Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles

The Hollywood Walk of Fame extends for more than 2 mi/3 km along Hollywood Boulevard.

Insets honoring Hollywood stars and other entertainment industry professionals fill the square in front of the Chinese Theater and are placed several spaces apart along the sidewalks in the area.

This section of Hollywood was once a hot spot of town, elegant and always attracting the rich and famous. Over the years, it became quite runned down, sprinkled with the drugged out homeless of the city and the expectant tourist looking for Hollywood's glory days was very disappointed.

Update:

Well, the-powers-that-be finally took a realistic look at what had happened to this most famous area of Los Angeles and began to regenerate this whole section. Now it is becoming the hot spot again. Even Grauman's Chinese Theatre got it's name back!

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My name is not there. I had no time to follow all the walk, but I think that I'm the only movie star missing there. I knew 85, wrote down more 4322 names, and I'm studying why are they famous.

I promise to end before 2053, to go back there and get some more. And to check if mine is already there!

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Hollywood Walk of Fame is the sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard that houses about 2,000 five pointed stars with the names of famous stars and celebrities, not only humans (actors, singers etc) but also figures like Mickey Mouse, Godzilla (pic 1), Simpsons etc All the stars come from television/film/recording and radio industry and they are honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry. The first stars were placed here in the 50s.

Ok, nothing to get excited with this attraction, we just walked some blocks checking for stars we know/like but although it’s boring dont forget that it’s for free :) If you want to see them all you have to walk about 5 kilometres! If you’re looking for a specific star you may search on web in advance and know the exact spot with the address and info about it.
Along the way we met several people that work as mimics of famous celebrities, some of them were really good, we saw several Michael Jacksons for sure (pic 2) This what they do for living you know so you must give a dollar or two for a picture with Elvis, Superman or Darth Vader :)

The Hollywood Walk of Fame might go on for nearly four miles, but there is help to slay this dragon. The Web Site http://www.hwof.com is a great resource. It tells you where all the stars are located by both address and GPS lat/long. If you see a star and don't know who it is, don't work, use the site and they will tell you the story behind the star and even give you a photo of that star that you probably recognize by site only. And the great news, is that there is a version formatted for the mobile phone at http://www.hwof.mobi.

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One of the things I wanted to do while in Hollywood was to get a photo of Michael Jackson's star which you can see below. I also took a few shots of some of my favorite entertainers which are also shown in the photos. The stars are located along a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard with some of the major stars located in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Right in front of the theatre are autographs and footprints along with notes, artwork etc... by some stars etched into the cement. I didn't take any photos of those because of the lighting situation.

I have to say it was fun seeing these stars until I found Michael Jackson's star and something just clicked. I stood there looking at his star deeply saddened that especially on this particular day, October 28th - the day his "This Is It" was opening in theatres across the country, his star lay etched into the ground, alone and with people just mindlessly walking over it oblivious to the fact it was there. The larger than life megastar musician of whom there will never be another comparable to his talent is immortalized with a star along Hollywood Blvd. Somehow this bothered me and I realized though these stars are recognition for entertainers and a novelty for tourists, they really don't mean that much in the grand scheme of life.

On a humorous note I was walking along the boulevard and came across a few people laughing hysterically surrounding a particular star. I went over to see who it was and found Judge Judy's star amongst the Hollywood elite. Judge Judy? The Absolut Vodka star makes more sense than Judge Judy. Don't get me wrong, I love watching her but a star in Hollywood? I had to join in the laughter over that one.

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The cast of characters roaming Hollywood Boulevard is really quite a novelty. I first thought that maybe these people were just dressed up for Halloween but when talking to my superhero in the above photo, I found out that these people are actually out there on a daily basis and make their living taking photos with and receiving tips from tourists.

Some are more popular than others and some are also more aggressive than others. Elvis was one of those aggressive ones. When I snapped the photo of him which you'll see below, he came over to me, put his arm through mine and asked some guy to take our photo with my camera. While I love Elvis, I did not like his particular aggressive nature and pulled away. However, superman was much more sweet, charming, young and flirty, not to mention those huge muscles so of course I posed with him and slipped him a few bucks.

From then on I tried to be sly getting photos without having to pay them but it is difficult. For the most part, they are all very nice and friendly and the kids love them. You can find them around the heavily visited attractions like Graumans Chinese Theatre and The Hollywood Highland Center.

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The first time I visited the Holloywood Walk of Fame was twenty years ago and the only one I remember was how small the hands of Marilyn Monroe were. Years later, I brought the twins to this famous landmark and they had fun posing by Tom Cruise’s prints. Definitely, this is a place that you would like to visit when in LA, not only because it is historical but also because it is fun looking for your favorite stars!

Basically, it is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of not only human celebrities but also fictional characters honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry. It is nearly a three-and-a-half-(3 1/2)-mile (5.6km) round-trip walk.

Best of all, it is free to see these prints! Whose prints will you look for?

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In front of the Chinese Theater. some of the famous movie stars left they hand prints and signatures. In the same area is Hollywood Walk of Fame..To be honest wasn't too amazed with the street, but it is worth to see because it is a tourist attraction after all..

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In front of the Chinese Theater. some of the famous movie stars left they hand prints and signatures. In the same area is Hollywood Walk of Fame..To be honest wasn't too amazed with the street, but it is worth to see because it is a tourist attraction after all..

A Chicago fan in Hollywood. The walk along this block is nice in order to see all the stars displayed. The area holds some interest in other things to do here, but caution is needed as to watching yourself. There is danger here and due to lack of attention for years, some and establishments you would not want to frequent. LA is working on a comeback of the blocks around here to bring back the glory of 80 years ago.