Hollywood Walk of Fame (Avenue of Stars)
The famous Hollywood Walk Of Fame is one of the most famous
attractions in Los Angeles, which attracts annually about ten million people. Almost
two and a half thousand stars on either side of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street,
more than half a century, are a sign of appreciation of outstanding figures of
show business of America.
The stars are permanent public
monuments for achievements in the entertainment industry. The stars have the
names of actors, musicians, directors, producers, musical groups and even
fictional characters.
Each star consists of gold
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 inlaid in bronze, below
which is a round bronze emblem indicating the category for which the honoree
received the star. The emblems are:
Classic film camera for
contribution to the film industry;
Television receiver for
contribution to the broadcast television industry;
Phonograph record for
contribution to the recording industry;
Radio microphone for
contribution to the broadcast radio industry; and,
Comedy/tragedy masks for
contribution to live theater.
However, Disneyland's star has an
emblem of a building.
It was originally planned that the star on the Walk will be
divided into four categories - cinema, theater, radio and recording. TV
was added to this list later. A special committee was appointed for the
selection of nominees. Of all the stars on the Walk to date, 47% have been
awarded in the motion pictures category, 24% in television, 17% in audio
recording, 10% in radio, and less than 2% in the live performance category. On the
whole, about twenty or thirty Stars appear at the Walk of Fame each year.
The first fifteen hundred stars found their place on the Walk of
less than half a year, after which the process of distribution of awards went a
little slower. Annually in June the organizing committee decides whom the
star would be put on the Walk of Fame.
The idea to create a place which would honour Hollywood and its celebrities came back to 1953 , but the process and approval
was quite long. According to preliminary calculations, the cost of Alley
exceeds one million dollars.
In 1956 the actress Virginia Mayo was the first to make a
symbolic star at the Hollywood Boulevard. On the 8th of February, 1960
at the corner of Hollywood and Highland the ceremony of laying the Walk of Fame
was held. This date is considered to be the date of its foundation. The
next day the first star dedicated to actress
Joanne Woodwar appeared on the Mall.
Along with the five-pointed stars on the Walk of Fame, you can see
the badges round in honor of the astronauts "Apollo 11", in 1969
landed on the moon. In addition, there are stars dedicated to organizations
that are not related to show business - for example, the Police Department of
Los Angeles (LAPD), baseball clubs Los Angeles Dodgers, and the star dedicated to
Alley itself. On the Walk you can also find a star to the boxer Muhammad
Ali, Thomas Edison, a physicist, the British group Beatles and others.
According to the rules, stars can be laid not only to alive celebrities but to
the dead as well. To put a star, the committee should get permission from the
celebrity or from their relatives.
Sometimes the question arises why a well-known actor has not
got yet a star. The answer is quite simple - because of his busy schedule or
for other reasons. Ceremony itself can be put off for a long period - up to
five years.
A lot of famous film stars haven`t got their stars, among
them Julia Roberts, Clint Eastwood and others, because they just refused to
take part in this ceremony.
The candidacy of Charlie Chaplin, one of Hollywood's most
famous actors of the twentieth century, was not approved by the Committee for
many times. The star of "great silent" appeared on the Walk only
in 1972.
Surprisingly, the prime-minister of Poland in 1919 Ignacy
Paderewski was also nominated to have a star for his contribution to music.
Ronald Reagan is one of American Presidents who has a star on the
Walk of Stars as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger - the governor of California,
because they were well-known American actors.
In 1978, in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of the cartoon
“Mickey Mouse” the star was laid to the main character for the first time in
history. Since then many fictional characters have got their stars: Donald
Duck, the Simpsons, Snow White and seven dwarfs and many others.
Being one of
the most popular sights of America, the Walk of Fame attracts thousands of
tourists from all over the world daily. You can not only see the Walk of Fame,
but to take part in the ceremony of laying the star, to take pictures with
characters or just relax at the holiday of cinema lovers. So, don`t miss a
chance to visit this wonderful attraction.
If you are
keen on cinematography, it would be interesting for you to know some facts
about Hollywood actors and actresses. Do you know that some of them have
Russian roots?
So, Elizaveta
Smirnova was a grandmother of Leonardo DiCaprio, who immigrated to Germany and
later to the USA. And as the actor said his granddad was also Russian.
Mila Kunis
was born in the Ukraine in Chernovtsy and later her family immigrated to
America. Her full name is Milena Markovna Kunis.
The
supermodel and actress Milla Jovovich was also native from Kiev as well as her
famous mother Galina Loginova.
As for
producer Steven Spilberg, his granddads were Russian, and his sister's husband
is a distant relative of Boris Pasternak, a Russian poet, novelist, and
literary translator.
Moldavia
gave to Hollywood its actress Natalie Portman.
Grandparents
of Harrison Ford were immigrants from Belarus, when it was part of the Russian
Empire.
Grandma of Sylvester
Stallone was born in Odessa and she couldn`t imagine that her grandson would
become a famous actor.
David
Duchovny's father is a Russian Jew. His name was Amram Duckovny because he'd
changed his last name to adjust it to American pronunciation. David, however,
changed its back.
Kirk Douglas
who played the role of Spartak in American film was native from Russia but
immigrated to the USA because he didn`t want to fight in Russian-Japanese War.
I`m glad to
tell you that many of our compatriots made a great contribution to the
development of world cinematography, they became outstanding Hollywood stars.
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