By Jim Janson
For part of my summer vacation in Los Angeles, I spent a day in Hollywood braving the congested sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard, ignoring panhandlers and Scientology recruiters to gawk at the city’s famed landmarks.
I found Hollywood a mix of history and tackiness. Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Roosevelt Hotel (site of the first Academy Awards), the Hollywood Wax Museum and the Kodak Theatre sit alongside numerous t-shirt and souvenir shops. Images of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Humphrey Bogart and Clarke Gable are emblazoned on anything from shot glasses to postcards.
Hollywood reveres its celebrities, just not when they are alive.
One of the most visited landmarks is the Hollywood Walk of Fame—a two-and-a-half-mile stretch of Hollywood Boulevard running between Gower Street and La Brea Avenue. Five-pointed pink terrazzo and brass stars are emblazoned with an artist’s name across the top of each adorn the place where feet trod.
In the center of each star is an icon. An artist can receive an icon in five different categories. A movie camera represents motion pictures, a television set represents TV, a phonograph record represents audio recording, a radio microphone represents radio, and comedy/tragedy masks represents live theater.
Bob Hope, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers have stars in four different categories. Gene Autry is the only celebrity to have received a star in all five categories.
The idea for a walk of fame began in the early 1950’s when E.M. Stuart, then-volunteer president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, was looking for a way to maintain the essence of Hollywood permanently in the community. He brought the idea to the Hollywood Improvement Association (HIA) for consideration.
At the same time in 1955, Garrie Thompson and Gordon McWilliams, two proprietors of Anesco Construction Co., were looking for a way to spruce up the neighborhood while promoting their businesses. They came up with the idea of a mosaic star with a celebrity’s name engraved on it. They pitched their idea to the HIA along with a terrazzo and brass prototype star with John Wayne’s name printed on it. The two ideas came to fruition, and on March 28, 1960, director Stanley Kramer’s star was the first cemented on the walk of fame.
On June 28, Canadian rock band Rush became recipients of the 2,412th famed star.
As I walked along the boulevard, I looked at the names of celebrities adorning each star: Harrison Ford, Carey Grant, Dorothy Dandridge, Boris Karloff, Alfred Hitchcock, Mae West, Godzilla, Desi Arnaz; the list goes on and on.
Then one name caught my eye—Ryan Seacrest.
Ryan Seacrest? Already?
So the Red Hot Chili Peppers weren’t completely off base in their 1999 song, “Californication,” where they sing “…and buy me a star on the boulevard…”
I learned that a celebrity can receive a star on the boulevard after achieving a certain amount of success over a five year period. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Walk of Fame Selection Committee receives around 200 requests a year before selecting 20 artists for star immortality. If selected the organization that nominated the artist must submit a $25,000 selection fee and the artist must attend the mandatory unveiling ceremony.
Britney Spears received her star on November 17, 2003, only five years after her debut album “…Baby One More Time” hit music stores.
After making his debut in the 1955 classic movie, “Rebel Without a Cause,” Dennis Hopper received his star in March of this year at the age of 74. He died of cancer May 29.
It is perhaps this selection process that has turned off stars such as Julia Roberts, Clint Eastwood and George Clooney from participating.
The committee has come under fire over the years for playing “back room politics” in the selection process. While it is up for debate whether Spears and Seacrest received their stars too soon, it doesn’t put the committee in good light when Sean Connery, George Lucas, Robert DeNiro, Francis Ford Coppola, Sally Field and Al Pacino have yet to receive a star.
Receiving a star on the boulevard should be for the best of the best, an award given to an artist by their peers based on merit not popularity or ability to pay. The selection process needs to be revamped and those most worthy of receiving a star should get first consideration. Until then, any celebrity, whether truly worthy or not, can buy a star on the boulevard.
Yet, despite its flaws, the Hollywood Walk of Fame is an impressive sight, paying homage to artists who, whether by hook or by crook, have made a contribution to the entertainment industry, and a must see when in Hollywood.
But as you pass over the stars, you may find yourself scratching your head more than once.
