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TCL Chinese Theater: Forecourt of Stars Footprints

TCL Chinese Theatre is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

It was originally known as Grauman’s Chinese Theater. It was renamed Mann’s Chinese Theatre in 1973 and this the name lasted until 2001, after which it reverted to its original name. On January 11, 2013, Chinese electronics manufacturer TCL Corporation purchased the naming rights to the facility, making its official name TCL Chinese Theater.

The original Grauman’s Chinese Theater was commissioned following the success of the nearby Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, which opened in 1922. The Grauman’s Chinese theater opened May 18, 1927, with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s film The King of Kings. It has since been home to many premieres, including the 1977 launch of George Lucas’ Star Wars.

One of the theater’s most distinctive features is Forecourt of Starts Footprints – the forecourt has the concrete blocks of cement, which bear the signatures, footprints, and handprints of popular motion picture personalities from the 1920s to the present day.

There are about 200 star prints made, and the remaining empty space in the theatre’s small forecourt is scarce. So the honor is now reserved solely for true Hollywood superstars.

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 Forecourt of Stars’ Foorprints: TCL Chinese Theater

Forecourt has cement blocks with signatures, handprints, and footprints  of stars immortalized in the legendary cement.

How the Forecourt of Footprints started?
Excerpt from a fantastic article click here..
The article has a lot more information about the history of th forecourt of footprints.
The iconic hand-and-feet-in-cement tradition began by accident. In the spring of 1927, Sid Grauman asked silent film stars, Douglass Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Norma Talmadge to take a short walk from the Roosevelt Hotel, to come check out his still under construction theater, located across the street on Hollywood Boulevard. “When they stepped up off the curb, they accidentally walked on wet cement and left a trail of footprints from the street to the front doors of the theater,” said Marc Wanamaker, of Hollywood Heritage Museum. “The stars, seeing what they had done, grabbed a nail on the ground and signed their names next to their footprints, Pickford even dated it.”
A tradition was born.
The original slabs stayed on the sidewalk for decades, until 1958, when they were jacked up to make way for the Walk of Fame.

MEMENTOS:  In addition to the handprints, footprints, and signatures, some of the stars left unique mementos all their own in the wet cement: Groucho Marx left an imprint of his cigar,  Starwars robot R2D2  left its tread marks, Whoopi Goldberg clipped off her braids with a pair of scissors and immortalized her famous locks in the wet cement!

TAG LINES: Some of the stars’ autographs can be entertaining as well – Clint Eastwood signed “You made my day!”;  Sylvester Stallone wrote “Keep punchin’, America!,” and Arnold Schwarzenegger scribbled “I’ll be back!” next to the imprint of his size-12 boots. Movie tough-guy Humphrey Bogart wrote “May you never die until I kill you!.”

On June 26, 1953, two of Hollywood’s icons, Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, put their prints in the cement on the same day, and wrote across the top of both squares: “Gentlemen prefer blondes!” Marilyn dotted the “i” in her first name with a large rhinestone, but the gem was later chiseled out of the cement by an overzealous tourist.

Who is SID?:  Many of these celebrity autographs mention “Sid.” If you  are like me, wondering who is  “Sid”?  He was none other than the legendary Sid Grauman, the man who built the Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Grauman’s Egyptian Theater, who invented the idea of the grand movie premiere, and who also came up with the gimmick of putting the stars’ footprints in cement.

Who is TED? Ted Mann famously changed the name of Grauman’s Chinese Theater to Mann’s Chinese Theater when he purchased the National General Theatre chain that owned it in 1973. his the name lasted until 2001, after which it reverted to its original name.

 

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The Chinese Theater’s Fiftieth Anniversary Ceremony # 142. May 24, 1977.

On May 18, 1977, Mayor Tom Bradley and Ted Mann placed their prints for the 50th anniversary of Chinese Theater with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s film “The King of Kings.”. Their square also included 50th anniversary time capsule, which was placed on May 24, 1977.

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In July of 2007, the three young stars of the “Harry Potter” movies [Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson & Rupert Grint] placed their hand, foot and wand-prints in the wet cement.

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On August 3rd, 1977, Star Wars characters  C-3P0, R2-D2 and Darth Vader had their feet and signatures immortalized forever outside the front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

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On June 26, 1953,  two legendary Hollywood actresses Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, put their prints in the cement [on the same day], and wrote across the top of both squares: “Gentlemen prefer blondes!” Marilyn dotted the “i” in her first name with a large rhinestone, but the gem was later chiseled out of the cement by some tourist.

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