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Johnny Grant |
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Johnny Grant was the Honorary Mayor of Hollywood and perhaps the town’s biggest booster. He died January 9, 2008, at the age of 84.
For almost a half-century, Johnny has been synonymous with Hollywood. Although he was probably most visible as the host of the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremonies, Johnny was first best known as one of the most popular disc jockeys in Los Angeles radio, starting at KGIL before his eight-year run at KMPC.
“Johnny was so approachable, so kind, and his heart was that of a broadcaster,” said Larry Van Nuys, who shared his memories of Grant with LARadio.com after his anchor shift at KNX late Wednesday night. “My wife and I were honored to receive the Johnny Grant Humanitarian Award,” said Larry, who’d known Johnny for 30 years. “He was very generous with his time and his encouragement … he was a giant at KMPC when we were all coming up … I always admired him and appreciated the chance to work with him.” During his 17 years as the announcer at KTLA, Larry recalled working with Johnny on the Santa Claus Lane Parade and other projects associated with Channel 5. “Johnny was iconic, certainly in L.A., but his influence was global, particularly his trips abroad to entertain the troops serving overseas.”
He started his radio career in Goldsboro, North Carolina at the age of 17. He received national recognition for his 1940 coverage of a notorious murder trial after persuading the judge to allow him to broadcast the trial's progress from the doorway of the courtroom. Beginning in 1944, he worked at WINS-New York hosting a program aimed at the GIs stationed around New York. In the late 1940s, Johnny arrived in Hollywood, did Lucky Strike cigarette commercials on the "Jack Benny Show" and hosted a talk show from Ciro's nightclub on the Sunset Strip.
| Johnny at the 2002 Tribute to the Glory Years of 710/KMPC at the sold-out LARadio.com event at the Doubletree Hotel in Westwood. Just before being introduced, Johnny said he would have to leave after 30 minutes because he was leaving for Afghanistan in the morning. He was having so much fun that he stayed the entire two hours. |
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Beginning in 1951, Johnny worked afternoon drive at 710/KMPC, the Gene Autry station, for eight years. He created the "Freeway Club" and said, "I was the first dj in the nation to intersperse traffic reports between records and guest stars." As the honorary mayor of Hollywood, he has emceed more than 3,500 civic and charity events. He has raised millions of dollars for the USO, Boy Scouts, Arthritis Foundation and countless others. His Star is on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. Beginning in the late 1960s, he hosted KTLA/Channel 5's Johnny Grant at Universal Studios and became a regular on Channel 5's News at Ten with his feature "Backstage in Hollywood."
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For many years he hosted the tv movies. His daily radio show had an audience of 500 million on AFRTS, heard in 40 countries throughout the world. Johnny made 13 trips to Korea, 14 visits to Vietnam and 39 overseas trips for the USO. He is a retired major general in the California State Military Reserve. While Bob Hope worked the hospitals and big bases, Johnny and his small entourage worked the sweaty fields and bloody boondocks of Vietnam. Johnny gave up his touring in 1971 to devote more time to Channel 5 public affairs and to take entertainment into hospitals for the GIs. (Photo: Johnny in 1991 when he returned to 710/KMPC) |
In the late 1970s, he turned the Hollywood Christmas Parade into a nationally televised event. In late 1991, Johnny joined Robert W. Morgan on KMPC, handling the weather and traffic.
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Gary Owens, interviewed on KNBC/tv and KNX Wednesday night, served as the emcee when Johnny left his handprints and footprints in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Gary recalled that Johnny was very excited about his tribute, “so much, in fact, that Johnny misspelled his own name when he signed the cement!” “Everyone in Hollywood will miss Johnny, everyone in the world will miss him,” said Gary. (Johnny's death was covered on the front-page of this morning's LA Times) |
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Andy Park wrote: "I was brand new at KMPC in about 1965 - so new even the listeners hadn't heard of me. But it was Christmas and Johnny Grant found out I had two small daughters. We ended up on a float of our own just in front of Santa Claus. That's the kind of classy guy the round one was."
"When I started at KMPC in 1966 as an 18-year old novice, one of my earliest memories, in addition to being overwhelmed by the pool of talent at the station, was running into Hollywood's honorary mayor Johnny Grant as he often visited at all hours of the day," emailed Michael Nash. "He always greeted me with a 'Hi, Tiger' as he bounded into the newsroom - and I felt honored just to be recognized on every visit. [Little did I know at the time that he called everyone 'Tiger.'] In 1968, I entered the Navy and was a combat correspondent in the Mekong Delta, but was able to feel 'at home' listening to people like Johnny and PC's Roger Carroll on AFRTS. To my surprise in 1969, while bases in and north of Saigon got a Bob Hope USO show, our little base in Binh Thuy received a visit from Johnny and a trio of Playboy playmates. I couldn't have been happier when I ran up to him and he responded with a resounding 'Hello, Tiger.' Out of the service, I returned to the station and was delighted to interact with him as he continued his visits to the dj staff or Mr. Autry. The last time I saw him was at Stan Spero's memorial. Fellow KMPC baby boomer Sharon Benoit, her husband Steve, and I approached him to pay our respects - and with his customary smile and twinkling eyes, he acted as if the three of us were family. But, that was at the heart of his appeal ... everyone always felt comfortable and welcome in his company, be you movie star or serviceman. This 'Tiger' is sad to see him go." (Thanks to Alan Oda for contributing to the story)
