7 Amazing Facts About the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Visit the Hollywood district of Los Angeles and you'll walk on sidewalks like no other. This is where you'll find the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with copper and terrazzo stars bearing the names of some of Hollywood's most influential actors, directors, producers and even fictional characters. The Walk of Fame placed its first star in 1960 and, more than 60 years later, the institution continues to add between 20 and 30 names each year. These seven facts explore how this entertainment landmark came to be, the type of people it honors, and some of the twists and turns it's gone through along the way.

Hollywood Hotel Ceiling May Have Inspired Walk of Fame

The idea of ​​the Walk of Fame is credited to EM Stuartwho served as volunteer president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in the mid-1950s. According to the Walk of Fame website, Stuart wrote in 1953 that a monument like the walk would maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamor and excitement in every corner of the world.

In the 1950s, Hollywood was still at the center of the global entertainment industry, although its golden age had begun to fade by 1948, when the Supreme Court of the United States broke the monopolistic hold of movie studios over movie theaters. Stuart may have been motivated by a desire to preserve those glory days when the idea for the Walk of Fame began to take shape. Where Stuart got the idea for the Walk of Fame is a matter of debate, but the main theory is that the ceiling of the dining room of the Hollywood Hotel (demolished in 1956) depicted stars on which were wrote the names of famous actors and actresses. . Stuart may have simply brought this tradition of entertainment to the streets of Hollywood itself.

The first star added to the Walk of Fame belonged to filmmaker Stanley Kramer

To get the Hollywood Walk of Fame off to a good start and generate excitement, the creators made a sample walk in 1958, which included stars of Olive Borden, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedgwick, Ernest Torrence and Joanne Woodward. Although Woodward is often cited as the first recipient, the inaugural star was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today. belonged to director/producer Stanley Kramer (It's a crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy world, The Defiant Ones, guess who's coming to dinner); it was laid on March 28, 1960, near Hollywood Boulevard and Gower Street. However, Kramer soon became just one of many stars installed in just the first year.

The youngest person at the induction was 15-year-old Patty McCormack.

While it usually takes time to develop an entertainment career worthy of a Hollywood star, the actress Patty McCormack accomplished the feat in record time. As part of the initial creation of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, McCormack received a star at just 15 years old, making him the youngest person to receive the honor. Beginning her modeling career at age 4, she moved to television at age 7 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film. The bad seedwhen she was only 11 years old.

On the other end of the spectrum, the oldest living person to ever receive a Hollywood star was James Hong, 93 years oldwho was inducted in 2022. Hong has accumulated more than 400 screen credits during his decades-long career, including Blade Runner, Big problem in Little ChinaAnd Everything everywhere at the same time and oh, it's that a type of actor.

The Walk of Fame has stagnated for 8 years in the 1960s

Despite nearly seven years of planning and after installing nearly 1,600 stars in the first year, the Hollywood Walk of Fame took an eight-year hiatus almost immediately and did not induct any new stars until 1968. Some have attributed the delay to concerns over urbanization. decadence in the Hollywood area in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the Walk of Fame website states that the Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance in 1962 that required the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to reorganize its process selection and financing, a task that took years. Finally, in 1968, a new star belonging to producer Richard D. Zanuck was installed in front of the Graumans Chinese Theater (now TCL Chinese Theater).

However, the Walk of Fame has faced other difficult times and controversies over the years. A handful of stars have been stolen, damaged or vandalized; in many cases, the person depicted on the star later became a subject of controversy. Although petitions have often called for the removal of certain Hollywood stars, this will probably never happen, as the According to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce the memorial is a historic monument and the stars, once installed, are considered part of the historical fabric of the March.

Muhammad Ali is the only star not on earth

In 2002, world-famous boxer Muhammad Ali received a star on the Hollywood Walk of a Fame that was unlike any other because it wasn't on the field. Instead, Alis' star was installed on the wall of the Kodak Theater (now the Dolby Theater) entertainment complex. This exception was granted due to Ali's initial refusal to receive this honor because he did not want his name to be disrespected by people who had no respect for me by stepping on it. It wasn't about superstar ego (at least, not only), but a declaration of respect for what his name represented and his Muslim faith. “I am named after our beloved Prophet Mohammad,” Ali said at the time, “and it is impossible for me to allow people to trample on his name.” The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce granted his wishes and Ali's star, ranked 2,189th on the Walk of Fame, became the first and only star to ever be mounted on a wall.

One star comes with a $75,000 fee

Each year, the Walk of Fame committee receives approximately 200 nominations and selects approximately twenty candidates. However, the Walk of Fame East a non-profit organization, so nominees (usually their movie studios or record labels) have to fork over a lot of money if they want to join the ranks and like just about everything else, a star's prize Hollywood is subject to inflation. In 1987, a Hollywood star cost you around $3,500, but since 2024 this figure has increased. soared to $75,000, which covers the creation of the 300-pound star as well as installation, maintenance and things like flower arrangements after the honoree's death. Sometimes avid celebrity fans take it upon themselves to honor celebrities: In the early '90s, for example, Liza Minnelli was nominated by superfans who organized movie nights and bake sales to raise money. Note that celebrities are required to report to the facility, a rule known as Clause Springsteen after the New Jersey musician failed to show up to his own ceremony.

Not all Walk of Fame stars pay tribute to people

While the Hollywood Walk of Fame is a monument to the many people who made cinema what it is today, the popular memorial is not limited to Homo sapiens. Three dogs live can be found on the Walk of Fame including Strongheart, Rin Tin Tin and Lassie, who has been represented by a variety of border collies over the years. Although these are the only animal actors (Flipper was stolen), the Walk of Fame welcomes many other non-humans in the form of 19 fictional characters. This imaginary cohort includes such big screen luminaries as Big Bird, Godzilla, Pee-wee Herman, The Simpsons, Snow White and Woody Woodpecker. But perhaps the strangest addition to the Hollywood Walk of Fame is the Chevrolet Suburban, the only inanimate object to receive this honor. He has apparently starred in more more than 1,750 films.