Hollywood Walk of Fame Opens With 1,558 Stars

# February 13, 1960: The Hollywood Walk of Fame Gets Its First Star

On this date in 1960, something magical happened on Hollywood Boulevard that would become one of the most iconic symbols of entertainment history: the official completion and dedication of the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

While the first star had technically been placed in August 1958 (belonging to actress Joanne Woodward), February 13, 1960 marked the grand completion ceremony when the Walk of Fame officially opened to the public with 1,558 stars embedded in the sidewalks along a 2.5-mile stretch of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

The concept was actually born from the creative mind of E.M. Stuart, who in 1953 served as the volunteer president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Stuart proposed the idea as a way to revitalize Hollywood, which was experiencing a decline as television began stealing cinema's thunder and movie studios were relocating. The original plan was wonderfully ambitious: create a monument that would honor both the legends of yesterday and the stars of tomorrow.

The stars themselves are quite something! Each pink terrazzo and charcoal square measures 3 feet by 3 feet and features a coral pink star, the honoree's name in bronze, and a symbol representing their category: a movie camera for film, a TV set for television, a phonograph record for music, a radio microphone for radio, and later, twin theatrical masks for theater.

What makes this particularly fascinating is the democratic chaos of that initial installation. Those original 1,558 stars weren't awarded through today's rigorous nomination process—they were simply selected by the Chamber of Commerce, sometimes with little rhyme or reason. This led to some delightfully quirky inclusions and some notable snubs that would take decades to correct.

The project cost about $1.25 million (roughly $13 million today), and the ceremony on February 13, 1960, drew Hollywood royalty and curious onlookers alike. The event symbolized Hollywood's determination to maintain its crown as the entertainment capital of the world, even as the industry faced unprecedented changes.

Today, the Walk of Fame has grown to over 2,700 stars, and receiving one has become a prestigious honor that costs the nominee's sponsor $75,000 for installation and maintenance. But that chilly February day in 1960 marked the moment when Hollywood literally cemented its legends into history, creating a tourist destination that would attract millions of visitors annually and ensure that the names of cinema's greatest would be walked upon—and remembered—forever.


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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI