10 interesting facts about Hollywood

98 years ago, on July 13, 1923, the inscription Hollywood appeared on the slope of Mount Lee over the California hills. It was originally written as Hollywoodland, and had nothing to do with movies. Read more about this and other fun facts about Hollywood and everything related to it, read on.

We will talk about a country that you will not find on any map of the world. Hollywood is a dream factory that has had the maximum impact on the culture of mankind over the past hundred years. The most famous area of Los Angeles, where a large number of film studios are located, and, of course, the most famous movie actors live here. This is an amazing world with its own history and interesting secrets, about a dozen of which we will tell you in this issue.

1. The huge white letters that are famous all over the world today appeared on the southern slope of Mount Lee on July 13, 1923. But at that time, the inscription read HOLLYWOODLAND and was not a memorial sign, but an ordinary advertisement for new residential buildings in one of the blocks of Los Angeles. The height of each letter was 9 m, and the width was 15 m.

At first, it was planned that the advertising inscription would stand for about a year and a half, and then it would be dismantled. But during this time, the inscription managed to gain such fame that it was decided to leave it. In 1949, the inscription was restored and the word LAND was removed. By 1978, the inscription had fallen into such a deplorable state that it was completely replaced, and now the height of the letters is 14 m, and the length of the entire inscription reaches 110 m.

2. In September 1932, the British actress Peg Entwhistle committed suicide by jumping off the letter "H". The day before, Peg learned that her next role was greatly reduced. At that time, the Great Depression was raging in the country, and such news for the actress meant almost complete poverty.

3. During the Second World War, in order not to waste precious metal, Oscar statuettes were made of plaster. After the war, the Oscars were again made of an alloy called britannia and covered with gilding.

4. In 1978, time brought the famous inscription to a very pitiful state. Now, instead of "HOLLYWOOD", it looked like "HuLLYWO D". It was decided to restore the inscription properly, and the founder of the Playboy magazine, Hugh Hefner, held an auction of letters. As a result, each letter received its own sponsor.

5. The first eight stars on the" Walk of Fame " appeared simultaneously on February 8, 1960. One of them — the star Joan Woodward — is considered by many to be the very first of all.

6. The emblems inside each star symbolize the category in which it was awarded. There are five of them in total: contribution to the development of the film industry (the emblem is a movie camera), contribution to the development of television (TV), contribution to the development of sound recording and music (an old phonograph), contribution to the development of radio (a radio microphone), contribution to the development of theater (comedy-tragedy masks).

There are also two special" stars "on the" Walk of Fame", which are made in the shape of the Moon. One of them marked the flight of Apollo 11 to the Moon, and the other was installed in honor of the moon landing itself.

Stars on the" Walk of Fame " were received not only by people, but also by cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse.

7. Gene Autry is the owner of a kind of record — all five emblems are present on his star. The thing is that this performer has been widely popular on radio, in movies and television for three decades, since the 30s.

8. On November 9, 2001, the famous Dolby Theater, also known as the Kodak, opened in Los Angeles. This theater has become a permanent venue for the Academy Award ceremony. The theater's auditorium seats almost 3,400 people, and its stage is one of the largest in the United States.

9. In Hollywood itself, movies can be seen not only in cinemas. It is shown on huge screens, special stands and even in cemeteries. So, since 2002, as part of the Cinespia summer film Forum, films have been shown at night at the "star" Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The image is projected directly on the wall of the mausoleum of Rudolfo Valentino — one of the most famous actors of the silent film era.

10. The author of the term "Hollywood smile" is a dentist Charles Pinkus. In the 30s of the last century, he invented the so — called veneers-special plates that are put on the teeth in order to improve their appearance, as well as for protection.

At that time, porcelain veneers were attached to the teeth with a special adhesive powder and could not last very long. But among the actors, the invention was so popular that Pinkus even got the nickname "star dentist". He made dazzling smiles to such celebrities as Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, Fred Astaire and others.