[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.
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    *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

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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.