The
Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard
and Vine Street in
Hollywood, Los Angeles,
California
, USA
, that serves as an entertainment museum. It
is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the
names of not only human
celebrities but
also
fictional characters
honored by the Hollywood
Chamber of
Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry.
The Walk of Fame is maintained by the self-financing
Hollywood Historic Trust. The first eight stars
were dedicated in September 1958 and placed in the sidewalk on the
northwest corner of Hollywood Blvd. and
Highland Ave. They were
installed several months prior to the official 1960 Walk of Fame
ground-breaking so as to be ready when the new, twelve-story First
Federal Savings and Loan of Hollywood building was completed, in
January 1959. On February 9, 1960,
Joanne Woodward became the first performer
to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6801 Hollywood
Blvd.
Characteristics
The Walk of Fame runs west on Hollywood Boulevard from Gower Avenue
to
La Brea Avenue and south to north
on
Vine Street between Yucca Street and
Sunset Boulevard. The Walk of Fame
is nearly a three-and-a-half-(3 1/2)-mile (5.6 km) round-trip
walk. Locations of specific stars are permanent, except when
occasionally relocated for nearby construction or other
reasons.
Each star consists of a pink
terrazzo
five-pointed star rimmed with bronze and inlaid into a charcoal
square. Inside the pink star is the name of the honoree inlaid in
bronze, below which is a round bronze emblem indicating the
category for which the honoree received the star. The emblems are:
Motion picture camera for
contribution to the film industry
Television set for
contribution to the broadcast television industry
Phonograph record for
contribution to the recording industry
Radio microphone for
contribution to the broadcast radio industry
Twin comedy/tragedy masks for
contribution to live theater
There are a few exceptions.
Disneyland
's star has an emblem of a building, and honorary
mayor of Hollywood Johnny Grant's star depicts the Great Seal of
Hollywood. Former Los Angeles mayor
Tom Bradley has a star depicting the seal of the
city of Los Angeles.
Also, the crew of the Apollo XI mission are named in four identical
moons at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine
. CW network affiliate KTLA-TV (Channel 5)
was honored with a star on the Walk of Fame. The picture on KTLA's
star shows a satellite dish, even though KTLA is a terrestrial
television station.
Nominations are submitted annually by May 31, and the Walk of Fame
committee meets the following month to pick the next year's group
of honorees. Star ceremonies are open to the public and formerly
were led by honorary Hollywood mayor Johnny Grant prior to his
death in 2008.
History
Origins
The Walk of Fame began as a part of the
Hollywood Improvement Program,
a 1950s effort in neighborhood improvement. Garrie Thompson and
Gordon McWilliams, the owners of Anesco Construction Co., came up
with the idea as a way to generate some business for their company,
and brought it to the Program's attention in 1955 by creating a
prototype star made out of brown
terrazzo
with
John Wayne's name embedded in shiny
brass. The proposal gained support, so the Hollywood Chamber of
Commerce eventually chose 1,558 names from the worlds of radio,
recording, television and film to become the first honorees.
Construction started in 1958 and the HWOF was dedicated on February
8, 1960. The original stars were installed by Consolidated Terrazzo
Company; many honorees received multiple stars during the initial
phase of installation for contributions to separate
categories.
Although begun as an effort to promote
redevelopment, by the late 1960s, Hollywood
Boulevard had become a haven for
prostitutes and
drug
addicts; although the selection committee continued to exist
(with a single representative from each of the four original
categories), they went a decade without adding a new star.
In 1978,
the city of Los
Angeles
designated the Walk of Fame as a Los
Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. In 1980,
Johnny Grant, then a Hollywood Chamber of
Commerce member, agreed to lead an effort to revive the practice,
adding two new rules: honorees would be required to show up for a
Walk of Fame ceremony, and they would have to pay a USD 25,000 fee
to help pay for the HWOF's upkeep.
By 1994, more than 2,000 of the original stars were filled, and
additional stars extended the Walk west past Sycamore to La Brea
Avenue, where it now ends at the Silver Four Ladies of Hollywood
Gazebo (with stars honoring
The Beatles
and
Elvis Presley)
Restoration
In July 2008, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced that the Walk
of Fame was to undergo a
US$4.2-million
face-lift. 778 stars will have to be replaced because of the wear
and tear that they have undergone since they were first laid down.
Some of the stars have become so damaged that they are tripping
hazards to tourists who traverse the walk.
At the same time,
Hollywood Chamber announced the Friends of Walk of Fame program
will begin, with Absolut Vodka
becoming the first Friend; it will be given an award on private
property in front of the Kodak Theatre
, as the first major contributor to the restoration
process. This program is a collaboration between the
Hollywood Chamber and various city entities.
Firsts
- Gene Autry is the only person to have
been honored with all five possible stars, for his contribution in
each of the five categories.
- Diana Ross is one of only a handful
of celebrities to have two stars in the same category, one as a
member of The Supremes and one as a
solo artist. Michael Jackson was the
first to achieve this, through his solo career and as a member of
The Jackson Five. Smokey Robinson was honored first with a
star as a solo artist and then as a member of his original group,
The Miracles, who were honored on March
20, 2009.
- Anna May Wong is the only
Asian-American female to have a star (as of 2008); all other
Asian-Americans that have been awarded stars are male.
- In 1960, singer Jimmy Boyd became the
youngest to receive a star on the Walk Of Fame at only 20 years
old. On April 29, 2004, 18-year-old twins Mary-Kate and Ashley
Olsen became the youngest people in any category ever to
receive a star. Their star is outside the Kodak Theatre, near
Hollywood and Highland Mall.
- On November 18, 1978, in honor of his 50th anniversary,
Mickey Mouse became the first cartoon
character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is
located on 6925 Hollywood Blvd.
- In 2002, the Walk of Fame broke tradition with Muhammad Ali's star. His star is displayed
on a wall of the Kodak
Theatre, due to Ali's request that he not be walked
on.
- In 2005, companies became eligible for Walk-of-Fame-type stars;
the first recipient was Disneyland, in honor of its 50th
anniversary. Company awards are on private property near the Walk,
and not part of the Walk itself. Companies must have a strong
Hollywood presence and be at least fifty years old to qualify for
this award.
- In February 2006, Judith
Sheindlin (better known as Judge
Judy) was the first television judge awarded a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.Judge
Joseph Wapner became the second in 2009, although he preceded
Sheindlin on television.
- On
January 24, 2007, Los Angeles television
station and CW network affiliate KTLA-TV
(Channel 5)
became the first television service (station or network) to be
honored with a star on the Walk of Fame. The picture on
KTLA's star shows a satellite dish,
recognizing the station's pioneer status as the first West Coast TV
station carried by satellite to viewers from Greenland to
Panama.
Stolen stars
Four stars have been stolen from the Walk of Fame. Those of
James Stewart and
Kirk Douglas, which had been removed during a
construction project, were stolen from the site on Vine Street. The
culprit was a contractor who was later caught with the two stars,
damaged and unusable, but not until after they had been replaced.
One of
Gene Autry's stars was also taken
from another construction project.
It was later found in Iowa
. On
November 27, 2005, thieves sawed
Gregory
Peck's star out of the sidewalk near Gower; the star has been
replaced as of September 2006 but the thieves have not been
caught.
Surveillance cameras are being
placed in the walk district to catch thieves.
Nomination process
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Walk of Fame Committee is
responsible for selecting a new group of entertainers each year to
receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. New recipients are
announced each June for the following year. In order for a person
to get a star on the Walk of Fame, he or she must agree to attend a
presentation ceremony within five years of selection, and a fee
(currently $25,000, up from $15,000) must be paid to the Trust;
some of it ($5,000 of $15,000 in December 2003) is set aside for
maintenance and repair, with the rest going towards the
installation, security, publicity, and staging costs.
The fee is often paid by sponsors such as
film studios and
record companies, as part of the
publicity for a release with which the honoree is
involved.; as
Johnny Grant pointed out
in 2006: "These studios, when they want a star and they've got a
picture opening, they'd give you $100,000". On other occasions, the
fee is paid by a fan club.
List of stars
Gallery
Image:HollywoodWalkOfFameMoonAtHollywoodAndVine.JPG|One
of four identical moons honouring the crew of Apollo XI at the corner of Hollywood and
Vine.Image:Tom Petty Walk of Fame.JPG|For a music
achievement, the band itself will usually be named, instead of each
member.File:End-or-begining-of -the-Walk-of-Fame-at-dusk.JPG|The
canopy at the beginning of the "Walk of Fame" at dusk. The
Caryatids here are statues of actresses from the
early 20th century.
Types of stars:Television, Motion Pictures, Live Theater, Recording
and Radio.Image:Bugs Bunny Walk of Fame 4-20-06.jpg |
Bugs Bunny (2006) Star
for Excellence in 'Motion Pictures
. Image:The
Simpsons star.jpg |
The Simpsons
(2000) Star for Excellence in
'Television
. Image:Tom Petty Walk of Fame.JPG
|
Tom Petty & The
Heartbreakers (1999) Star for
Excellence in 'Recording
. Image:Spike Jones -
Star.jpg|
Spike Jones (2007) Star for Excellence in 'Radio
.Image:Walk Leistungen am Theater.jpg|
Star
for Excellence in 'Theater
.
Passed starsFile:Paderewski hollywood.jpg| Ignace
Paderewski
(1941) Star of passed Ignace Paderewski Image:Richard Pryor
Hollywood star 2.jpg| Richard Pryor
(2005)
Star of passed Richard Pryor
Image:Michael Jackson Star.JPG| Michael Jackson
(2009) Star of passed Michael
Jackson
See also
References
- Peter Frampton's star is a safety hazard? from
MSNBC
- Jet magazine, March 9, 2007; pg. 39.
- [http://alumni.american.edu/content.cfm?id=113
alumni.american.edu
- Hollywood Boulevard's Price of Fame, a December
2003 article from the Fox
News website
External links
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