Hollywood Canteen (restaurant)
The Hollywood Canteen was a restaurant founded by Hollywood movie stars Bette Davis and John Garfield in Los Angeles in 1942 . Up until the closure in 1945, highly paid film stars worked there free of charge as entertainers, waiters, cooks or cleaning staff. Soldiers from the United States or their allies had free entry and could eat and drink as much as they wanted. In 2001 the "canteen" was reopened.
history
When the Second World War raged, film icon Bette Davis had the idea to offer the local soldiers some distraction. With great personal commitment, she gathered donations and free labor in Hollywood to build the "Hollywood Canteen" in Los Angeles. Anyone wearing US or Allied uniforms should have admission, and food and drink had to be free for them.
The restaurant was opened on October 3, 1942: Over 3,000 actors, dancers, directors, cameramen, hairdressers, agents etc. from Hollywood worked free of charge as entertainers, waiters, cooks or cleaning staff. On September 15, 1943, the millionth guest was received and a soldier named Carl Bell was kissed as a reward by pin-up legend Betty Grable . After the war ended in 1945, the Canteen was closed after over three million guests.
In 2001 a private company opened a restaurant of the same name (“The Hollywood Canteen”) a few miles away, but it closed again in 2012. The Italian restaurant "Rao's" has been located in the premises since 2013.
Quote
Bette Davis has been very proud of the "Hollywood Canteen" all her life. She said:
There are few accomplishments in my life that I am really proud of. The Hollywood Canteen is one of them.
List of volunteers 1942–45 (excerpt)
- Source: MySpace page of the "Hollywood Canteen"
Many contemporary artists appeared for free in the “Canteen” or worked for free behind the scenes. Among them were u. a. Louis Armstrong , Fred Astaire , Gene Tierney , Lauren Bacall , Humphrey Bogart , Marlene Dietrich , Errol Flynn , Glenn Ford , Ava Gardner , Judy Garland , Betty Grable , Cary Grant , Rita Hayworth , Buster Keaton , Angela Lansbury , Peter Lorre , Groucho Marx , Anthony Quinn , Ronald Reagan , Ginger Rogers , Frank Sinatra , James Stewart or Shirley Temple .
Individual evidence
- ^ Official Bette Davis homepage ( memento of December 24, 2005 in the Internet Archive ), original quote: "There are few accomplishments in my life that I am sincerely proud of. The Hollywood Canteen is one of them. "