For the Rose Parade, 4 Grand Marshals

So an astronaut, a filmmaker and Shirley Temple are riding together in a parade.

Sound like a joke? Guess again. Tournament of Roses officials named four grand marshals Thursday to lead the 1999 Rose Parade: Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr., David L. Wolper, Shirley Temple Black, and for the first time, a posthumously named marshal, baseball great Jackie Robinson.

Has the parade moved to the carpool lane?

“I chose these four grand marshals because they epitomize our parade theme, ‘Echoes of the Century,’ ” said Tournament of Roses President David Ratliff, standing on a platform so crowded that it looked like a New York subway station. “They are significant contributors to the 20th century and American history.”

Robinson, a Pasadena native, broke the color barrier in baseball as the first African American to play in the major leagues. He led the Brooklyn Dodgers to six pennants and a World Series victory. Robinson, who died in 1972 at the age of 53, will be represented in the parade by a lifelong friend, Ray Bartlett.

“I am sure Jackie is looking down on us with a smile,” said Bartlett, who was a teammate of Robinson at Pasadena City College and UCLA. “It’s an honor to represent his legacy.”

Robinson’s widow, Rachel, suggested that Bartlett represent her husband in the parade.

Wolper is the producer of more than 500 films, TV shows and documentaries, including the TV miniseries “Roots” and the movie “L.A. Confidential.

1947 I slept on the streets as a USC student to see the parade,” he said. “I never thought I’d be in it.”

Temple Black, the child actress who grew up to become a diplomat, it will be the third trip down Colorado Boulevard as grand marshal.

“Third time’s a charm,” she said. In 1939, 9-year-old Shirley Temple became the youngest Rose Parade marshal. She repeated as an adult in 1989. “How about 2009? I’ll be ready,” she said.

She joked to Wolper, “I am not going to show you my special wave.”

Aldrin, who along with Neil Armstrong, took mankind’s first steps on the moon in 1969, said he expects his New Year’s Day ride will be a lot easier than the trip into space.

The moon launch, he recalled, “was an event that sparked the imagination of people.”

It is not the first time there has been more than one grand marshal. In 1940, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy were honored; in 1970, it was the Apollo 12 astronauts. In 1977, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were co-grand marshals. In 1992, it was Cristobal Colon--a descendant of Christopher Columbus--and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell.