pimps, and crack-heads often stand over those star names while they're getting busted by the cops. I’d surely get pinched myself if I saw some bum disrespecting a star with Ann's name on it.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame was conceived back in 1958. I believe the first to get one was the fine actress Joanne Woodward on Feb. 9, 1960. Today there are over 2,000 stars with names on miles of Hollywood sidewalks, often right beside gang “taggings” on nearby walls.
Most names well deserve some honor of this kind, though some other names are hardly known to the general public. There are also lots of names missing that would more than qualify to be recognized. For instance I could not find a star for my favorite childhood movie stars: Francis, the talking mule, and TV's talking horse, “Mr. Ed.” There are also many human actors, singers and radio personalities whose names are missing from the Walk of Fame.
Two of my favorites have stars on the Walk:
“Lassie” and “Rin Tin Tin.” Both their stars
were fairly well maintained considering all the other dogs passing
by who could not resist lifting a leg on them.
So, how does one get a star? It’s a process whereby a person
must be nominated and then the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
folks decide if the person deserves a star or not. It’s
not clear to me who exactly does the nominating. They also tell
you that it’s based upon certain factors such as “professional
achievement, career longevity, community contributions and a
promise that the recipient will attend the dedication ceremony.
That last requirement is waived if the star is dead, but posthumous
dedications require a five-year waiting period.
Another factor: The star has to be bought and paid for. Back in the old days, I hear you could get one for a "donation" of about $5,000 to the Hollywood Chamber, but I have no idea what the fare is today. The payments come in various forms from various sources for numerous reasons. Sometimes the studio pays for it. Apparently they see the publicity advantage in having an actor or recording artist receive a star timed to the opening of a new film or premiere of a TV show.
And there are times when the "honoree" pays for it. It might be the fulfillment of one's life-long goal to have a star on the Walk of Fame. Or maybe they just want another shot of publicity they hope will generate more work for a career that's kind of slowed down. Just about anyone in any of the arts who feels the need to have one, can get one. You need not be a giant talent on camera, stage, radio, or recording. Case in point would be Sherry Lansing who got a star primarily for being an executive at a motion picture studio. I suspect Sherry would be the first to tell you that it was not her acting chops that got her a star, although I think she was pretty good.
A good way to go about getting a star is to get on the good side of Johnny Grant of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. If Johnny likes you, it’s a slam-dunk. If he likes you a lot, you might even get your wife on it with you. (Both Bob Hope and Mickey Rooney got their wives names on one of their stars with them.)
Bob Hope first told me that Johnny Grant was the “man” for the sidewalk stars. Bob said he had lost count but he thought he had “three or four” stars. While they may have made for positive publicity for him with the folks back in Cleveland, once he got them he said he didn’t go back to the areas to visit them, “at least not at night.” Hope was way too smart to set foot on Hollywood Boulevard or any of the nearby side streets after dark.
Why did I think I could have arranged a star for Ann? Well, Ann and I knew Johnny Grant well enough from about 1980 to 1991 and we were on his good side. I booked Ann on his show biz interview spots that he used to tape around L.A. Johnny was a fun guy, often very jolly, so I secretly nicknamed him “Chuckles” because he chuckled a lot. His TV interview spots were a decent two-way “lollypop lick,” meaning the talented guests got the publicity they wanted and Johnny earned his living for having produced the spots. He was a very good interviewer and came off as likeable on TV.
Johnny was close to a genuine multi-millionaire powerhouse, the old cowboy star Gene Autry. I’ve heard Johnny pay glowing tributes to Gene. Gene owned the studio where Johnny worked. I suspect he had a lot to do with Johnny’s success in this town. (Gene has five stars on the Walk of Fame, the most of any one person. His old cowboy rival, Roy Rogers, has only three.) I guess we know whose horse Johnny rode in on.
Johnny also had a lot to do with the once famed “Hollywood Christmas Parade” that was broadcast on TV. We booked Ann on that parade a couple of times.
Our path also crossed with Johnny’s at several Bob Hope shows. Ann was often invited by Bob to entertain on USO shows with him as well as his TV specials. Ann and I toured with Hope to the Persian Gulf and again to Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield/Storm. Johnny was often at these shows and enjoyed having his photo taken with Bob and the other stars. I took a few shots of them myself.
Johnny lit up when Ann put her arm around him. He seemed to enjoy being in her spotlight with the still cameras clicking away. I always liked Johnny and felt it would be easy to get him to give Ann a star on the Walk of Fame.
But you already know that she never wanted one--and that's why she doesn't have one. Ann will always be a “star” with or without the Walk of Fame--not only because she’s enjoyed a successful career that spans four decades, but also because of her community service to every honorable charity going.
And just look at the good side of not having one: Nobody will ever walk on her well-respected name.
Oh, yes, there's also one more reason: Anytime I give her a card on any special occasion, I always address it, “To my Star.” So, please, if any of you get to feeling Ann has been slighted by the Hollywood Walk of Fame, always remember that she does have me. How could anyone want anything more?
©2005 by Andy Murcia. The caricature
of Andy Murcia is ©2003 by Jim Hummel. The photo is the
property of the author, all rights reserved. This column was
first posted on June 20, 2005.
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