Press Article

August 2009

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Whilst on honeymoon in America, a work colleague of mine and his new wife visited the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, the famous sidewalks along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

He knows I am a Son of the Desert and keen fan of 'the Boys' so one of the first stars that jumped out at him from the sidewalk was Stan Laurel's. The strange thing about the boys stars however, is that they are not co-located on the same street. They looked for Ollie's Star but could not find it - no simple task as there are over 2,500 stars!

Stan Laurel's star is on Hollywood Blvd, north side, between Orange and Sycamore
Oliver Hardy's star is on Vine St, east side, between Sunset and Selma

The Walk of Fame began as a part of the Hollywood Improvement Program, a 1950s effort in neighborhood improvement. Garrie Thompson and Gordon McWilliams, the owners of Anesco Construction Co. came up with the idea as a way to generate some business for their company, and brought it to the Program's attention in 1955 by creating a prototype star made out of brown terrazzo with John Wayne's name embedded in shiny brass. The proposal gained support, so the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce eventually chose 1,558 names from the worlds of radio, recording, television and film to become the first honorees.  Construction started in 1958, Stan and Oliver were awarded with their stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the same year.