Stars Have Been Here . . . but Who Knew?

Got a letter from Steve Allen once.

I don’t mean Steve Allen, the accountant. I mean Steve Allen, the entertainer-comedian, songwriter, actor, not to mention producer, essayist, novelist. Founding host of “The Tonight Show.” Perhaps the term “Renaissance man” should be reserved for the likes of, say, Thomas Jefferson. But few people of Hollywood have a resume to match Steve Allen’s.

But this story isn’t about Hollywood, it’s about the San Fernando Valley. Or rather, let’s surrender ourselves to the hoopla and call it “the Valley of the Stars.”

Anyway, Allen wrote to chide me for an error of omission. My reaction might be summed up as, “Steve Allen? Cool.” I try not to be a sucker for celebrities, but his old daytime talk show was, as we kids put it, a crackup. Once there was a guest (Jack LaLanne?) talking about his diet regimen.

Allen: “Do you take vitamins?”

Guest: “I don’t believe in vitamins.”

Allen: “But I’ve seen them!”

If seeing is believing, well, it will take time to see what comes of the inaugural black-tie “Valley of the Stars Gala” Saturday night at Walt Disney Studios. Allen will be the master of ceremonies and the feted will include such proverbial living legends as Gene Autry and John Wooden, both longtime Valley residents.

The theme song will be--what else?--”The Start of Something Big.”

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Perhaps you’ve seen the “Valley of the Stars” banners adorning certain boulevards. This is, just like Saturday night’s to-do, all part of an aggressive image make-over for the San Fernando Valley to capitalize on the fact that there’s much more Hollywood in the Valley now than there is within view of the Hollywood sign.

What’s happening here is salesmanship, the San Fernando Valley being the product. Born in the rubble of the Northridge earthquake, the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley was formed with federal recovery money and organized by business groups such as the United Chambers of Commerce, the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., and Valley Economic Development Center. The Economic Alliance’s turf encompasses five cities--Los Angeles, Glendale, Burbank, Calabasas and San Fernando.

“The goal here is to try to celebrate some of the outstanding citizens in the Valley--to celebrate them in a way that hasn’t happened in the past,” says William C. Allen, who is president of the Economic Alliance and also happens to be the son of Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows. (“I didn’t have to do a lot of arm-twisting.”)

It’s nice that the “stars” to be feted also include El Camino Real High’s national Academic Decathlon champs and the Glendale Symphony Orchestra, marking its 75th year. Whether car dealers can be accorded “living legend” status, I’m not sure, but Bert Boeckmann of Galpin Ford, the nation’s ranking No. 1 dealership, rounds out the honorees.

But it is celebrity cachet, the star status, that is driving the Valley’s marketing effort. The Valley, in fact, has never been lacking for image, though Valley residents haven’t always been happy about it.

It was L.A.’s original great suburb, a place for the World War II generation to stake a claim on the American Dream. Middle class sensibilities made it a natural butt of jokes for Westsiders. This was the birthplace of Proposition 13 and a nationwide tax revolt. The Valley’s many shopping malls spawned the Valley Girl phenomenon, and a teen dialect that spread from coast-to-coast. In Southern California, the San Fernando Valley is The Valley. People in Santa Clarita refer to “our Valley.” The San Gabriel is sometimes called The Other Valley.

It’s ironic, however, that the Valley would now want to trade on its share of Hollywood glitz. Stars have lived in the Valley as long as Hollywood has had stars.

Charlie Chaplin once lived here and Buster Keaton is a former honorary mayor of Woodland Hills. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard had an estate in Encino, since razed for more development. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz lived on the Valley’s north side, not too far from Dale Evans and Roy Rogers, may he rest in peace.

Rogers covered the song “San Fernando Valley” a couple years after fellow Valleyite Bing Crosby first crooned about how he was “gonna settle down and never more roam, and make the San Fernando Valley my home.” Bing’s old sidekick Bob Hope still lives in Toluca Lake, just a few minutes’ drive from Gene Autry in Studio City. In deference to Steve Allen, let me note here that Gordon Jenkins wrote the words and music to “San Fernando Valley.”

When Steverino wrote me, he wanted to point out that I erred in solely crediting Gene Autry for the hit “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Autry wrote many of the songs that he sang, Allen pointed out, but Johnny Marks wrote “Rudolph.”

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This “Valley of the Stars” business is all about attracting tourists, new businesses and skilled workers to the Valley. Bill Allen says they want tourists to know that they can see stars at tapings at NBC Studios and maybe bump into one at a Jerry’s Famous Deli or another spot along Ventura Boulevard.

Growing up on Woodvale Road in Encino, Bill Allen was used to stars. There were mom and dad, of course, and Shirley MacLaine and Mary Tyler Moore lived down the street. Liberace wasn’t far away, with his famous piano-shaped swimming pool. Dennis Weaver was around the corner.

Growing up in Orange County, I remember the time kinfolk came out from Alabama. We piled into the car, got one of those Maps to the Stars Homes and cruised Beverly Hills. Standing outside the gates of “The Beverly Hillbillies” mansion was a thrill. Later we saw a man in a snazzy convertible and we knew he was somebody. We all turned and looked and he smiled and waved. Our trip was complete.

Now I try to act the part of a jaded Angeleno. But if the Valley of the Stars really wants to make tourists happy . . .

No way, says Bill Allen.

“We literally had people driving up our driveway and taking pictures of the home,” he says. “On behalf of all my celebrity friends, I will discourage that.”

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Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to him at The Times’ Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311, or via e-mail at scott.harris@latimes.com. Please include a phone number.