Cause Celeb : The Orange County Walk of (Former) Stars

Dateline: Somewhere Near Hollywood-- FLASH! Ruby Keeler and Joey Bishop are back in the news!

Nobody would seriously argue that the Orange County Walk of Stars in Anaheim has any bearing on the cultural life of the county . . . But that didn’t stop a crowd from gathering last week at the entrance to the Anaheim Hilton and Towers, where the former film star and the comedian were added to the celebrity roster . . .

In truth, both are former stars . . . Keeler, 78, hasn’t made a motion picture in nearly half a century and Bishop, 69, hasn’t had a television show in 20 years . . . If they were chauffeured up together at the Irvine Improvisation or the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, the stretch limo delivering them would probably get more notice . . .

The fact is that, with the exception of Steve Martin, none of the five previous inductees in the Walk of Stars--designed to acknowledge prominent Orange Countians--could legitimately be called a star . . . When you come right down to it, the litmus test for stars is whether the paparazzi outside Spago in the City of Angels would bother to pop their picture . . . Buddy Ebsen, Gale Storm and Jose Feliciano wouldn’t get a yawn . . . Ditto for Righteous Brothers Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley--the latter’s Oscar-winning hit, “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from “Dirty Dancing,” notwithstanding . . .

Still, the press turned out in force for the Walk of Stars ceremony, emceed by KTLA-TV’s weekend sportscaster Ed Arnold . . . Several television crews were there, along with a gaggle of local politicians who seemed happy to get whatever pre-election exposure they could . . .

And just so they won’t go to bed disappointed . . . County Supervisor Don R. Roth showed up . . . along with Anaheim Mayor pro-tem Irv Pickler and City Councilwoman Miriam Kaywood . . . Fountain Valley Mayor pro-tem Fred Voss . . . Santa Ana Mayor pro-tem Patricia McGuigan . . . Los Alamitos Mayor pro-tem Robert Wahlstrom . . . Costa Mesa Mayor pro-tem Orville Amburgy . . Now that their names have made a three-dot column, does that mean they’re celebs? . . . Not on your life, Virginia . . .

Keeler, who lived in Newport Beach for 26 years before moving to Rancho Mirage, graciously thanked everybody for coming . . . So did Bishop, who lives on Lido Isle . . .

Recalling the days when he really was a star, Bishop said he is writing a book called “I Was a Mouse in the Rat Pack.” . . . His one-liners haven’t changed . . . “By the way, I saw Dean the other day,” he told the crowd. “He looks great. His eyes are clear. He’s drinking Windex.” . . .

Over lunch, Keeler remembered that somebody at Warner Bros., where she starred in the Depression-era musicals “42nd Street,” “Footlight Parade” and “Gold Diggers of 1933,” once phoned to tell her she was getting a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame . . . “But I really don’t know where it is,” she said. “I never went to see it. I think it’s by a parking lot.” . . .

For the record: Keeler’s Walk of Fame star is at 6724 Hollywood Blvd. between Eva Marie Saint’s and George M. Cohan’s . . . Dick Powell, who played opposite Keeler in the films that made her famous, has three stars in Tinseltown . . . One of her former husbands, Al Jolson, also has three . . . Bishop has none . . .

With that in mind perhaps, Bishop asked officials of the Anaheim Hilton, which underwrites the county’s walk, not to erase his name in favor of a more famous one . . . He got a laugh . . . Don’t worry, Joey, there’s plenty of sidewalk left . . .

Country singer Lee Greenwood will be inducted in December. But Santa Ana College alumnus Diane Keaton already has indicated that she’s not interested in showing up to accept a star if it is bestowed, according to Cherie Kerr, president of Kerr & Associates, the Huntington Beach firm promoting the walk . . .

And the late John Wayne, who would be the most obvious choice for a sidewalk tribute, is not about to be inducted either, even as a dead former celebrity . . . Wayne’s “family fought us,” said Kerr. “The older kids didn’t want it. They said, ‘Anything you do, you have to give us money.’ ” . . .

It wouldn’t take much imagination to give a star to Gene Autry, though . . . He’ll be 81 at the end of September--Happy Birthday, Gene--which probably qualifies him as the county’s oldest living former star . . .

The trouble is, Autry has five sidewalk stars in Hollywood already . . . That’s almost as many as the county’s entire Walk of Stars roster to date . . . Autry has one each for films, records, television, radio and, believe it or not, live theater . . .

Did somebody say live theater? . . “They gave that star to him last year,” said Ana Martinez of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which manages the Walk of Fame. “I think they counted the rodeo shows.”

(Apologies to Walter Winchell . . . )