| What makes it historical? |
The Walk of Fame was the brainchild of E.M. Stuart, president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who dreamed up a way to immortalize the names of Hollywood stardom into the future! It took four years to draft up the concept, colors, and first few names that would be featured on the stars lining Hollywood Boulevard. The latter part was full of controversy, since there were a lot of big names and big egos to satisfy!
Ultimately, the Motion Picture Selection Committee picked these eight stars to start the Walk: Olive Borden, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedgwick, Ernest Torrence, and Joanne Woodward. The stars were set at the corner of Hollywood and Highland on August 15, 1958 and opened up a firestorm of controversy over property rights and the omission of Charlie Chaplin from the first eight!
Two years of lawsuits later, actual construction started on the Walk of Fame. It took a year to set the groundwork, and since then the collection has expanded to over 2,600 stars! |
