June 30, 2006

It was all about selling terrazzo

LOS ANGELES

If it weren’t for two guys with a bunch of crushed granite, Hollywood might not have its iconic Walk of Fame.

The four-kilometre-long sidewalk monument, with its parade of pink-and-black stars bearing names of Hollywood luminaries, draws international media coverage for each new star placement and an endless line of camera-toting tourists from all over the world. They find their favourites and pose for pictures standing or kneeling atop stars like Marlon Brando and Michael Jackson, or any of 2,312 others. The Walk of Fame, almost all of it running along Hollywood Boulevard, is a tiny piece of Tinseltown magic anyone can experience.

The latest crop of honourees — including Canadians Kiefer Sutherland and Shania Twain — were announced by honorary Hollywood mayor Johnny Grant, who considers getting a star “equivalent to the Oscar.”

These days, this glamorous symbol of Hollywood dreams-come-true is a business arrangement.

When it began, it was all about selling terrazzo.

In 1955, Garrie Thompson and Gordon McWilliams, proprietors of Anesco Construction Co., were looking for new clients at the same time the Hollywood Improvement Program was looking to spruce up the community. The two men had an idea: Why not pay tribute to the movie business and improve the look of Hollywood Boulevard with mosaic stars bearing celebrities’ names? And, of course, use their company to do the construction. They brought the Improvement Program a prototype: a brown terrazzo star emblazoned with John Wayne’s name in brass.

Community shot-callers loved it. Eventually, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce approved 1,558 famous names from the worlds of radio, recording, television and film to be honoured in terrazzo perpetuity. None of the honourees was asked for a contribution. The work started in 1958 and the Walk of Fame was officially dedicated on Feb. 8, 1960.

By the late ‘60s, however, Hollywood Boulevard was glamourless — a haven for hookers and druggies. The Walk of Fame was dormant.

When he signed on to help resurrect the landmark in 1980, Grant established two new rules: stars have to show up to get their star on the Walk of Fame and they’ve got to help pay for the upkeep.

The Walk of Fame committee, which Grant says has remained virtually unchanged since he joined 26 years ago, now reviews more than 200 applications a year. Grant and the four other members — who are seated for life by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce — meet each June and award 20 stars annually.

The fee to sponsor a star wasn’t always so steep. In 1980, it cost $2,500. But as the boulevard has aged, maintenance of the terrazzo tiles has become more expensive, Grant says. Most honourees don’t mind the $15,000 fee.

“These studios, when they want a star and they’ve got a picture opening, they’d give you $100,000,’’ Grant says.

Some honourees never collect their stars.

“Just about everybody wants one,’’ he says. “But some people get voted in and I think it’s just the ego that they got in. They don’t want to spend the $15,000.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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