California Dreamin

The Egyptian

Chinese Theater

One of our first stops is Grauman's Chinese Theatre which was built in 1927 at a cost of $2.5 million. The opulent Chinese Theatre looks like an old Temple and was built with this theme following the successful introduction of an Egyptian Theatre a few years earlier. The Theatre has a large forecourt and one of the legends is that Sid Grauman accidentally stepped in the wet cement and came up with the idea of immortalizing actors and actresses with their footprints and handprints. An imprint ceremony like this one for Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell is held each time a new star is recognized and there are more than 200 on display now. The theatre has been host to many, many movie premieres over the years including Star Wars and more recently Lincoln, and 42. It hosted the Academy Awards in 1944, 1945, and 1946.

For the first time on this vacation, the girls really get a chance to sleep in. We did not plan anything until 1 PM when we took the Ultimate Hollywood Tour to see Hollywood and Beverly

Once again we braved the crazy traffic taking twice as long to get there as Mapquest told us.

The Hollywood Bowl is the largest natural amphitheater in the United States seating nearly 18,000 in a nice setting against the Hollywood Hills, Its famous band shell was replaced in 2004 to improve acoustics and to add more modern equipment. Many concerts are held there throughout the year.
Hills.

Dolby Theatre

Burt Reynolds

Clark Gable

Jack Benny

Mary Pickford

Dick Van Dyke

The first academy award ceremony was held across the street at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Also nearby is the Dolby Theatre (formerly the Kodak Theatre) which is the current home of the Oscar Ceremony.

You also know you have made it when you get a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame and more than 2500 people have been honored with the terazzo star. The idea was conceived in 1953 and after some controversy, the first 1500 stars were added as a group in 1960.

The first star we saw: Red Skelton

On bended knee for Marilyn Monroe

Arnold Schwartzenegger

Bob Hope

On bended knee for Robin Williams

Each star has an emblem in the center recognizing the star's contribution to the entertainment industry:

Classic film camera representing motion pictures

Television receiver representing broadcast television

Phonograph record representing audio recording or music

Radio microphone representing broadcast radio

Comedy/tragedy masks representing theatre/live performance (added in 1984)

So it's possible to have multiple stars. Gene Autry is the only honoree with stars in all five categories. Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney, Roy Rogers, and Tony Martin each have stars in four categories ^. Thirty-three people, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, Gale Storm, Danny Kaye, and Jack Benny, have stars in three categories.

We got a view of the Hollywood sign which originally said Hollywoodland when it was constructed in 1923 in the Santa Monica mountains above Hollywood as an advertisement for a real estate development. By then, the fledgling movie industry was growing rapidly in the area so the sign also became a symbol for the industry. Each of the original letters was 30 ft wide and 45 ft tall and they were electrified from the start blinking Holly then Wood then Land. The sign was only supposed to last 18 months so it has suffered over the years. A guy drove his car off the cliff in 1940s destroying the H and in 1949 then removed 'Land' By the 1970s one 'O' was gone and the other broken so the sign was restored in 1978 and replaced again in 2005. Over the years, pranksters have changed the name either by painting out letters or covering the sign, so it has read

HOLLYWeeD – January 1976, following the passage of a state law decriminalizing marijuana
HOL YWOOD – 1978, the second L was covered for Pope John Paul II when he visited, the sign then reading "Holywood." ^[
"GO NAVY" December 1983, when a group of Midshipmen, with permission, covered the sign for the Army-Navy football game's first and only West Coast appearance
CALTECH – May 1987, on Hollywood's centennial (also one of Caltech's many senior pranks)
OLLYWOOD – July 1987, during the Iran-Contra hearings.
OIL WAR – 1991, for the Gulf War.

Pantages Theatre

Capital Records

The Pantages Theatre was built for vaudeville and was bought by Howard Hughes to serve as his offices. The theatre hosted the Academy Awards from 1949 to 1959. It is now used for a lot of broadway shows.

Capital Records was built to resemble a stack of records on a turntable.

Rodeo Drive is a three block shopping area in Beverly Hills, known worldwide for its exclusive shopping. Beverly Hills itself is an exclusive area made popular by the early stars of the 20th century. The Beverly Hills Hotel built in 1912 was the host to many stars of the years and was featured on the Eagles album cover, Hotel California. Nearby is the Beverly Wilshire Hotel another posh hotel where Elvis lived for a few years. This hotel was the site for the film Pretty Women starring Julia Roberts. The area was the setting for the Beverly Hills Cop movies with Eddie Murphy and of course we grew up with the Beverly Hillbillies.

Rodeo Drive Sign

Hint for Dave's Birthday

Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Beverly Hills Hotel

We saw a number of movie studios today: some smaller ones and Paramount, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney..


Paramount Studios

Paramount Watertower

John Wayne Statue

Actors Academy Building

We then toured a whole bunch of neighborhoods and saw celebrity homes. The poor neighborhoods were $3 million and the better ones about $50 million. The higher you go on the hills, the higher the price. We took a bunch of pictures but I can remember the starts for most of them so here is just a sampling.