12 March 1985
After spending most of the day at Universal Studios, it seemed appropriate to wrap things up with a visit to Grauman’s Chinese Theater, located in Hollywood. After all, the website says: “to visit Los Angeles and not see the Chinese is like visiting China and not seeing the Great Wall.”
 |  |
Welcome to the “Chinese!”
Here’s a short bit of history from the theater’s website:
The grand opening of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on May 18, 1927, was the most spectacular theatre opening in motion picture history. Thousands of people lined Hollywood Boulevard and a riot broke out as fans tried to catch a glimpse of the movie stars and other celebrities as they arrived for the opening. The film being premiered that night was Cecil B. DeMille's “The King of Kings,” which was preceded by "Glories of the Scriptures," a live prologue devised by master showman Sid Grauman. A Wurlitzer organ and 65-piece orchestra provided music for the prologue. The theatre opened to the public the following day, May 19, 1927.
(The picture on the right is from the theater’s website. The caption reads: “April 30, 1927: Practicing for the very first footprint ceremony, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Sid Grauman (kneeling) later placed individual prints in two separate squares.”)
Jimmy Stewart — 1948
Humphrey Bogart — 1946
George Burns — 1979
Yul Brynner — 1956
 |  |
Left: Dean Martin — 1964; Right: Charlton Heston — 1962
When I was writing this post, I asked Mui why on earth he picked George Burns’ hands for his photo op. His response, “Maybe because I aspired to live as long as he did.” At the time, George Burns was 89. When he died in 1996, he was 100 years old. Looks like Mui picked a good one!
No comments:
Post a Comment