American Cinema: 2015-02-15

WALKING ON THE HALL OF FAME…

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an internationally-recognized Hollywood icon. It has become a visitor attraction and one of the most successful marketing ideas ever produced.

E.M. Stuart was a volunteer president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. He had the idea of creating a Walk of Fame in 1953. He proposed it to “maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamour and excitement in the four corners of the world”. The main precursor of this idea was the ceiling of the dining room of the historic Hollywood Hotel. In this hotel, stars with the name of celebrities were painted on the ceiling. However, it was used as a proposal to place stars in the sidewalks.

In 1955, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce proceeded to secure signatures to present to the City for further action in the formation of an assessment district. This idea was embraced by the Los Angeles City Council.

In February of 1956, it was proposed a star that included a caricature of the honoree, with a proposal for brown and blue sidewalks. The Hollywood businessman C.E. Toberman nixed the idea.

The Hollywood Improvement Association was established by the Chamber in order to work with the City in pursuing the idea. Harry Sugarman was selected to do it. Moreover, there were four committees to represent the four different aspects of the entertainment industry at that time: motion picture, television, recording and radio. Members of the Motion Picture Selection Committee included prominent names such as Cecil B. DeMille, Samuel Goldwyn, Jesse Lasky, Walt Disney, Hal Roach, Mack Sennett and Walter Lantz, among others.

The selection process was criticized. One of those whose name was not approved for inclusion in the initial phase of the Walk of Fame was Charlie Chaplin. The Chamber published a press release in 1961 which was addressed the controversies over the selection process: “The names in the Walk of Fame have been subject to the most continuous criticism and abuse. These are divided into two classes: those who think the wrong names are included and those who think their own or some favorite’s name was omitted.”

The cost to build the Walk, including new street lighting and street trees, was determined to be $1.25-million.

On August 15, 1958, the Chamber and City unveiled eight stars on Hollywood Blvd at Highland Avenue to demonstrate what the Walk would look like. The eight honourees included: Olive Borden, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedgwick, Ernest Torrence, and Joanne Woodward.

On February 8, 1960, construction actually began on the long-planned Walk. The first star was that of Stanley Kramer on March 28, 1960. The job was completed in spring 1961, when it was finally accepted by the Board of Public Works, with the first 1,558 stars.

The Chamber faced three task in moving forward, in order to add more names in the vacant stars:

1. To stablish a set of rules to determine the qualifications of personalities to be eligible for addition to the Walk of Fame

2. To work out a procedure to process candidates

3. To develop a plan for the financing of the costs of the addition of approved names.

This task took several years and in December 1968, another star was added.

Today, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce continues to add stars to the Walk of Fame as the representative of the City of Los Angeles. An average of two stars are added to the Walk on a monthly basis. The last ceremony was on February 2, 2015. The Hollywood Walk of Fame recipients for the year 2015 are:

MOTION PICTURES:
Raymond Chandler (posthumous), Eugenio Derbez, Will Ferrell, Jennifer Garner, Peter Jackson, Bob Kane (posthumous), Daniel Radcliffe, Paul Rudd, Snoopy, Melissa McCarthy and Christoph Waltz

TELEVISION:
James L. Brooks, Ken Ehrlich, Bobby Flay, Seth MacFarlane, Julianna Margulies, Chris O’Donnell, Jim Parsons, Amy Poehler, Kelly Ripa and Sofia Vergara.

RECORDING:
Lukasz ‘Dr. Luke’ Gottwald, Kool & The Gang, Pitbull, Al Schmitt and Pharrell Williams.

RADIO:
Larry Elder.

LIVE THEATRE/LIVE PERFORMANCE:
Kristin Chenoweth, Dick Gregory and Ennio Morricone.

NOMINATION PROCESS TO GET A STAR ON THE WALK OF FAME

You can be nominated. Someone (fans, manager, and a familiar) can put forward as a candidate. Nominations applications must be sent to Hollywood Walk of Fame Committee. However, the candidate must accept his candidacy.

There are some requirements in order to be a candidate:

- The application letter has to be signed by the candidate.

- It must be sent before May 30^th.

The applicant must pay 30,000 dollars.

The candidate:

1. Must have worked in the entertainment industry at least for five years.

2. Must hold the record.

3. Must stand out (in television, cinema, radio, music or theatre).

4. Must contribute with money towards charities.

There is an exception: posthumous mentions. Five years must have passed since their death.

THE PROCESS OF SELECTION

The list of candidates is formed by 20 nominations and a tribute to a posthumous. Finally, the selected has to go to Hollywood in order to make a celebration in honour of the star. If the chosen do not go within five years, she/he will lose the star.

THE EMBLEMS WHICH INDICATE THE CATEGORY OF THE HONOREE’S CONTRIBUTIONS