19 May 2010

Hollywood Walk of Fame

like everything in Tinseltown this gimmick began as a way to make money. yes   a construction company came up with the idea hoping to get more jobs.

the initial 1500-plus names were chosen by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. from the gitgo politics playd a part in the process. Charles Chaplin Jr. sued because his father wasn't in the original group.

nowadays a star can be bought.

but even knowing that the gimmick works. & the walk is as much a part of Hollywood history as the prints in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater.

now there's a website where you can find those on the walk. for instance   my friend Lois Wilson (who was on TCM overnite).

on my birthday I walkd from the Roosevelt to Grauman's   echoing a line in my Victor Kilian poem. when I got to Lois' star I knelt down & touchd it. I was in Hollywood when she died & stoppd by her star then. there were flowers on it.

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