Where the Stars Served the Soldiers—and What Came After: The Full Story of the Hollywood Canteen

By Allan R. Ellenberger

The Hollywood Canteen was conceived in 1942 by the persistence and vision of actress Bette Davis and actor John Garfield, who shared her commitment. They both felt moved by the rising tide of servicemen who were traveling through Los Angeles for a brief shore leave with little money to spare and few places to go that welcomed them. Davis was already heavily involved with war relief efforts and boosting troop morale when she got the idea that every enlisted man and woman should be able to come to Hollywood for an evening of music, food and companionship at no cost. No tickets. No tips. No favors. Just a uniform at the door. Garfield, who came from humble working-class beginnings, also felt Hollywood had a responsibility to America's fighting men.

Approved by the Hollywood Motion Picture Alliance, labor guilds and studios, it took less than a week to turn a former livery stable and garage on Cahuenga Boulevard into a building full of hope and cheer. Volunteers gave time, talent and materials. Paint Shops volunteered to paint the walls with patriotic murals and celestial motifs. A stage was erected; a dance floor laid and long serving counters were installed. On October 3, 1942, the Hollywood Canteen threw open its doors and the word spread. This was the hottest spot in town, and the only cover charge was your service to your country.

Inside was a festive but wholesome environment. Big bands would come and go nightly, playing swing music, while jitterbugging couples jammed the floor. Although those aspects of the Canteen were enjoyable, what really made it special wasn't what was happening on stage. It was who was serving behind it. Movie stars worked wherever they were needed. Stars poured coffee, made sandwiches and pie runs, took coat checks, washed dishes, and danced. Just danced. A nervous young serviceman would walk in alone and timid, only to suddenly find himself partnered with Rita Hayworth, chatting with Betty Grable, or laughing uproariously with Lucille Ball.  No publicity. No star-chasing hook-ups. They made sure the evening was the GIs alone.

If Davis was ever not on duty, it was because she was working like everyone else. Walking the floor, bussing tables, cleaning up, when necessary, Davis handled every issue personally and immediately. Strict rules were enforced about no misbehavior or showing off, everyone being treated equally. She wanted the Canteen to be a place where soldiers could get away from the insanity of war and feel dignity and respect, not a sideshow. Years later she would call the Hollywood Canteen the proudest achievement of her career, and few who knew her spent any time there ever disagreed. Other frequent visitors lending their time were Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, Lana Turner, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Mickey Rooney, Bob Hope and a pre-famous Marlon Brando, decades before his legendary fame. The stars were there not as stars but as people.

Word spread fast among Allied soldiers from other nations. British, Canadian, Australian, and Free French uniforms soon became common sights on the dance floor. Eleanor Roosevelt toured the Canteen and spoke highly of it afterwards as a great symbol of American patriotism. Letters poured in from servicemen who had passed through, many written years later mentioning the nights at the Canteen among their fondest memories before shipping out.

Eventually Hollywood made the Canteen into a movie. Hollywood Canteen, released in 1944 by Warner Bros. and directed by Delmer Daves, mixed a scripted romance with cameo appearances by dozens of stars who played themselves. It conveyed some of the freshness and buzz of the real-life venue but also managed to capture something more ineffable: a moment when America paused to breathe, finding solace in song, goodwill and simply being American while waiting for victory.

With the war's conclusion, the need for the Hollywood Canteen ceased. On Thanksgiving night, November 22, 1945, the Canteen shut down for the last time. It had served its purpose. Almost three million servicemen and women had been served there. The organization survived for a time afterward as a philanthropic entity working with veterans, and Davis defended its name and legacy aggressively, taking those, she felt were trying to capitalize on the goodwill of the wartime entertainment venue to court to stop them from using the words "Hollywood Canteen" for profit in their postwar promotions.

The building, however, did not immediately disappear. In the years following the war, the former Canteen entered a restless second life, reflecting Hollywood’s own uneasy transition from wartime unity to postwar reinvention. By 1947, the space had briefly served as an Armed Forces officers’ club. In October 1948 it reopened as the Hollywood Auditorium, a rental hall and performance venue, and by late 1949 it was reborn again as the Carousel Theatre. Each reincarnation stripped away a little more of the room’s original meaning, even as the physical shell remained.

Today, the footprint of Hollywood Canteen sits a few yards south of Sunset Boulevard at Cahuenga, engulfed by a parking building and broadcast facilities of the CNN/KTLA television studios that now occupy the property.

For a fleeting but unforgettable moment, Hollywood’s brightest lights shone not on a screen, but on the faces of those who would soon be heading into the dark. In that sense, the Hollywood Canteen is not just lost Hollywood—it is Hollywood at its most real.

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