Extraordinary: This famous Hollywood tradition was born… by accident!

Everyone in Los Angeles knows Hollywood Walk of Fame; Must see tourist attractions while visiting the city. Established in 1958, the Hollywood Walk of Fame honors the diverse talents of the entertainment industry. Through the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Association Hollywood Historic TrustIt keeps track of its 2,700 stars, which reward the Swiss watchmaker’s precision-regulated unchanging ceremony.

But there is another, older tradition that takes place in St 6925 Hollywood Blvd, located on the Walk of Fame: Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Classified as a historical monument since 1968, this mythical cinema, which is one of the most famous cinemas in the world, opened its doors in May 1927 by the American director Cecil B. The premiere of DeMille’s film “King of Kings”. Since then, from 1944 to 1946, there have been hundreds of previews and birthday parties, as well as three Academy Awards.

It is there, in the forecourt of this gigantic cinema, with its pagodas, that the stars leave their footprints and their hands to posterity. There are countless Hollywood stars who have taken to this exercise, from Marilyn Monroe to Christopher Nolan, Kim Novak or Robert De Niro.

Or at least, in May 1984, the duo of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, when Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was released. Order of souvenirs in pictures!

Imagine that this very old tradition was born… from an accident! In 1927, the silent film star Norma Talmadge visited his friend Sid Grauman, the owner of a new movie theater, and then his house under construction. A giant construction site. Arriving at the scene, the actor slipped on the still fresh cement. Witnessing the sequence, Grauman then came up with the idea of ​​creating his own Hall of Fame, located in front of the movie theater on the forecourt.

He asked his associates, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, also movie stars, to make footprints and handprints. nail clip, signed next to the fingerprints. They stayed there for a long time, until 1958, when they were moved aside to make room. Then forgotten.

23 years lost

It was not until 1981 that we found traces of this historical trace, in a letter written by a woman to the mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley. The widow of a man named JW Nicks, Nicks was the contractor commissioned to build the Walk of Fame. He had three of four prints: Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Sid Grauman. It is not known what happened to Norma Talmadge.

In the letter, the widow explained that her husband removed all the existing paving stones and took the prints as souvenirs because no one wanted them at the time. He was writing to find out if the city was willing to return these prints.

It changed hands several times and was kept in cellars for some time The building that hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live, they were finally able to return to their historical homeland. Since there are hundreds of footprints, and because of the obviously limited space, they are regularly rotated, removed for cleaning, sometimes repaired and stored. A unique heritage, an integral part of the memory of the 7th art.