Walk of Fame Illustration

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is Hollywood's tribute to the Hollywood Stars of yesterday and today. This is where the Stars are immortalized with a star on the sidewalk in their honor. The Hollywood Walk of Fame lines both sides of Hollywood Boulevard from Gower to La Brea, and both sides of Vine Street, from Yucca to Sunset.

History of The Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame was created in 1958 by southern Californian artist Oliver Weismuller, who was hired by the city to give Hollywood a "face lift". Many honorees received multiple stars during the initial phase of installation for contributions to separate categories; however, the practice in recent decades has been to honor individuals not yet represented, with only a handful of previous honorees being awarded additional stars. In 1978, the City of Los Angeles designated the Walk of Fame as a Cultural/Historic Landmark. The Walk of Fame began with 2,500 blank stars. A total of 1,558 stars were awarded during its first sixteen months. Since then, about two stars have been added per month. By 2005, more than 2,400 of the original stars were filled, and additional stars extended the Walk west past Sycamore to La Brea Avenue, where it now starts/ends at the Silver Four Ladies of Hollywood Gazebo, (with stars honoring The Beatles and Elvis Presley).
Maintenance
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 $25,000 fee must be paid to the Trust for costs such as security at the star ceremony; 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. On other occasions, the fee is paid by a fan club or the nominating person or organization.

Stolen stars

There have been four stars stolen from the Walk of Fame. The stars of Jimmy Stewart and Kirk Douglas, which had been removed during a construction project, were stolen from the site on Vine Street. The culprit was a contractor who was later caught with the two damaged and unusable stars, but not until after they had been replaced. One of Gene Autry's stars was also taken from another construction project. That star was found in Iowa. On November 27, 2005, thieves sawed Gregory Peck's star out of the sidewalk near Gower. Cameras are now being placed on the walk district to catch thieves.