March 1, 2014 News Release: OVERLOOKED STAR JANE WYMAN GETS HER SPOT on the PALM SPRINGS WALK of STARS — FINALLY an Article I
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March 1, 2014 News Release: OVERLOOKED STAR JANE WYMAN GETS HER SPOT ON THE PALM SPRINGS WALK OF STARS — FINALLY An article in the Palm Springs Life magazine a few years ago began with the bold assertion “Without the Hollywood Stars, Palm Springs would be just another Banning…or Barstow!” Truly, part of the allure of Palm Springs is its celebrity past. The hundreds and hundreds of Hollywood celebrities who have lived and played in the desert community have given it the reputation of being the Playground of the Stars. The downtown streets have sidewalk stars, the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, which honor many of those show business luminaries. Each sidewalk star is a “page” in the granite history book that names the Hollywood elite whose presence fostered that “celebrity mystique” which attracts visitors and residents alike. One missing “page” is that of the legendary movie and television actress Jane Wyman. On Sunday May 11, the Oscar-winning star and long-time desert resident will receive her overdue sidewalk tribute. At 11:00 am in front of Azul Restaurant at 369 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Wyman will finally join other superstars on the Walk of Stars such as Bob Hope, Ginger Rogers, Liberace, Loretta Young, Elvis Presley, and Carol Channing. A special ceremony with celebrities attending will mark the occasion. Jane Wyman, perhaps best remembered as the ruthless matriarch in the long- running television series “Falcon Crest” of the 1980’s, had a long history with Palm Springs. During her starlet years in the 1930’s, she came to the desert to party with her Hollywood friends at the Racquet Club. In 1940, Wyman married Ronald Reagan, and Hollywood’s “golden couple” honeymooned at the luxurious El Mirador Hotel. She and Reagan, who would later become President of the U.S., met while filming “Brother Rat” in 1938. After the marriage ended in 1949, Wyman rented a house on La Puerta de Sol in the Racquet Club area. While being romanced in the 1950’s by her future husband and studio music supervisor Fred Karger, Wyman with her new beau dined and danced at all the popular night spots in Palm Springs. Long after that marriage to Karger ended and she had retired from acting, Wyman in 1994 moved from Santa Monica to the desert to make it her permanent home. She lived at the Rancho Mirage Country Club until her death in 2007. Her final resting place is the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cathedral City. A great humanitarian, Wyman worked for decades in support of the Arthritis Foundation and many Roman Catholic charities. She continued that work in the desert. As someone who suffered from arthritis and diabetes herself, she gave endless hours to the Arthritis Foundation, hosting telethons and other events for the organization. Wyman acted as the Foundation’s national chairperson for many years. The recipient of many awards in recognition of her work for this charity, the Arthritis Foundation honored her further by naming their annual award The Jane Wyman Humanitarian Award. In 1998, she had the privilege of presenting the Jane Wyman Humanitarian Award to her old friend Bob Hope, who had co-starred with her in 1968 in her last theatrical film “How to Commit Marriage”. The ceremony took place at the Awards Dinner of the Southern California Arthritis Foundation at the Ritz-Carlton in Rancho Mirage. Influenced by her dear friend Loretta Young, who was a very devoted Catholic, Wyman converted to the Roman Catholic faith in the mid-1950’s. Young, a permanent Palm Springs resident, also helped persuade Wyman to move to the desert. Together Wyman and Young frequently hosted and attended fundraisers for the St. Louis Catholic Church of Cathedral City, the church where they regularly worshipped. In 1999 the Joslyn Senior Center of Palm Desert awarded Wyman their Joslyn Crystal Award for her advocacy of those suffering with arthritis. After the death in 2001 of her daughter Maureen Reagan, who had spearheaded the Alzheimers Foundation, Wyman continued to support that organization. Maureen had become involved in this foundation after her father Pres. Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with the disease. During her final years, Wyman attended the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Palm Desert. At her funeral, the officiating priest Rev. Lincoln mentioned that she had provided the church with its padded pews and the sound system in the sanctuary-- along with six-figure checks. Wyman once said, “Nothing adds up for me except how much good you can be to as many people as you can during the span of years you have on earth.” Her amazing record of humanitarian effort and philanthropy demonstrates the truth of her statement. This remarkable superstar who received 4 Best Actress Academy Award nominations for “The Yearling”, “The Blue Veil”, “Magnificent Obsession”, and “Johnny Belinda”, winning the Oscar for the latter, made over 80 films in a career that spanned 6 decades. But in the desert , she lived a somewhat reclusive life. Yet she found time to enjoy her friends. Locals often spotted Wyman dining with her friends Loretta Young and Carol Channing at various restaurants. Because these friends discovered that ordinary napkins did not fully protect their smart dining attire at a favorite seafood restaurant, Young designed and sewed aprons for each one to wear at that particular place. Finding 3 major stars wearing matching aprons while dining in a restaurant would be a sight to behold! After so many stellar performances in films and in television, Wyman made her earthly farewell wearing the understated nun’s habit of the Dominican Order in her casket at her Sacred Heart Catholic funeral in 2007. And now — at last — this very popular and critically-acclaimed star who called the Coachella Valley her home for many years will receive her overdue tribute star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on May 11. (Article written by Roger Freeman, a member of the planning team for A Star For Jane Wyman Project. For additional information, contact R. Freeman at (760) 325 – 0140 or [email protected] or call the Sponsor of the Project Gennaro DeVito at (760) 969 – 3237.) .