Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame comprises more than 2,500 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California. The stars are permanent public monuments to achievement in the entertainment industry, bearing the names of a mix of actors, musicians, directors, producers, musical and theatrical groups, fictional characters, and others. The Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. It is a popular tourist destination, with a reported 10 million visitors in 2003.

The Walk of Fame runs 1.3 miles (2.1 km) east to west on Hollywood Boulevard from North Gower Street to North La Brea Avenue, plus a short segment of Marshfield Way that runs diagonally between Hollywood and La Brea; and 0.4 miles (0.7 km) north to south on Vine Street between Yucca Street and Sunset Boulevard.

According to a 2003 report by the market research firm NPO Plog Research, the Walk attracts about 10 million visitors annually—more than Sunset Strip, TCL Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman's), the Queen Mary, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art—and has played an important role in making tourism the largest industry in Los Angeles County.

As of March 6, 2014, the Walk comprises 2,518 stars,spaced at 6-foot (1.8 m) intervals. The monuments are coral-pink terrazzo five-point stars rimmed with brass (not bronze, an oft-repeated inaccuracy) inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo background. In the upper portion of each star field the name of the honoree is inlaid in brass block letters. Below the inscription, in the lower half of the star field, a round inlaid brass emblem indicates the category of the honoree's contributions. The emblems symbolize five categories within the entertainment industry:


Of all the stars on the Walk to date, 47% have been awarded in the motion pictures category, 24% in television, 17% in audio recording, 10% in radio, and less than 2% in the live performance category. Approximately 20 new stars are added to the Walk each year.

Special category stars recognize various contributions by corporate entities, service organizations, and special honorees, and display emblems unique to those honorees.For example, former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley's star displays the Seal of the City of Los Angeles;the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) star emblem is a replica of a Hollywood Division badge;and stars representing corporations, such as Victoria's Secret and the Los Angeles Dodgers, display the honoree's corporate logo.The "Friends of the Walk of Fame" monuments are charcoal terrazzo squares rimmed by miniature pink terrazzo stars displaying the five standard category emblems, along with the sponsor's corporate logo, with the sponsor's name and contribution in inlaid brass block lettering.Special stars and Friends monuments are granted by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce or the Hollywood Historic Trust, but are not part of the Walk of Fame proper and are located nearby on private property.

The monuments for the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon are uniquely shaped: Four identical circular moons, bearing the names of the three astronauts (Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Michael Collins) the date of the first Moon landing ("7/20/69"), and the words "Apollo XI", are set on each of the four corners of the intersection of Hollywood and Vine. The moons are silver and grey terrazzo circles rimmed in brass on a square pink terrazzo background, with the television emblem inlaid at the top of each circle.