Hollywood Walk of Fame in California

The stars on the world-famous Hollywood Walk of Fame are located on both sides of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. Since the 1960s, more than 2,400 terrazzo and brass stars have been unveiled on Hollywood’s major sidewalks.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an internationally-recognized Hollywood icon. With about 24 induction ceremonies annually broadcast around the world, the constant reinforcement provided to the public has made the Walk of Fame a top visitor attraction. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is undoubtedly one of the most successful marketing ideas ever produced. Unfortunately, there is a lot of inaccurate information circulating about the history of the Walk. We present this brief history to set the record straight.

The man credited with the idea for creating a Walk of Fame, was E. M. Stuart, who served in 1953 as the volunteer president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. In that year, according to a Chamber press release he proposed the Walk as a means to "maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamour and excitement in the four corners of the world." He appointed a committee to begin fleshing out the idea and the architectural firm of Periera and Luckman was employed to develop some specific proposals. Where the original idea came from is not certain; however, the ceiling of the dining room of the historic Hollywood Hotel once had stars painted on the ceiling with the names of celebrities and that may have been a precursor of the idea to place stars in the sidewalks.

It was not until 1955 that the basic tenets of the proposal were agreed upon, and in that year, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce proceeded to secure the necessary signatures to present to the City for further action in the formation of an assessment district. These plans were crystallized and submitted to the Los Angeles City Council in January of 1956.

Today, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce continues to add stars to the Walk of Fame as the representative of the City of Los Angeles. An average of two stars are added to the Walk on a monthly basis. The Walk is a tribute to all of those who worked so hard to develop the concept and to maintain this world-class tourist attraction.

Address:
7018 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028

Read More