HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN

The 'Hollywood Canteen' operated at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, California between October 3, 1942 and November 22, 1945 (Thanksgiving Day) as a club offering food, dancing and entertainment for servicemen, usually on their way overseas. Even though the majority of visitors were U.S servicemen, the Canteen was open to servicemen of allied countries as well as women in all branch of service. The serviceman's ticket to admission was his uniform and everything at the Canteen was free of charge.

The driving force behind its creation were Bette Davis and John Garfield along with composer Jules Stein, President of Music Corporation of America, who headed up the finance committee. Davis devoted an enormous amount of time and energy to the project and served as its president. The cost of materials for the renovations and the labor was all donated by members of the various guilds and unions of the entertainment industry. The Canteen was operated and staffed by volunteers from the entertainment industry only. By the time the Canteen opened its doors, over 3000 stars, players, directors, producers, grips, dancers, musicians, singers, writer, technicians, wardrobe attendants, hair stylissts, agents, stand-ins, publicists, secretaries, and allied craftsmen of radio and screen had registered as volunteers.
Glamorous stars volunteered to wait on tables, cook in the kitchen and clean up. On September 15, 1943, the one millionth guest walked through the door of the Hollywood Canteen. The lucky soldier, Sgt. Carl Bell, received a kiss from Betty Grable.
A Hall of Honor at the Hollywood Canteen had a wall of photos which honored the film actors who served in the military. Most of those actors, while on shore leave, came out to help the Canteen.
In 1944, Warner Bros. made a star-studded film about the Hollywood Canteen.
At the time the Canteen closed its doors, it had been host to almost three million servicemen
Over 225 photographs of the Hollywood Canteen can be seen at hollywoodphotographs.com

Contents

Canteen Volunteers

External link

Canteen Volunteers

Some of the celebrities who donated their services at the Hollywood Canteen were:

★ Bud Abbott & Lou Costello

★ June Allyson

★ Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson

★ The Andrews Sisters

★ Dana Andrews

★ Eve Arden

★ Louis Armstrong

★ Desi Arnaz

★ Fred Astaire

★ Lauren Bacall

★ Lucille Ball

★ Tallulah Bankhead

★ Lynn Bari

★ Diana Barrymore

★ Lionel Barrymore

★ Anne Baxter

★ Wallace Beery

★ William Bendix

★ Joan Bennett

★ Jack Benny

★ Edgar Bergen

★ Mel Blanc

★ Ann Blyth

★ Humphrey Bogart

★ Ray Bolger

★ Beulah Bondi

★ Walter Brennan

★ Fanny Brice

★ Joe E. Brown

★ George Burns & Gracie Allen

★ James Cagney

★ Cab Calloway

★ Rod Cameron

★ Eddie Cantor

★ Judy Canova

★ Kitty Carlisle

★ Jack Carson

★ Marguerite Chapman

★ Charles Coburn

★ Claudette Colbert

★ Jerry Colonna

★ Ronald Colman

★ Perry Como

★ Gary Cooper

★ Jackie Cooper

★ Bing Crosby

★ Joan Crawford

★ George Cukor

★ Robert Cummings

★ Xavier Cugat

★ Cass Daley

★ Dorothy Dandridge

★ Linda Darnell

★ Yvonne De Carlo

★ William Demarest

★ Olivia de Havilland

★ Marlene Dietrich

★ Jimmy Dorsey

★ Tommy Dorsey

★ Irene Dunne

★ Jimmy Durante

★ Deanna Durbin

★ Nelson Eddy

★ Faye Emerson

★ Dale Evans

★ Jinx Falkenburg

★ Alice Faye

★ Gracie Fields

★ Errol Flynn

★ Kay Francis

★ Joan Fontaine

★ Glenn Ford

★ John Ford

★ Clark Gable

★ Eva Gabor

★ Ava Gardner

★ Judy Garland

★ Greer Garson

★ Betty Grable

★ Cary Grant

★ Kathryn Grayson

★ Sydney Greenstreet

★ Paulette Goddard

★ Benny Goodman

★ Jack Haley

★ Phil Harris

★ Moss Hart

★ Dick Haymes

★ Susan Hayward

★ Rita Hayworth

★ Paul Henreid

★ Katharine Hepburn

★ William Holden

★ Bob Hope

★ Hedda Hopper

★ Lena Horne

★ Edward Everett Horton

★ Ruth Hussey

★ Betty Hutton

★ Harry James

★ Gloria Jean

★ Van Johnson

★ Al Jolson

★ Jennifer Jones

★ Danny Kaye

★ Buster Keaton

★ Ruby Keeler

★ Gene Kelly

★ Evelyn Keyes

★ Andrea King

★ Kay Kyser

★ Alan Ladd

★ Bert Lahr

★ Angela Lansbury

★ Veronica Lake

★ Hedy Lamarr

★ Dorothy Lamour

★ Carole Landis

★ Frances Langford

★ Pinky Lee

★ Mervyn LeRoy

★ Joan Leslie

★ Ted Lewis

★ Beatrice Lillie

★ June Lockhart

★ Anita Loos

★ Peter Lorre

★ Myrna Loy

★ Bela Lugosi

★ Ida Lupino

★ Diana Lynn

★ Jeanette MacDonald

★ Irene Manning

★ Groucho Marx

★ Herbert Marshall

★ Victor Mature

★ Elsa Maxwell

★ Hattie McDaniel

★ Roddy McDowall

★ Butterfly McQueen

★ Ann Miller

★ Glenn Miller

★ Carmen Miranda

★ Maria Montez

★ George Montgomery

★ Dennis Morgan

★ Ken Murray

★ The Nicholas Brothers

★ Jack Oakie

★ Margaret O'Brien

★ Maureen O'Hara

★ Donald O'Connor

★ Merle Oberon

★ Eleanor Parker

★ Louella Parsons

★ Gregory Peck

★ Mary Pickford

★ Walter Pidgeon

★ Dick Powell

★ Eleanor Powell

★ Jane Powell

★ William Powell

★ Anthony Quinn

★ George Raft

★ Claude Rains

★ Basil Rathbone

★ Martha Raye

★ Ronald Reagan

★ Donna Reed

★ Bill "Bojangles" Robinson

★ Edward G. Robinson

★ Ginger Rogers

★ Roy Rogers

★ Cesar Romero

★ Mickey Rooney

★ Jane Russell

★ Rosalind Russell

★ Ann Rutherford

★ S.Z. Sakall

★ Ann Savage

★ Randolph Scott

★ Toni Seven

★ Norma Shearer

★ Ann Sheridan

★ Dinah Shore

★ Sylvia Sidney

★ Phil Silvers

★ Ginny Simms

★ Frank Sinatra

★ Red Skelton

★ Alexis Smith

★ Kate Smith

★ Ann Sothern

★ Jo Stafford

★ Barbara Stanwyck

★ Craig Stevens

★ James Stewart

★ Leopold Stokowski

★ Robert Taylor

★ Shirley Temple

★ Danny Thomas

★ Gene Tierney

★ Martha Tilton

★ Claire Trevor

★ Lana Turner

★ Spencer Tracy

★ Gloria Vanderbilt

★ Beryl Wallace

★ Nancy Walker

★ John Wayne

★ Clifton Webb

★ Orson Welles

★ Paul Whiteman

★ Chill Wills

★ Marie Wilson

★ Jane Withers

★ Jane Wyman

★ Rudy Vallee

★ Lupe Velez

★ Loretta Young

★ Vera Zorina

External link

★ Hollywood Canteen photograph collection

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