Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles

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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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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?

Come to the Walk Of Fame to witness and relive the glory of Hollywood. Forget about catching a glimpse of those celebrities but to feel where it all started makes it worthwhile to be here.

The Walk of Fame is a tribute to the Hollywood stars of today and yesterday. It is lined on both sides of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. The stars are honoured according to 5 different categories (emblems) i.e. motion pictures-MP, television-TV, radio recording-Rec and live theatre-LT.

Park your car in the neighbourhood (in a safe spot) and stroll along Hollywood Boulevard. The interesting part (the Walk of Fame and Mann's Chinese Theater) are in the western part of the boulevard. West of the junction with Vine St. Here you will find lots of Hollywood stars beneath your feet.

In front of Mann's Chinese Theater (a cinema built as a Chinese temple, and one of the most famous cinemas in the world) you can find handprints of many famous stars in the concrete as well.

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Along this mile stretch of Hollywood Boulevard around Grauman's Chinese Theater lay a couple thousand pink stars embedded in gray terrazzo. The star contains one of five symbols to help identify the honoree: a motion picture camera, a television, a record, a radio microphone or theatrical masks.

The first stars were installed in 1960, I understand that the stars (or their movie studio) fronts the cost for the placement of the star after they have been selected to receive a star. Among the honorees are at least two dogs-Rin Tin Tin and Lassie and at least two fictional characters-Big Bird from Sesame Street and Godzilla. Most celebrities show up for the installation of their star although I'm inclined to believe that Godzilla was a no show.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is lots of fun.

I had heard stories that it was really scruffy, but it's not. Apparently Hollywood is going through a renaissance and getting a big cleanup.

It's gret walking up and down and reading the names on the stars, trying to get a pic beside your favourites.

All along the street by Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Kodak building etc, are actors dressed up as movie and tv characters. For a small tip they'll pose for a pic.

There's a gift shop/souvenir shop on that side of the street where you can buy tiny shot glasses with your name in a star (if you can find your name) and cute Hollywood star fridge magnets. Tacky, probably, but "must have" souvenirs.

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Take a stroll down Hollywood Blvd. - there's lots to see. First and foremost the STARS! The "Walk of Fame" goes along Hollywood Blvd. from La Brea all the way down to Gower, as well as along Vine Street down to Sunset. But don't forget to look up as well as you walk amongst the Stars - there are many sights to see: Galaxy Theater Complex, Chinese Theater, Kodak Theater shopping complex, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the El Capitan Theater, Max Factor museum (on Highland), Hollywood Wax Museum, Ridgley's Believe it or not, Guiness World of Records, Frederick's of Hollywood, the Pig-n-Whistle restaurant, the Egyptian Theater, mixed in between numerous little souvenier-shops, as well as tatoo-parlors, and punk-rock stores. Of course there are also many little eateries and bars, and a variety of street-performers. Plenty of stuff to fill an entire afternoon and evening.

Factoid: besides tourists, Hollywood Blvd. has also a tendency to attract riff-raff and low-lives. So hold on to your purses. We'd recommend you stay in the LaBrea/Highland area (around the Chinese theater) at evening and night time. Oh yeah - also be aware: you might get offered a "free stress test" - this is a service from the people of Scientology! (A religion founded by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.)

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The best is to start at La Brea, the very beginning of the Walk of Fame, and also the spot where you can find the The Silver Four Ladies of Hollywood Gazebo.

At the feet of the Ladies lies the star showing all the categories of artists represented on each star all along the Walk of Fame (theatre, movie, music,…).

From there, a loooooooooong walk awaits you : this whole story of placing stars along Hollywood Boulevard began with 2500 blank stars. A total of 1558 stars were awarded during the first sixteen months. Since then, about two stars have been added per month. The first star was placed on February 9, 1960 for Joanne Woodward.

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!