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Hollywood Walk of Fame

Dec 17th 2005

Hollywood, the place where dreams are made! We went to visit  Hollywood this weekend for the first time since we moved to Los Angeles. Drove to Hollywood Blvd and parked at a parking lot close to the Roosevelt Hotel. I don't recommend parking at the parking lot next to the Chinese Theatre. Its way too busy and crowded. The first thing, we did was look at the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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The Hollywood Walk of Fame is on Hollywood Blvd and stretches
for about 18 blocks. Lots of stars :-). These renowned sidewalk "stars" salute  the celebrities who made Hollywood great - from the silent film stars of yesteryear to the modern action heroes of today's blockbusters. A five-pointed star is embedded into the sidewalk for each individual. The star is fairly big and is pink in color with golden borders embedded in a black stone.

Each star has the name of the celebrity. Below the name of each celebrity on the stars is a small, round emblem which illustrates the celebrity's category, with one of five symbols 
 - a motion picture camera (for movie stars & directors),
 - a television set (for those in the television industry),
 - a phonograph record (for singers, songwriters, and recording artists),
 - a radio microphone (for radio luminaries), and
 - the twin theatrical masks of comedy & tragedy (for live stage performers).

If a performer belonged to more than one catergory, there would be one star for each category they excelled in. I am told there are about 2500 stars of which 2100 or so have been allocated.  It has also become traditional for fans to place flowers on the "star" of a celebrity who has just died.  Beatles fans gather each year in Decmber at John Lennon's star to commemorate the anniversary of his death.

We walked for 5 blocks and saw quite a few "stars" like Alfred Hitchcock, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Arnold Schwarzenegger.


Besides the walk of fame, there are other attractions on the Hollywood Boulevard such as the Chinese theatre, Kodak theatre, El-Capitan theatre from Disney, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Guiness Book of Records. There are a lot of street performers there as well. The Hollywood-Highland mall is another place to spend some time.

I would rate it as an average place to visit unless you are big movie and music fan. If you want to see a few of the attractions, keep aside 3-4 hours for it.

Tips while visiting the Hollywood Walk of Fame:

  •  Do not be tempted to park in the corner parking lot next to the Chinese Theater.  They taks $12 for nothing. You can park in the Hollywood and Highland Mall which charges much less and if you have a shopping or a dining validation, you can park for free. Learn from my mistake. :-)
  •  Obviously choose a sunny day as its all a walk down a street.
  •  You will find a large number of people dressed as Hollywood characters like Spiderman, Marily Monroe, Michael Jackson etc. They expect a tip if you pose with them.
  •  Don't forget to go to the corner of the Hollywood and Highland Mall. You can see the Hollywood sign from back there.  Its the corner where two elephants are hanging.
  •  The restaurants in the mall are pretty average fare. Don't expect anything great.
  •  Last but not the least, do not have any high expectations of Hollywood. Its really a run-down place where wanna-be movie stars live. The place that you really want to visit is Beverly Hills.

Locate your favorite celebtrities hollywood star here.

I will write about the Grauman's Chinese Theatre next.