WILLIAM GALLIENNE

Eron Ben-Yehuda

When William Gallienne arrived as a teenager in 1910, Huntington Beach

was a sleepy little town with no paved streets, no street lights and only

one cafe. But he had a vision of the city as a major resort destination,

which he tirelessly promoted as secretary manager of the Chamber of

Commerce.

When Gallienne started working for the chamber, you couldn’t wake this

town up, said Alicia Wentworth, 73, a resident since 1947. He stirred some excitement, she said.

Serving as the city’s main booster during his 30-year career, Gallienne

orchestrated the Fourth of July and Christmas parades, Black Gold Days

celebrations, and a convention known as the Twin-O-Ramas, when twins from

all over the country gathered in Huntington Beach during the 1940s and

1950s.

His take-charge attitude in countless civic events earned him the

nickname “El Generalissimo.”

“Anything that was Huntington Beach, he was involved in,” said Jerry

Person, a local historian whose columns regularly appear in the

Independent. “He basically ran the city.”

The city’s top public relations man was blessed with a fine tenor voice

and a flare for showmanship. He promoted and performed in the Huntington

Beach Municipal Band. During Sunday afternoon concerts at the beach,

Gallienne would bring tears to people’s eyes when he played solos such as

“Till the Sands of the Desert Grow Cold.”

This sunny seaside town was a long way from the place of his birth in

1895 on the island of Guernsey, between England and France. In 1910, he

immigrated with his family to America. After arriving in New York, he

traveled west to Los Angeles before taking the Pacific Electric’s Red Car

to what became his adopted home.

Gallienne served as secretary manager of the chamber until his death in

1965. His funeral was one of the largest ever held in the county. All 25

Chamber of Commerce directors acted as honorary pallbearers. George

Putnam, a popular Los Angeles newscaster, delivered a eulogy to Gallienne

on the evening news.

The city now welcomes 11 million visitors annually, and in addition to

the Waterfront Hilton, at least two more hotels along the shoreline are

in the works. Gallienne’s dream of making Huntington Beach a vacation

getaway has largely been realized.

Source: “Huntington Beach, the Gem of the South Coast” by Diann Marsh