The Hollywood Sign
by Don Struke
Title
The Hollywood Sign
Artist
Don Struke
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Adapted from Wikipedia: The Hollywood Sign is a landmark and American cultural icon located in Los Angeles, overlooking Hollywood. The letters are 45 feet (14 m) high and 350 feet (110 m) long. Originally created in 1923 to promote Hollywoodland, a new housing development, it was studded with some 4,000 light bulbs that lit in segments; "HOLLY," "WOOD," and "LAND", individually before lighting up entirely.
It was intended to be up for about a year and a half, but after the rise of the American cinema in Los Angeles during the "Golden Age of Hollywood", the sign became an internationally recognized symbol, and was left there. Over the course of more than half a century, the sign sustained extensive damage and deterioration. In the early 1940s, the sign's caretaker caused an accident that destroyed the letter H. Driving while inebriated, he lost control of his car, a 1928 Ford Model A, and drove off the cliff behind the sign. The driver was not hurt but the Ford and the H were destroyed.
By the 1970s, the first O had splintered and broken, resembling a lowercase u, and the third O had fallen down completely, leaving the severely dilapidated sign reading "HuLLYWO D".
In 1978, in large part because of a public campaign to restore the landmark by musician Alice Cooper, the deteriorated sign was replaced with steel letters with $249,300 donated by Cooper and eight other donors including Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner, cowboy singer-actor (and part owner of the L. A. Dodgers) Gene Autry, singer Andy Williams, and Les Kelley, originator of the vehicle evaluation Kelley Blue Book. The new version of the sign was unveiled on Hollywood's 75th anniversary, November 14, 1978, before a live television audience said to be 60 million people. It was refurbished pro bono in 2005-06 by Bay Cal Commercial Painting. And yes, you guessed it, the original 1923 sign was sold on eBay
In 2009, with environmentalists and preservationists, concerned about possible real estate development in the area, the Trust for Public Land signed an option to buy the 138-acre (0.56 km2) property for $12.5 million. After a period of fund raising by the Trust, Hugh Hefner donated the final $900,000 and, later, an additional $100,000. The property became part of Griffith Park, the huge public park sometimes called the Central Park of Los Angeles (but much larger), which is the site of the Griffith Observatory as well as the location of many, many film and TV show scenes. The Observatory is featured prominent in the 1955 film classic "Rebel Without a Cause" and a bronze bust of its star, James Dean, is on the grounds just outside the Observatory dome.
Much more interesting details about the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Park can be found on Wikipedia, and I know that site welcomes any financial support you can give. NOTE: the Fine Art watermark visible in preview windows is not on any print.
Uploaded
June 23rd, 2012
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