Now 85 years later, a Petition For Writ of Certiorari was filed on January 11, 2024 in the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the fate of the star (#LeosLostStar) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded to the "Thanks For The Memory" Oscar-winning lyricist Leo Robin more than 33 years ago but never installed
SHERMAN OAKS, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 30, 2024 / With all the Oscar buzz surrounding the upcoming 96th annual Academy Awards, we remember back in 1939 when Leo Robin won the Oscar for Best Song for writing the lyrics to "Thanks for the Memory." Now 85 years later, a Petition For Writ of Certiorari was filed on January 11, 2024 in the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the fate of the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded to the "Thanks For The Memory" Oscar-winning lyricist Leo Robin more than 33 years ago but never installed. The grandson of the legendary songwriter brought a civil action on June 30, 2021 against the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Hollywood Chamber’s Board Of Directors, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Walk of Fame Committee for, among several causes, permanent injunctive relief to install the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded to the legendary lyricist.
The factual background in the petition tells how the grandson discovered the star, "It was a fortuitous search on the internet on July 6, 2017 that led Ora to something about his grandfather, the songwriter Leo Robin, that neither his family nor he knew anything about that happened more than 33 years ago-Robin was awarded a posthumous star…on the Walk of Fame in 1990. Stunned, he called the Walk of Fame and they said it was true and he learned that in 1988 both his grandmother, Cherie Robin, and actor Bob Hope sponsored Robin for a star, but sadly his grandmother passed away…more than one year before an acceptance letter…was sent out on June 18, 1990 to Mrs. Robin announcing this award, and Bob Hope was never notified. They informed him nothing like this had ever happened before where a letter was left unanswered and the star was never placed on the Walk of Fame, but unfortunately now in his attempt to see that Robin gets his star, the Hollywood Chamber has failed to honor its contractual obligation."
"On May 23, 2019, Ashley Lee from the Los Angeles Times…first breaks news on the giant newspaper’s website about the grandson’s serendipitous discovery…of Robin’s star in her investigated story, Leo Robin never got his Walk of Fame star. Now his grandson is fighting for it. Ms. Lee reported, "The envelope was returned to its sender and has since remained in the Chamber of Commerce’s records" and also tweeted at that time, "at first I didn’t believe that Leo Robin’s star had really slipped through the cracks" with a photo of that acceptance letter and the envelope stamped "Return to Sender."
"Throughout the past sixty years, the Hollywood Chamber has successfully kept track of 2,768 honorees…and has seen to it that each and every one of them received a star, which was then successfully installed on the Walk of Fame-except for Robin."
The questions presented are: "Plaintiff has tried all possible means ever since his discovery…of lyricist Leo Robin’s star to confer with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to install the star awarded to Robin on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the end, the Hollywood Chamber ultimately failed do the right thing by not fulfilling its obligation to install the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in accordance with the binding written contract. During the trial court proceedings the Plaintiff repeatedly argued the waiver of performance of conditions precedent by the Hollywood Chamber. The waiver issue was never fleshed out earlier because the trial court and the Hollywood Chamber failed to acknowledge, overlooked and /or avoided this salient legal argument. The Court of Appeal who generally reviews what has occurred during the trial court has ruled strictly on the Appellant’s argument regarding the waiver by the Hollywood Chamber of the conditions precedent."
"In this case of perilously profound impression, did the Court of Appeal violate the due process rights of Appellant when it arbitrarily disregarded allegations by the Appellant without a hearing at the eleventh hour based on its contention that those allegations characterize his correspondence with the Hollywood Chamber in a manner that conflicts with the actual text of that correspondence provided in the exhibits to determine that the Hollywood Chamber did not waive performance of the conditions precedent?"
Among the reasons for granting the petition, "This case presents an issue of perilously profound impression and consequences with substantial impact on all parties and their cases and the entire judicial system. An important Federal question of law is raised due to the Court of Appeal arbitrarily disregarding allegations of the Appellant. The Court of Appeal tossed out proven facts of the Appellant without a hearing at the eleventh hour on an issue never considered by the trial court "in a way that conflicts with relevant decisions of this Court."…It does not take much imagination to foresee the severe consequences of this type of reasoning, not only for this case, but for all cases and, in fact, for all parties in their pleadings. Any court could strike any allegation on a whim…."
"The California courts circled the wagons around their elitist-municipal-brethren Hollywood Chamber and trampled the due process rights of the Appellant. These violations of due process rights are extremely troubling given the high-stakes. The judicial system demands "equal protection of the laws." "We the people" don’t expect this irrational judicial function in this majestic country with a constitutional government. The Court of Appeal knew better than to overstep its judicial role; it flagrantly torpedoed the Appellant’s proven factual allegations and his constitutionally guaranteed rights. The decision by the Court of Appeal is "repugnant to the [rights claimed under the] Constitution"…and a travesty of justice."
"This case has far-reaching consequences beyond the individual case with statewide and nationwide historical and cultural significance…. The Supreme Court has broad discretion to determine whether to grant review to this case where there are high-stakes for a decision which impacts historical and cultural interests…. In the normal course of events, upon receiving notice of the award, Mrs. Robin would have been elated and immediately would have set the ceremony date. Unfortunately, this did not happen. Mrs. Robin did everything right except live long enough."
For more information, visit the official website of Leo Robin at http://leorobin.com/
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About Leo Robin:
The petition gives us background about the legendary songwriter from an article by "Variety . . . released on September 30, 2019 the feature news story, Thanks for the Memory: How Leo Robin Helped Usher In the Golden Age of Song in Film, by pop culture critic Roy Trakin. The piece opens up with "The centerpiece of [the grandson’s] . . . apartment is the 1939 Oscar his step-grandfather, the late lyricist Leo Robin, was presented for co-writing "Thanks for the Memory." . . . the trophy sits proudly on the piano where Robin worked on some of his biggest hits. . . . Leo’s tune . . . soon became Hope’s theme song . . . Over the course of 20 years, from 1934 (when the best original song category was introduced and he was nominated for "Love in Bloom") through 1954, Robin, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame who died in 1984 at the age of 84, earned 10 Oscar nominations (two in 1949 alone). His impressive catalog includes signature tunes for Maurice Chevalier ("Louise"), Jeanette McDonald ("Beyond the Blue Horizon"), Bing Crosby ("Please," "Zing a Little Zong"), Dorothy Lamour ("Moonlight and Shadows"), Jack Benny ("Love in Bloom"), Eddie Fisher ("One Hour With You"), Carmen Miranda ("Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat") and Marilyn Monroe ("Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend"). His songs have been covered by Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley ("Blue Hawaii"), Perry Como, James Brown and Billy Eckstine ("Prisoner of Love") as well as Frank Sinatra ("For Every Man There’s a Woman," "Thanks for the Memory"). "My Ideal," . . . is now a jazz standard with interpretations by Margaret Whiting, Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Art Tatum, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn and Tony Bennett, while "Easy Living" because (sic) a regular in the sets of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald."
CONTACT:
Scott D. Ora
President – Leo Robin Music
thanks4thememory@icloud.com
(818) 618-2572
Leo Robin (@LeoRobinMusic) / Twitter
SOURCE: Leo Robin Music
View the original press release on accesswire.com
