Hollywood Walk of Fame

By the 1950s Hollywood Boulevard had lost some of its shine, and the local chamber of commerce went looking for a way to remind the world that this was the movie capital. The idea that stuck was to honor entertainers with actual stars laid into the public walk, turning the sidewalk itself into a hall of fame that anyone could visit for free. In 1958 the chamber unveiled a small demonstration cluster to show the city what it would look like, and the plan was approved.

The first permanent stars were pressed into the concrete in 1960, an initial run of honorees drawn from film, radio, television, recording, and the stage. The very first star dedicated in place went to actress Joanne Woodward. From that beginning the Walk grew block by block, year by year, until it now stretches roughly fifteen blocks along Hollywood Boulevard and three more down Vine Street, a continuous open-air monument to a century of American entertainment.

Each star is a small piece of craft: a coral-pink terrazzo field, a brass frame and brass lettering, and beneath the honoree's name a round emblem showing their branch of show business. A movie camera means film, a television set means TV, a record means the music industry, an old-style microphone means radio, and the comedy-and-tragedy masks mean live theater. A handful of honorees who worked across several fields have more than one star, and a few unusual stars celebrate fictional characters and even the crews behind the space program rather than a single performer.

That is part of the fun of walking it. Alongside the giants of classic Hollywood you will find television hosts, rock and pop musicians, animated characters, and figures most visitors have never heard of, silent-era names whose fame faded generations ago. Rather than trying to cover all twenty-eight hundred, most people pick a few favorites in advance, look up roughly where they sit, and make a little scavenger hunt of it along the way.

What sets the Walk apart from a museum is that it is never finished. A committee reviews nominations each year and selects a couple dozen new honorees, and no one can nominate themselves; a fan club, a studio, or a friend has to put the name forward, and the honoree must agree to appear in person at the dedication. Those ceremonies happen right on the sidewalk throughout the year, and every one of them is free to watch from a public viewing area, no ticket required.

So on any given week you might round a corner and walk straight into a crowd, a podium, and a beloved actor or musician unveiling their own star in the concrete. It makes the Walk a living thing rather than a relic, a place where the history of entertainment is quite literally still being laid down one square at a time.

The Walk is a public sidewalk, open and free every hour of every day, which means there is no gate, no admission, and no closing time. It is at its best and busiest in daylight, when the movie palaces are open and the street performers are out, and calmer in the early morning if you want photographs without the crowds. As on any crowded tourist strip in a big city, keep track of your belongings, feel free to wave off costumed characters who press for tips, and mind the traffic at the busy crossings.

The heart of it is the intersection of Hollywood and Highland, where you will find the Chinese Theatre with its famous forecourt of handprints, the Dolby Theatre that hosts the Academy Awards, and the deepest concentration of shops and photo ops. Driving here is a headache and parking is expensive, so many visitors take the Metro rail line, which surfaces right at that corner. Give yourself an easy hour or two to wander a few blocks, find the names that matter to you, and take in one of the most recognizable stretches of sidewalk on earth.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.