Sid Grauman and his partners finished the famous Chinese Theatre in 1927. The most interesting thing about the theatre is the forecourt where Stars have left their imprints in the cement.
Five million tourists visit the theatre each year.
Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe from the movie ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’.
Marilyn used an earring to dot her “i” when she did it in 1953. It was stolen 3 days later. The backing still remains.
The story of how these imprints began has 2 versions.
The first is that when silent movie star Norma Talmadge visited Sid at the theatre before it was opened, she stepped in wet cement.
This is supposedly where Sid got the idea to have stars leave their hand and foot imprints.
The other version is that the dog of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks walked across their new driveway and left paw prints. This gave Mary the idea and along with Douglas and Sid left their imprints at the theatre first. That dog’s name was Zorro.
Marilyn’s imprints are the biggest attraction.
Some of the women that stepped into the wet cement wore a smaller shoe than usual.
I still don’t think Steven Seagal should be among these great Stars.
There are 2 time capsules buried beneath the forecourt. The first was buried in 1942 and the second was buried in 1977.
This area is known as Grauman’s Chinese Theatre’s “Forecourt of the Stars.”
I’ll come here every time that I’m in L.A.
The Chinese Theatre is a must-see destination when visiting Hollywood.
Johnny Grant was the MC for a lot of ceremonies on Hollywood boulevard, including the imprints and Stars on the Walk of Fame.
When it was his turn to leave his imprints, he misspelled his own name and only used one “n” when he used 2 in Johnny.
To see more imprints, click on the link below.
https://www.paulmichaelsphotography.com/Graumans-Chinese-Theatre-2006/
To see many more pics, visit the site below and click on Photos.
