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{{short description|American television producer}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=May 2023}}
{{Primary sources|date=May 2023}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Use American English|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Johnny Grant
|image= Johnny Grant.jpg
|imagesize =
|title = 13th Honorary [[Mayor of Hollywood]]
|caption = Johnny Grant (right) with [[United States Secretary of Defense|U.S. Defense Secretary]] [[William Cohen]] (left), 2000
|birth_date = {{birth date|1923|05|09}}
|birth_place = {{nowrap|[[Goldsboro, North Carolina]], U.S.}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|2008|01|09|1923|05|09}}
|death_place = [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood, California]], U.S.
|occupation = Radio personality<br>Television producer
|years_active = 1939–2008
}}
'''Johnny Grant''' (May 9, 1923 – January 9, 2008) was an American [[radio personality]] and [[television producer]] who also served as the [[Mayor of Hollywood|honorary mayor]] of [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|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".<ref name="GrantBio">{{cite web |title = Johnny Grant's Bio |url = http://www.johnnygrant.com/johnnygrantbio.html |publisher = JohnnyGrant.com |accessdate = 2008-01-09 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080116013603/http://www.johnnygrant.com/johnnygrantbio.html |archive-date = 2008-01-16 }}</ref>
==Early life and career==
::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.▼
Grant was born in [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]].{{Citation needed |date=January 2021}} He made his show business debut on the radio in 1939 as a local newscaster there.<ref>{{cite web |title= Hollywood's "Mayor" Johnny Grant Dies at 84 |publisher= Hollywood.com |access-date= 2011-03-11 |date= January 10, 2008 |url= http://www.hollywood.com/news/celebrities/5037801/hollywood-s-mayor-johnny-grant-dies-at-84?page=all }}</ref> According to publicity released by the third annual Hollywood Film Festival in 1999:<ref name="Hollywood Film Festival">{{cite web |publisher = Internet Entertainment Network |title = 3rd Annual Hollywood Film Festival - August 4–9, 1999 - Johnny Grant, Ceremonial Mayor of Hollywood |url = http://www.hollywoodawards.com/grant |date = 2004-08-04 |accessdate = 2008-01-09 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080212153159/http://www.hollywoodawards.com/grant/ |archive-date = 2008-02-12 }}</ref>
▲
After [[World War II]], Grant moved to California and appeared as a [[disc jockey]] on [[Los Angeles]] area radio stations [[KMZT (AM)|KGIL]] (1949–50) and [[KMPC#KMPC-710|KMPC]] (1951–59).<ref name="people">[http://www.laradio.com/whereg.htm Los Angeles Radio People, Where are They Now? – G], retrieved 2012-03-06</ref> 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 [[1952 Winter Olympics|Helsinki Olympics]] in 1952.<ref name="Hollywood Film Festival" /> In the 1950s, he 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 (film)|White Christmas]]'', and the [[Master of Ceremonies]] in the 1956 film ''[[The Girl Can't Help It]]''.{{Citation needed |date=January 2021}} Grant also won two [[Emmy Awards]].<ref name="GrantBio" /> He appears in the documentary ''[[Confessions of a Superhero]],'' complaining about people who dress as superheroes seeking tips on Hollywood Boulevard.<ref>''Confessions of a Superhero,'' 2007</ref>
==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. Grant was recommended for the position by the previous mayor of Hollywood, [[Monty Hall]], the host of the hit game show ''[[Let's Make a Deal]]''. 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]].<ref name="HollywoodIcon">{{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 |year = 2007 |accessdate = 2008-01-09 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080107092749/http://www.hollywoodchamber.net/icons/johnny_grant.asp <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-01-07}}</ref> Grant said of all his accomplishments in Hollywood, he was most proud of three things: the [[Hollywood sign]], the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame|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."<ref name="CNNObit">{{cite news |year=2008 |title=Johnny Grant, honorary Hollywood mayor, dies |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/10/obit.grant.ap/index.html |accessdate=2008-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111131507/http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/10/obit.grant.ap/index.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=2008-01-11}}</ref>
==Accomplishments==
Grant arranged for stars from Hollywood to visit wounded veterans of the [[Vietnam War]] at places such as [[San Antonio]]'s [[Brooke Army Medical Center]], including such actors as the late [[Christopher George]].<ref>Photo Play Magazine, 'Chris George, George Morris and the Man Who Came Back from the Dead', page 59, April 1968</ref> Grant 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.<ref name = "Hollywood Film Festival"/> More recently, he had been a member of the Los Angeles City Cultural Heritage Commission.<ref name = "GrantBio"/>
For contributions to the television industry, Johnny Grant was honored with a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6937 [[Hollywood Boulevard]], and a second one for contributions to the Hollywood community at 6897 Hollywood Boulevard.<ref name="HWOFDB">{{Cite web |title=Search results for 'Johnny Grant' |url=http://www.hwof.com/stars?recipient=Johnny_Grant |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303184117/http://hwof.com/stars?recipient=Johnny_Grant |archive-date=Mar 3, 2016 |website=The Hollywood Walk of Fame}}</ref> The building at 7024 W. [[Hollywood Boulevard]] was also renamed [[Johnny Grant Building]] to further honor him.<ref name=hmdb>{{Cite web |title=The Johnny Grant Building - Hollywood Historic Site |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=232574 |publisher=Hollywood Chamber of Commerce |accessdate=July 15, 2024 |language=en-US}}</ref>
Grant was inducted into the [[North Carolina Music Hall of Fame]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=2009 Inductees|url=http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2009-inductees/|publisher=North Carolina Music Hall of Fame|access-date=September 10, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100227074324/http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2009-inductees/ |archive-date= Feb 27, 2010 }}</ref>
==Death==
On January 9, 2008, Grant was not feeling well when he had lunch 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 (Hollywood)|Roosevelt Hotel]], by an associate. He was the only full-time guest at the hotel.
Paramedics were called, but Grant was eventually pronounced dead after they arrived, apparently of natural causes, at the age of 84.<ref name="GrantDeath">{{cite news |title=Johnny Grant, honorary mayor of Hollywood, dead at 84 |work=Daily News |url=http://www.dailynews.com/ci_7924618 |date=2008-01-09 |first1=Rick |last1=Coca |access-date=2008-01-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113204607/http://www.dailynews.com/ci_7924618 |archive-date=2008-01-13 }}</ref>
On January 11, 2008, Grant's sister, Peggy G. Adams of [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]], announced that Johnny did not want a funeral service. Instead, there was a private memorial service held at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, California. Various publications reported that Grant wished for [[cremation]], and for his ashes to be scattered under the [[Hollywood Sign]].<ref name = "GrantWishes">{{cite news |title=Grant did not want a funeral |work=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 |access-date=2008-01-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090704235600/http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2008/01/11/grant_did_not_want_a_funeral/index.shtml |archive-date= Jul 4, 2009 }}</ref> The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has not set a timetable to name one or more persons to succeed Grant as mayor.<ref>[http://www.tibp.com/cgi-bin/foxweb.dll//wlx/cs/wlxENews?docid=45&cc=HWCA&action=DISPLISTDET Hollywood Chamber of Commerce statement]</ref> [[Gary Owens]] was among those interested in the post, and he claimed that Grant tapped him as his successor.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89161002 "Pin-Up Queen Turns Hollywood Mayor Race Pink"] ([[NPR]], 2008)</ref> However, Owens died in early 2015.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/gary-owens-announcer-of-laugh-in-fame-dies-at-80-1201433731/ |title=Gary Owens, Announcer of 'Laugh-In' Fame, Dies at 80 |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=13 February 2015 |issn=0042-2738}}</ref>
After his death, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Leron Gubler replaced Grant as the new [[MC]]
of unveiling new stars on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
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*{{IMDb name|id=0004974|name=Johnny Grant}}
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[[Category:
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[[Category:Television producers from California]]
[[Category:Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:People from Goldsboro, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Radio personalities from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces soldiers]]
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