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Special Issue 2016
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SAG-AFTRA 80
This afternoon they would also learn the identity of the latest
recipient of the Guild's annual award. Although two previous
awards had been given — in 1962 to Eddie Cantor (a former
president of both SAG and AFTRA) and in 1963 to legendary comic
Stan Laurel — this ceremony would unveil a new, permanent
annual award trophy. Unlike today's Life Achievement Award,
the recipient's identity was kept secret. At the SAG board meeting
of Oct. 11, 1965, Awards Committee member Jack Lemmon (who
would receive the trophy himself in 1989) announced Bob Hope as
their choice, and a race began to have the new statuette
completed with just over a month to go.
The award presentation to Hope was certainly the
highlight of the membership meeting and when his name
was announced, the crowd jumped to its feet with a
thunderous standing ovation of several minutes.
As delighted as he was, if Hope appeared a bit
uncomfortable on the Palladium stage, it was likely from
the pinched nerve he suffered 11 days earlier — carrying
co-star Elke Sommer during filming of their comedy
feature Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! — Valerie Yaros
SAG-AFTR
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ARCHIVES
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GENE
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unday afternoon, Nov. 14, 1965: A gusty Pacific
rainstorm was pounding Los Angeles. Power
lines down, scores of traffic accidents, flooding
in the L.A. Basin and the San Fernando Valley, a
mudslide in Torrance. But more than 700 determined
members braved the elements to attend the Screen
Actors Guild's annual general membership meeting
at the Hollywood Palladium.
To find out why Bob Hope was chosen, read "Miracle Happens, Says
Hope, in Accepting Actor Award," from page 6 of the January-February
1966 issue of Screen Actor magazine by clicking here.
