Hollywood Canteen
The Hollywood Canteen is a restaurant that was founded by the Hollywood movie stars Bette Davis and John Garfield, 1942 in Los Angeles. Until the closure of 1945 highly paid movie stars worked there for free as entertainers, waiters, cooks or cleaners. Soldiers of the United States or its allies had free admission and were able to 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 resident soldiers some distraction. At great personal cost, they drummed in Hollywood together donations and free labor to build the " Hollywood Canteen " in Los Angeles. Admission everyone should have, wearing a uniform of the United States and the Allies, and food and drink had to be free of this.
On October 3, 1942, the restaurant opened: over 3,000 actors, dancers, directors, cameramen, hairdressers, agents etc. from Hollywood to work for free as entertainers, waiters, cooks or cleaners. On September 15, 1943, the millionth guest was received, and a soldier named Carl Bell was kissed as a reward of pin-up legend Betty Grable. After the war ended in 1945, the Canteen was closed after more than three million visitors.
On 5 May 2001, the " Hollywood Canteen " was a few miles from the original location in Los Angeles reopened. When designing the interior, a strong retro feel of the 1940s, was retained to pay homage to the roots at this time. Today's restaurant has both an own homepage as well as a MySpace page.
Quote
Bette Davis was her life very proud of the " Hollywood Canteen ". You said:
There are few achievements in my life, which I 'm 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 performed free of charge in the " Canteen " and worked for free behind the scenes. Among them were, inter alia, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, 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 and Shirley Temple.