The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a pavement along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States, which is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of not only human celebrities but fictional characters honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry. The first star, awarded on February 9, 1960, went to Joanne Woodward.

Characteristics

The Walk of Fame runs east to west on Hollywood Boulevard from Gower Street to La Brea Avenue and north to south on Vine Street between Yucca Street and Sunset Boulevard. Locations of specific stars are permanent, except when occasionally relocated for nearby construction or other reasons.

Each star consists of gold comprising a pink 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

However, Disneyland's star has an emblem of a building, and honorary mayor Johnny Grant's star depicts the Great Seal of Hollywood.

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 are led by Grant.

History

The Walk of Fame was created in 1958 by southern Californian artist Oliver Weismuller, who was hired by the city to give Hollywood a "face lift". Many honorees received multiple stars during the initial phase of installation for contributions to separate categories; however, the practice in recent decades has been to honor individuals not yet represented, with only a handful of previous honorees being awarded additional stars. In 1978, the City of Los Angeles designated the Walk of Fame as a Cultural/Historic Landmark.

The Walk of Fame began with 2,500 blank stars. A total of 1,558 stars were awarded during its first sixteen months. Since then, about two stars have been added per month. 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).

Maintenance

The Walk of Fame is maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. 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 $25,000 fee must be paid to the Trust for costs such as security at the star ceremony; a 2003 FOX News story noted that the fee is typically paid by sponsors such as film studios and record companies, as part of the publicity for a release with which the honoree is involved. On other occasions, the fee is paid by a fan club or the nominating person or organization. However, controversy and mystery surrounds the way the "Stars" are nominated and approved, as discussed in a 2001 ABC News story that interviewed honorary Hollywood mayor Johnny Grant.

Stolen stars

Four stars have been stolen from the Walk of Fame. Those of Jimmy 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.

Trivia

• Gene Autry is the only person to have been honored with all five possible stars, for his contribution in each of the five categories.
• At Hollywood and Vine, a moon on each of the four corners commemorates the Apollo 11 astronauts. Each astronaut - (Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin) - has a star and there is a joint star for NASA's entire Apollo 11 mission team.
• In 2003, Britney Spears became the youngest singer to accept a star on the Walk of Fame at only 21 years old. With this achievement, Spears tied with former "Little House on the Prairie" actress Melissa Gilbert for being the youngest person to accept a Walk of Fame star.
• 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.
• There are two film actors named Harrison Ford with stars. The first Harrison Ford was a silent film actor in the 1910s–20s. The second is the present-day Harrison Ford, of Star Wars and Indiana Jones fame.
• Fictional characters that have stars include Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Godzilla, Kermit the Frog, The Simpsons, The Rugrats, Big Bird, Snow White, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh and Woody Woodpecker.
• 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, denoting a television broadcast station.
• The Walk of Fame is nearly a three and a half (3 1/2) mile walk, roundtrip.
• In 2002, the Walk of Fame broke tradition with Muhammad Ali's star. His star is displayed on a wall of the Fuji Theater, due to Muhammad's request that he not be walked on.^[1]
• Vince McMahon will be receiving a star; he will be the first person to hold a professional wrestling title to have a star on the walk.
• There have been 4 unsuccessful attempts to secure a star for Cheeta the Chimp on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Filmmaker Matt Devlen is again organizing another campaign for 2007.
• There is a campaign to get Weird Al Yankovic a star on the walk.^[2]
• Singers Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera are planned to receive stars on the walk.^[3]
• 3 fictional dogs have stars on the walk:Lassie, Rin-Tin-Tin and Strongheart.
• Ricky Martin is set to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

List of stars

Main article: List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Gallery

Bob Hope's Star for Television on the Walk of Fame	Frank Sinatra's star for music on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.	Bugs Bunny's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame	Kermit the Frog's Star for television on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Jerry Lewis' Star for Film	Humphrey Bogart's star	The Simpsons star	Some people vandalize the unassigned stars by writing their own names.
One of four identical moons honoring the astronauts of Apollo XI at the corner of Hollywood and Vine.	The Dead End Kids' Star for film on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

See also

• Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong
• Avenue of Stars, London
• Hollywood and Vine
• Grauman's Chinese Theater
• Canada's Walk of Fame
• St. Louis Walk of Fame
• Hollywood's Rockwalk

References

External links

• Hollywood Walk of Fame official website
• Hollywood Walk of Fame at Seeing-Stars.com
• Hollywood Boulevard's Price of Fame, a December 2003 article from the FOX News website
• Virtual Hollywood Walk of Fame |Buy your own Star
• Scientists' Walk of Fame - a prank by Caltech students on May 4, 2005

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