Hollywood Walk of Fame

Brief information

A star on the Walk of Fame is part of an ordinary sidewalk: people walk on it, it is repaired and sometimes replaced, but it remains a mark of honor. The Walk stretches along both sides of Hollywood Boulevard for fifteen blocks and along Vine Street for three blocks. More than 2,500 five-pointed stars are set into the terrazzo slabs, bearing the names of people, characters, and organizations connected with the entertainment industry.

What matters here is not only the list of famous names, but the way the system itself is arranged. Each standard star is like a small card set into the pavement: the name at the top, the emblem of the contribution below. So the Walk can be read not as one continuous scattering of names, but as a marking of different kinds of fame: film, television, music, radio, theater, and sports entertainment.

What to notice first

It is worth comparing the material and symbols on the slabs themselves. A standard star is made of coral-pink terrazzo, outlined with a brass border, and set into the terrazzo floor. The name is made of copper, and the round copper emblem beneath it explains the field for which the honoree is recognized: a camera indicates film, a retro television set indicates television, a phonograph indicates recording, a radio microphone indicates radio, masks indicate theater, and a trophy indicates sports entertainment.

Individual exceptions show that the Walk’s rules are not entirely mechanical. The Apollo 11 mission marker is not a star but a dark-gray circle, conceived as the Moon, with the television emblem: the landing was commemorated here as an event that gathered a television audience. The “Friend of the Walk of Fame” markers are square, with a border of small pink stars. Such forms help one notice where the familiar template turns into a commentary on Hollywood’s own history.