✨ My First Christmas in Hollywood 🌲 (1987)
By Jim St. James
I moved to Hollywood in July of 1987, young, hopeful, and wide-eyed — a newcomer with a musician’s heart and a head full of dreams. My little apartment on Highland Avenue wasn’t much, but the view from my veranda felt like standing in the heartbeat of the world. From there I could see the glow of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and even the spires of the old “War of the Worlds” church. To a young man from Indiana who loved music and movies, it was everything.
I was working days then as the box office guy at the Hollywood Wax Museum — the same museum owned by the legendary Spoony Singh. I’d watch tourists trickle in, and watch the buzz of Hollywood Boulevard outside, and occasionally see real celebrities visit when a new wax figure was unveiled, especially the pieces by famed wax crafter, Logan Fleming. I also picked up two night shifts a week at the famous Pussycat Theatre, which added its own unique charm to my early Hollywood baptism. I laughed about that job even then — only in Hollywood could your work week include both the Wax Museum and the Pussycat. On the weekends, as a side hustle, I did several crowd scenes as a movie extra. I seriously thought about joining the extras union and giving a crack at acting, but my true love was music.
I was off the night it happened. I had planned something simple: a short walk up to Hollywood Boulevard to grab a bite to eat at “Two Guys From Italy,” a small restaurant I often went to after work. But when I stepped out of my apartment and turned toward the boulevard, I noticed the glow — the lights, the reflected reds and greens dancing against the buildings — and I heard the unmistakable sound of a crowd.
The Hollywood Christmas Parade was in full swing.
I followed the lights, letting the music and the energy pull me toward the boulevard. The parade was slowing right at the moment I reached the curb. And suddenly, right in front of me, in a burst of color and southern California winter glow, sat two American icons.
Betty White, radiant, warm, smiling as if she were greeting old friends.
And beside her, high on the float, bundled but unmistakable, was Jimmy Stewart — the same man whose voice and spirit carried one of my all-time favorite Christmas films, It’s a Wonderful Life.
Seeing him in person — in a Christmas parade, no less — felt like walking right into the movie.
The float slowed to a near stop, and without even thinking, I leaned on the float and called out,
“Merry Christmas!”
And to my disbelief, both Betty White and Jimmy Stewart turned, smiled, and wished me a Merry Christmas in return. Stewart was in his late seventies then, still dignified, still gentle, the kind of man whose presence felt like a warm handshake. Betty White was a burst of brightness — gracious, golden, timeless even then.
In that moment, under the lights of Hollywood Boulevard, surrounded by the hum of cameras and carols, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. A young musician in the heart of Hollywood, standing just steps from my apartment, talking to the very people whose work had shaped so many American memories.
Hollywood was still beautiful then. Still magical. And for me, in that single moment in 1987, the city opened its arms and welcomed me in a way I’ll never forget.
It wasn’t just a parade.
It was my first Christmas in Hollywood —
and the night Jimmy Stewart and Betty White wished me a Merry Christmas.
A moment of pure magic during a time when the city still shimmered with possibility and the air itself held the nostalgia and the mystique of a golden age graced by golden memories.
A memory I will never forget.
Here's to you and yours this HOLIDAY SEASON.
From the LA Times:
If you love a parade, get ready!
The oldest, biggest and flashiest is the Hollywood Christmas Parade, which begins at 6 p.m. This 56th edition of the annual parade stars Jimmy Stewart as grand marshal and 90 other film, television and recording artists.
There are 19 floats, 51 cars, 16 bands and 12 equestrian groups--with a total of 2,858 people participating in the Hollywood parade.
Stewart, serving as grand marshal for the second time in 10 years since the reorganization of the event, said he signed up for this tour of duty because he feels that the parade “represents all the glamour and all the good things that the movie business has accomplished over the years.
“I think this year’s parade is especially important because of this positive-image program that has been going on for some time now,” he added. “To make Hollywood a place to be proud of and develop Hollywood’s old style again. I’ve always had a feeling about it. There’s always been something special about it, this place where pictures originated.”
Stewart admitted that he thought “today’s actors and actresses shy away a little from this type of thing. I don’t think they have the feeling about Hollywood we had in the old days.”
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