    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [December 4, 2005]
    [Pages 1804-1808]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Kennedy Center Honors Reception
    December 4, 2005

        Please be seated. Thanks for coming, and welcome to the White House.
    The annual reception for the Kennedy Center Honors is always a memorable
    event, and Laura and I are happy you all could
    join us. We extend a special welcome to this year's honorees and to
    their families and friends.
        The Kennedy Center Honors are presented for exceptional
    accomplishment in the performing arts. Once again, the Center

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    has selected five extraordinary Americans for this high distinction.
    Each of these honorees, in a lifetime of achievement, has set a standard
    of excellence that is admired throughout the world. All of them have
    earned a unique place in the cultural life of the United States and a
    special respect among their fellow Americans.
        The first Kennedy Center Honors were presented in 1978 to a group
    that included the eminent choreographer, George Balanchine. And on that
    stage that evening, dancing in tribute was the great Suzanne
    Farrell. Together, Balanchine and Farrell
    gave the world of ballet one of the rarest and most successful
    collaborations in history. He created masterpieces just for her, and no
    one epitomizes the style and grace of Balanchine choreography as much as
    Suzanne Farrell.
        She first came to New York from
    Cincinnati. And only after a year at the American School of Ballet, she
    made her professional debut in 1961. Before long, word began to
    circulate there was something new--someone new, someone very special at
    the New York City Ballet. When she took the stage as Dulcinea in Don
    Quixote, she became a sensation. In that performance, a reviewer said,
    Suzanne Farrell was ``absolutely flawless, technically impeccable, light
    as a bubble, perfect in line and style.''
        In hundreds of performances over a 28-year period, Suzanne
    Farrell was never known to depart from that
    standard. This was a ballerina who had it all, grace, strength, and the
    ability to act, turn, and jump with perfection. During classes,
    Balanchine often coached dancers with three words: ``Do like Suzanne.''
    [Laughter]
        In performances as diverse as ``Agon,'' ``Theme and Variations,''
    ``Scotch Symphony,'' and ``Clarinade,'' she
    had a mesmerizing effect on her audiences. Watching her was said to be
    ``one of the sublime theatrical experiences of an era.'' One admirer
    said that Suzanne was a dancer who ``made audiences sweat.'' This
    remarkable lady is now guiding a new generation of dancers as the leader
    of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet.
        In the words of one of her dancers, Suzanne ``inspires you. You want to give her everything you
    have because she meets you each step of the way.'' She does this every
    day with the spirit and the patience and the kindness of a truly lovely
    woman. She is widely appreciated as the greatest ballerina this country
    has produced, and the United States of America is proud to honor Suzanne
    Farrell.
        Julie Harris discovered very early in
    life she loved to act, and the world discovered that she was better at
    the craft than almost anyone else. Fifty years ago, when her beautiful
    face was on the cover of Time magazine, the story inside offered the
    confident and accurate prediction that she would be a star ``for the
    rest of her life.''
        Julie Harris has excelled in every
    forum she has attempted, from historical drama to tragedy, to musical
    comedy, to Shakespeare. She is known for one of the most hauntingly
    loving--lovely voices in theater, and she stands nearly alone in the
    depth and range of her talent. She became a star on Broadway at age 24,
    playing a 12-year-old girl in ``The Member of the Wedding,'' and was
    nominated for an Oscar when she played the same role for film. Whatever
    age or personality or struggle the role calls for, Julie Harris can fill
    it, with meaning and feeling and complete believability. She has
    thrilled audiences as St. Joan of Arc and Mary Todd Lincoln and Florence
    Nightingale, Queen Victoria, and Emily Dickinson.
        Her greatest admirers, perhaps, are her
    fellow actors. Boris Karloff said Julie ``is always in complete control
    of herself, just as a fine pianist is always the master of his music.''
    The screen pioneer, Ethel Barrymore, put it even more simply. She said,
    ``The girl can do anything.'' [Laughter]
        The most respected actress in American theater has received five
    Tony Awards--more than any other performer--plus a

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    Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. She has also won a Grammy and three Emmys and has
    appeared in many television plays and motion pictures. In her career,
    Julie Harris has starred with Robert Redford, George C. Scott, Lauren Bacall,
    Shelley Winters, and Sir Lawrence Olivier.
    She's the girl who appeared opposite James Dean in the ``East of Eden.''
        Julie Harris has been called Broadway's
    ``tiniest tower of strength,'' a woman of deep intelligence and
    discipline. She is known, as well, for her gentle spirit. As one stage
    manager put it, Julie Harris is ``an angel--everyone loves her.'' It's
    hard to imagine the American stage without the face, the voice, and the
    limitless talent of Julie Harris. She has found happiness in her life's
    work, and we thank her for sharing that happiness with the whole world.
        There was a time when Robert Redford thought his life's work might be as a baseball player.
    [Laughter] Well, he went to college on an athletic scholarship, but his
    interests soon turned to the arts and eventually to acting. Years later,
    when he was hitting home runs as the character, Roy Hobbs, a reviewer of
    the film said this: ``Robert Redford reminds those who need reminding
    that he is one of the perfect male film stars, extraordinarily handsome,
    effortlessly fascinating, and enormously talented. His role here gives
    us ample chance to see another kind of `natural' in his element.''
        For more than four decades, Robert Redford has been one of America's most watchable and credible
    actors. From early appearances and televised plays and on Broadway, he
    moved easily into the film and into film history. We all remember his
    finest dramatic roles, with Barbra Streisand in ``The Way We Were,'' with his notebook in ``All the
    President's Men,'' on the election trail in ``The Candidate,'' and in
    the Utah wilderness as ``Jeremiah Johnson.'' Paired with Paul
    Newman in two legendary films, Robert Redford
    also proved to be an actor with flawless comic timing, and he earned an
    Oscar nomination for his role in ``The Sting.''
        In his capacity to grow and to excel as an artist, Robert
    Redford has shown very few
    limitations. In 1980, he decided to try working behind the camera. The
    result was ``Ordinary People,'' and it won him the Oscar for best actor
    [director].* Soon afterward, he founded a workshop for independent
    American filmmakers at Sundance, which has done so much to encourage and
    teach emerging filmmakers.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        *White House correction.
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        Robert Redford is a public-
    spirited man, a Westerner who cares about the issues. He knows what he
    believes, and he's not afraid to tell people. [Laughter] Over the years,
    he's had a strong influence on public policy. [Laughter] And it doesn't
    hurt--[laughter]--and it doesn't hurt that he's quite a charismatic guy.
    [Laughter] One time, he found himself speaking in front of a group of
    people in a profession he didn't think too much of. So he stepped to the
    mike and gave them a piece of his mind. When he finished, one of the
    people that he had just scolded rushed right up and said, ``Did you
    really make the jump off the cliff in `Butch Cassidy'?'' [Laughter]
        When Robert Redford speaks, you
    hear more than an actor or director. You hear the voice of an active,
    passionate, committed citizen. His family can be proud that this man
    they love is one of the most familiar faces in the world, one of the
    biggest names in movies, and an alltime favorite of his fellow
    Americans. Congratulations.
        Tina Turner's life began in Tennessee in a
    town called Nutbush. [Laughter] I've never been there, but--[laughter]--
    I've passed a few sign wavers who apparently want me to know about it.
    [Laughter] As a girl, she worked in the cotton fields and sang in the
    church choir. In her amazing journey, Tina Turner went on to sell tens
    of millions of records and earned a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of
    Fame.

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        She's written music classics and a
    bestselling book. And a movie about her life was nominated for two
    Oscars. As a performer, Tina Turner is known to ``transcend age, gender,
    race, and social status.'' On one of her tour stops in Texas, a concert
    reviewer described an audience that included ``college students, and
    biker chicks wearing jeans and leather vests, ten-gallon-hat-wearing
    cowboys, and finger-snapping grandpas.'' [Laughter] Everyone was there
    for the same reason--to see one of the greatest live entertainers ever
    to come out of the United States.
        Tina Turner, it has been said, ``commands
    that stage with the sheer force of her full-throttle voice and magnetic
    presence.'' People stand in wonder at the natural skill, the energy and
    sensuality, and the most famous legs in show business. [Laughter] Behave
    yourself. [Laughter]
        Her voice has been described as combining
    ``Otis Redding's husky break and James Brown's growl with some of Aretha Franklin's soaring cadences.'' She moves better and faster than
    dancers less than half her age; she does it all in four-inch high heels.
    [Laughter]
        She first became a star in the ``Ike and
    Tina Turner Revue.'' She made music history with a rendition of ``Proud
    Mary'' that no artist could ever hope to match. It won the Grammy and
    still wins her fans.
        In the 1970s, the brave lady had to start
    over again, on her own. It was a hard time. All she owned in the world
    was her stage name and her God-given talent. These, combined with her
    persevering character, led to a phenomenal solo career. A single album,
    ``Private Dancer,'' sold more than 12 million copies, and the year it
    was released won her three Grammys. She has produced a string of hits
    that are familiar across the world, including ``What's Love Got To Do
    With It?'' and ``Simply The Best.'' She has played before some of the
    largest concert crowds ever assembled, and each time, every eye is
    trained on the stage, not wanting to miss a single note or a single move
    by this electrifying artist.
        There's nobody quite like Tina Turner, and
    in the arc of her life, there is so much to admire--the incredible
    musical gifts, the inner strength, and the moral courage. She's a woman
    of achievement and elegance and class. And it's an honor to welcome you
    to the White House.
        Tony Bennett once said, ``What I try to do
    is give a performance and have everybody say, `God, I love that song.'
    '' Well, he's known that satisfaction throughout his career. When you
    hear the title of a Tony Bennett song, all at once you can hear the man
    singing it--``Fly Me to the Moon,'' ``The Good Life,'' ``The Best Is Yet
    To Come,'' ``Just in Time.''
        This son of New York made his singing debut
    as a little boy in 1936, standing beside Mayor LaGuardia at the opening
    of the Triborough Bridge. Much time has passed, and at this point, the
    Triborough Bridge is showing some age. [Laughter] The little boy who
    sang that day is still looking pretty good. [Laughter]
        Perhaps his biggest professional break came
    in the late 1940s, when he was opening for Pearl Bailey in Greenwich
    Village, and she introduced him to Bob Hope. When he learned this young
    man's name was Anthony Dominick Benedetto, Mr. Hope said, ``That's too
    long for the marquee, let's simplify it and call you Tony Bennett.''
        Soon he was one of the great nightclub
    singers, performing through the years with the likes of Duke Ellington
    and Count Basie and appearing on the ``Tonight Show'' as Johnny Carson's
    first guest. When Tony recorded ``I Left My Heart in San Francisco,'' he
    won his first Grammy, and the song took him from the clubs to Carnegie
    Hall. From that day to this, he's been playing to sellout crowds. He's
    won a total of 11 Grammys and a lifetime achievement award.
        And it's a symbol of his endurance that this man who was making records when

    [[Page 1808]]

    Harry Truman lived in the White House has become a favorite of the MTV
    generation. As one newspaper declared, ``Tony Bennett has not just
    bridged the generation gap, he demolished it.'' [Laughter] The vocal
    style and interpretive skill of Tony Bennett are without equal. And no
    other singer is held in higher regard by his fellow entertainers. B.B.
    King once said, ``To be near him is a
    highlight of my life. I've met two Presidents in office; I've met the
    Pope, Pavarotti--and Tony Bennett.''
    [Laughter] Frank Sinatra declared that Tony Bennett was the best singer
    in his lifetime.
        His vocal talent and love for music came
    from his dad, John Benedetto, who passed away when Tony was 10 years
    old. In his memoir, Tony writes that John was a ``very poetic man, full
    of love and warmth, who sang with a gentle, sensitive voice I can still
    hear.'' Tony's mom, Anna, undoubtedly saw those same qualities in her
    son. He called her, ``my one guiding star.'' And in a long life, Anna
    watched her boy rise to the top and remain there.
        Tony Bennett is also a very talented
    painter whose work is widely exhibited and admired. He's a deeply
    committed humanitarian. He's a man of character who served in the U.S.
    Army in World War II, and he marched for civil rights with Martin Luther
    King, Jr.
        Of his career, Tony Bennett has said, ``The
    audience has been beautiful to me.'' And the sentiment is entirely
    mutual. Everybody likes the man. He's been aptly described as ``the kind
    of celebrity who cabdrivers call by his first name.'' We're joyful that
    he remains a friendly presence in American life, an entertainer still at
    the top of his game, and a voice we love to hear. Tonight our Nation
    honors Mr. Tony Bennett.
        Each of these honorees has enriched our culture and reflected credit
    on our great country. It's a true pleasure to be in their company and to
    let them know just how much they mean to the people of the United
    States. Congratulations. Thanks for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:13 p.m. on the State Floor at the White
    House.