March 28, 1960: The Hollywood Walk of Fame opens, creating a tourist attraction that exceeds any other in Southern California -- including Disneyland.
NOTE: I did not include this entry with the original entries of 2022, adding it in 2024. All information given below is as of August 29 of that year. While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce credits E.M. Stuart, its volunteer president in 1953, with the original idea for creating a Walk of Fame. Stuart reportedly proposed the Walk as a means to "maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamour and excitement in the four corners of the world."
By 1955, the basic concept and general design had been agreed upon, and plans were submitted to the Los Angeles City Council. (Hollywood is part of the City of Los Angeles, not a separate city.) On March 28, 1960, the 1st permanent star, for film director Stanley Kramer, was completed on the easternmost end of the new Walk, near the intersection of Hollywood and Gower. (Joanne Woodward is often credited as the 1st, a misconception based on the fact that she was the 1st star to be photographed receiving a star.)
The Walk of Fame runs 1.3 miles, east-to-west, on Hollywood Boulevard, from Gower Street to the Hollywood and La Brea Gateway at La Brea Avenue, plus a short segment on Marshfield Way that runs diagonally between Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea; and 0.4 miles, north-to-south on Vine Street, between Yucca Street and Sunset Boulevard.
The Walk of Fame comprises 2,787 stars, which are spaced at 6-foot intervals. The monuments are coral-pink terrazzo five-point stars rimmed with brass (not bronze, an oft-repeated mistake) inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo background. According to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, approximately 30 new stars are added to the Walk each year.
Specific locations can be requested by the honoree. Carol Burnett once worked at a theater on Hollywood Blvd., and her star is located outside the site of that theater. Roger Moore and Daniel Craig, both of whom played James Bond, Agent 007, and have their stars at 7007 Hollywood Blvd. (Oddly, Sean Connery, the first and most popular actor to play Bond in a film, and whose film legacy extends a long way on top of that, does not yet have a star.)
The name of the honoree is inlaid in brass block letters in the upper portion of each star. Below the inscription, in the lower half of the star field, a round inlaid brass emblem indicates the category of the honoree's contributions.
The emblems symbolize six categories within the entertainment industry. The first four, from 1960, were: A classic film camera, representing motion pictures; a television receiver, representing broadcast television; a phonograph record, representing audio recording or music; and a radio microphone, representing broadcast radio. In 1984, the masks of comedy and tragedy, representing theater and live performance, were added. In 2023, an athletic trophy was added, representing "sports entertainment."
Anyone, including fans, can nominate anyone active in the field of entertainment, as long as the nominee or their management approves the nomination.
A fee of $75,000 (as of 2023), payable at time of selection, is collected to pay for the creation and installation of the star, as well as general maintenance of the Walk of Fame. The fee is usually paid by the nominating organization, which may be a fan club, film studio, record company, broadcaster, or other sponsor involved with the prospective honoree.
Nominees must have a minimum of 5 years' experience in the category for which they are nominated, and a history of "charitable contributions." Posthumous nominees must have been deceased at least 5 years.
At a meeting each June, the committee selects approximately 20 to 24 celebrities to receive stars on the Walk of Fame. One posthumous award is given each year as well. The nominations of those not selected are rolled over to the following year for reconsideration. Those not selected 2 years in a row are dropped, and must be renominated to receive further consideration.
Living recipients must agree to personally attend a presentation ceremony within 2 years of selection. A total of 40 people have declined the star on that basis. Only 1 person has gotten the star without attending: Singer-actress Barbra Streisand, in 1976. She did attend in 1998, when her husband, actor Josh Brolin, got his.
Singer Gwen Stefani honored, 2023
If the ceremony is not scheduled within 2 years, a new application must be submitted. A relative of deceased recipients must attend posthumous presentations. Presentation ceremonies are open to the public.
Of the stars on the Walk to date, 47 percent have been awarded in the motion pictures category, 24 percent in television, 17 percent in audio recording or music, 10 percent in radio; and, befitting the 2 newest categories, and fewer than 2 percent in theater/live performance.
There have been several performers with stars in multiple categories. Gene Autry remains the only one with stars in all 5 of the classic categories -- and, given that he owned the baseball team then known as the California Angels, he could, conceivably, be nominated in the 6th, "sports entertainment," especially since he bought the team after originally trying only to buy its broadcast rights for his radio network.
Groups can be nominated and honored, including The Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, The Bowery Boys, and The Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz. Rock groups can be honored, and The Beatles are honored as a group, and all 4 are honored individually. There are 16 performers honored with a single name, including Liberace, Cher and Pink. Makeup artists are honored, including Max Factor. So are special-effects artists, including Ray Harryhausen.
Actor Harrison Ford and singer Michael Jackson are honored. So are silent-era film actor Harrison Ford and Los Angeles-based radio show host Michael Jackson. It's customary for a star's star to be decorated with flowers upon their death, and Jackson the singer set the record in 2009, breaking the record set by Elvis Presley in 1977.
Four dogs have been honored: Rin Tin Tin, his long-forgotten contemporary Strongheart, Lassie, and comic strip character turned TV cartoon star Snoopy. One horse is honored: Roy Rogers' Trigger. (Roy and his wife, Dale Evans, are also honored.) In addition to Snoopy, there are several fictional characters honored. The Muppets are honored as a whole, and Big Bird and Kermit the Frog are honored separately. Various Disney characters are honored, including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck, and Walt Disney himself. Godzilla has a star; oddly, King Kong, the most famous movie monster of all, does not.
Two honorees went on to become President of the United States: Ronald Reagan, a film actor before becoming an active political candidate in 1966; and Donald Trump, honored for his contributions to television for the TV series The Apprentice. Since getting his star in 2007, Trump's star has been vandalized more than anyone else's.
(The Chamber of Commerce says once a star is added, it will never be removed, except on a temporary basis, as happened when the Red Line subway was being built, disrupting Hollywood Blvd. The occasionally vandalized star of convicted felon Bill Cosby remains, too. O.J. Simpson, despite his roles in sports and acting, does not have a star.)
On July 20, 1973, the 4th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, the astronauts -- Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins -- were awarded stars, as their feat was considered a landmark in the history of television, as well as of science.
So far, only 2 honorees fit the category of "sports entertainment": Michael Strahan, New York Giants Hall-of-Famer, for his work on Fox NFL Sunday and ABC's Good Morning America and hosting the new version of the game show Pyramid; and the late Carl Weathers, the former NFL player who played Apollo Creed in the Rocky film franchise.
There were athletes honored before them, but in different categories. Football players Paul Robeson and Johnny Mack Brown went into acting, and were honored for movies. This was also true for swimmers Annette Kellerman, Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe and Esther Williams; and for British cricket star C. Aubrey Smith.
Baseball players Chuck Connors and John Beradino became actors, and were honored for television. Beradino, still using the name "Johnny Berardino," won the World Series playing for the Cleveland Indians in 1948, making him the only person with a World Series ring and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Football player Terry Bradshaw was honored in television, for his studio work for CBS and Fox. Boxer Muhammad Ali was honored in the category of "live performance." Figure skater Sonia Henie appeared in films, in which she basically played herself, and was honored for those. Basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson founded a highly successful chain of movie theaters, and was honored for that, not for helping the NBA's TV ratings.
Golfer Joe Kirkwood Jr. went into acting, and hosted sports-related TV shows in Los Angeles, making him easily the least-known of these figures outside the metropolitan area. Stu Nahan was a longtime L.A. sportscaster, but was known nationally due to his role as a broadcaster in the Rocky films.
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March 28, 1960 was a Monday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. No NBA games were scheduled. And while the Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway, no games were scheduled in that, either. So there were no scores on this historic day.
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