To be honored with a star in Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, the world’s most famous sidewalk, is a tribute as coveted and sought after as any of the entertainment industry’s equally prestigious awards — including the Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, Golden Mike or Tony. And, because it recognizes a life-long contribution of both public and peer appreciation, it is an honor uniquely in a class by itself. The Walk of Fame is a permanent monument of the past, as well as the present.
Envisioned in 1958 as a lasting tribute to the personalities who helped make Hollywood the most famous community in the world, the Walk continues today as a superior asset to the city, perpetuating the aura that has made the name Hollywood synonymous with glamour. The Walk remains one of the city’s most widely-seen tourist attractions.
Grauman’s-Chinese Theater
The grand opening of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on May 18, 1927, was the most spectacular theatre opening in motion picture history. Thousands of people lined Hollywood Boulevard and a riot broke out as fans tried to catch a glimpse of the movie stars and other celebrities as they arrived for the opening. The film being premiered that night was Cecil B. DeMille’s “The King of Kings,” which was preceded by “Glories of the Scriptures,” a live prologue devised by master showman Sid Grauman. A Wurlitzer organ and 65-piece orchestra provided music for the prologue. The theatre opened to the public the following day, May 19, 1927.
Previously, Grauman built the Million Dollar Theatre in downtown Los Angeles and the lavish Egyptian Theatre a few blocks from the Chinese, but he wanted to build his dream theatre. Real estate mogul C.E. Toberman helped him secure a long-term lease on a piece of property on the boulevard and Grauman developed the plans for the theatre with architect Raymond Kennedy. Norma Talmadge turned the first spade full of dirt in January 1926 and beautiful Chinese actress Anna May Wong drove the first rivet in the steel girders. Built at a cost of $2,000,000, eighteen months later the Chinese Theatre opened.
Beverly Hills
Attracted to an elegant lifestyle made possible by the Beverly Hills Hotel, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford led the wave of movie stars here when they built their mansion, Pickfair, in 1919. Gloria Swanson, Will Rogers, Thomas Ince, Charlie Chaplin, Tom Mix, Carl Laemmle, Ronald Coleman, King Vidor, John Barrymore, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Jack Warner, Clara Bow, Marion Davies, Harry Cohn and Rudolph Valentino soon followed and built stylish mansions.
Life during the Roaring 20s accelerated with the construction of a huge, banked wooden racetrack, dominating most of the southern section of the City. The Speedway drove Beverly Hills further toward the center of America’s popular imagination via radio broadcasts of races that were on the same scale as today’s Indy 500. The speedway also was sometimes used as a base for another national craze: aviation
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Guinness World Records Museum
This isn’t really a Hollywood museum
, so much as it is a museum located in the heart of Hollywood.
The Guinness World of Records is a new attraction located right on Hollywood Boulevard, just a block east of theChinese Theatre.
Given the sad state of affairs on the Boulevard back in 1994, we were grateful when anything new opened on that formerly faded thoroughfare. And at least this new museum contains a special section about Hollywood. It is also housed in the historic Hollywood Theatre, which was built in 1938 (although most of the theatre’s exterior is now hidden behind a gaudy new facade.)
As you might expect, the new Guinness museum is devoted to the same kind of world records that you would find in the famous Guinness Book of World Records - from the world’s heaviest man, to the world’s largest apple. Its displays include records set in sports, eating, architecture, the animal kingdom… you name it.
Kodak Theater-New Home of the Oscars
The Kodak Theatre is a live theatre in the Hollywood and Highland shopping mall and entertainment complex on Hollywood Boulevard and North Highland Avenue in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Since its opening on November 9, 2001, the theatre has been the home of the annual Academy Awards Ceremonies (The Oscars), which were first held there in March 2002, and is the first permanent home for the awards. Since 2002, the theater was also the home for American Idol.
The theatre was designed by David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group, and Theatre Projects Consultants specifically with the Oscars in mind. It has a seating capacity for up to 3,401 people. The stage is one of the largest in the United States, roughly tied with the Elliot Hall of Music at Purdue University, measuring 113 feet (34 m) wide by 60 feet (18 m) deep. The theatre was sponsored by the Eastman Kodak company, which paid $75 million to have its name associated with the building. It is owned by CIM Group.
Madame Tussauds Wax Museum
Madame Tussauds Hollywood is the place where you can “meet” celebrities under one roof! It is the best new interactive wax attraction in Los Angeles located next to the world famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Walk of Fame.
This is your chance to experience the glamour by getting up close and personal with over 100 incredible life-like wax figures from the world of film, music, sports and politics without velvet ropes and barriers between them. Spread over three floors of attraction space, your journey begins when you sashay down the red carpet at an award show. Step onto memorable movie blockbuster sets as you play the role of supporting actor and actress with your favorite stars. Say hello to the President of the United States, meet our giant huggable Shrek, shoot hoops with Kobe Bryant, have a saloon shoot out with John Wayne, learn the art of making wax figures with Beyonce, collect an award with Halle Berry and much more.
