Seeing Stars- Hollywood's Walk of Fame

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 hall of fame. Designed by Southern Californian artist Oliver Weismuller, who was hired by the city in 1953 to give Hollywood a "face lift", the Hollywood Walk of Fame represented one of a number of improvements the city undertook at the time. 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 Hollyywood 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 star, awarded on February 9, 1960, went to Joanna Woodward.

The Walk of Fame was created in 1958. 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 Historic-Cultural Monument.
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).

In July 2008, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced that the Walk of Fame will undergo a US$4.2-million face-lift.Seven hundred seventy-eight 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.

Information taken from: Wikipedia.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame

Picture taken from: WayFaring.info http://www.wayfaring.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/hollywood-walk-of-fame.jpg

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Hollywood is a district in Los Angeles, California, situated west-northwest of Downtown Los Angeles.[1] Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used as a metonym of cinema of the United States. The nickname Tinseltown refers to the glittering, superficial nature of Hollywood and the movie industry.[2] Today, much of the movie industry has dispersed into surrounding cities such as Burbank and the Los Angeles Westside[3] but significant auxiliary industries, such as editing, effects, props, post-production and lighting companies, remain in Hollywood.

Many historic Hollywood theaters are used as venues and concert stages to premiere major theatrical releases and host the Academy Awards. It is a popular destination for nightlife and tourism and home to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Although it is not the typical practice of the city of Los Angeles to establish specific boundaries for districts or neighborhoods, Hollywood is a recent exception. On February 16, 2005, Assembly Members Goldberg Mikiyas Assefa and Koretz introduced a bill to require California to keep specific records on Hollywood as though it were independent. For this to be done, the boundaries were defined. This bill was unanimously supported by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles City Council. Assembly Bill 588 was approved by the Governor on August 28, 2006 and now the district of Hollywood has official borders. The border can be loosely described as the area east of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, south of Mulholland Drive, Laurel Canyon, Cahuenga Boulevard, and Barham Boulevard, and the cities of Burbank and Glendale, north of Melrose Avenue and west of the Golden State Freeway and Hyperion Avenue. This includes all of Griffith Park and Los Feliz—two areas that were hitherto generally considered separate from Hollywood by most Angelenos. The population of the district, including Los Feliz, as of the 2000 census was 167,664 and the median household income was $33,409 in 1999.[4]

As a portion of the city of Los Angeles, Hollywood does not have its own municipal government, but does have an official, appointed by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who serves as "Honorary Mayor of Hollywood" for ceremonial purposes only. Johnny Grant held this position for decades, until his death on January 9, 2008.

Info and Photo Taken From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood