A small part of the Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, California, United States, which is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of celebrities honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry.
Created in 1958, the Walk of Fame has become a tribute to performers and others within show business. Honorees receive a star based on achievements in motion pictures, live theater, radio, television, and/or music. Many honorees have received multiple stars for contributions to separate categories.
An average of 200 applications are received each year; from those applications, an average of 20 are selected (according to the WOF website) by a committee containing a representative "with expertise" in each of the five categories.
In 1978, the City of Los Angeles designated the Walk of Fame as a Cultural/Historic Landmark.
The Walk of Fame is maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. In order for a person to get a star on the Walk of Fame, he or she must agree to attend a presentation ceremony within five years of selection, and a $15,000 fee must be paid to the Trust; a 2003 FOX News story noted that the fee is typically paid by sponsors such as movie studios and record companies, as part of the publicity for a release with which the honoree is involved.
As of 2004, the total number of stars awarded is approximately 2,150.
Description
The Walk of Fame runs east to west on Hollywood Boulevard from Gower Street to La Brea Avenue, and north to south on Vine Street between Yucca Street and Sunset Boulevard.
Each star consists of a terrazzo comprising a pink five-pointed star rimmed with bronze and inlaid into a charcoal square. Inside the pink star is the name of the honoree engraved in bronze, below which is a round bronze emblem indicating the category for which the honoree received the star. The emblems are:
- a motion picture camera, for contribution to the film industry;
- a television set, for contribution to the broadcast television industry;
- a phonograph record, for contribution to the recording industry;
- a radio microphone, for contribution to the broadcast radio industry; and,
- twin comedy/tragedy masks, for contribution to live theater.
The original Walk of Fame had 2,500 blank stars. A total of 1,558 stars were awarded during its first sixteen months. Since then, new stars have been added at the rate of approximately two per month. By 1994 over 2,000 of the original stars were filled, and additional stars were added to extend the Walk west past Sycamore to La Brea Avenue, where it is now terminated by the Silver Four Ladies of Hollywood Gazebo.
Trivia
List of stars
See list of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
See also
External links
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