Interesting facts about Hollywood (16 photos). Curious Facts About Hollywood Hollywood Interesting Facts

96 years ago, on July 13, 1923, the Hollywood sign appeared on the slope of Mount Lee above the California hills. It was originally written as Hollywoodland, and had nothing to do with cinema. Read more about this and other fun facts about Hollywood and everything connected with it, read on.

We are talking about a country that you will not find on any map of the world. Hollywood is the dream factory that has had the greatest impact on human culture in over a hundred years. The most famous area of ​​Los Angeles, where a large number of film studios are located, and, of course, the most famous movie actors live here. This wonderful world with its history and interesting secrets, a dozen of which we will tell you in this issue.

1. The huge white letters now famous all over the world appeared on the southern slope of Mount Lee on July 13, 1923. But at that time, the inscription read HOLLYWOODLAND and was not a commemorative sign, but an ordinary advertisement for new residential buildings in one of the Los Angeles neighborhoods. Each letter was 9 meters high and 15 meters wide.

Initially, it was planned that the advertising inscription would stand for about a year and a half, and then it would be dismantled. But during this time, the inscription managed to gain such fame that they decided to leave it. In 1949, the inscription was restored and the word LAND was removed. By 1978, the inscription was in such a deplorable state that it was completely replaced, and now the height of the letters is 14 m, and the length of the entire inscription reaches 110 m.

2. In September 1932, British actress Peg Entwhistle committed suicide by jumping off the letter "H". The day before, Peg learned that her next role was greatly reduced. At that time, the country was raging, and such news for the actress meant almost complete poverty.

3. During the Second World War, in order not to waste the precious metal, Oscar figurines were made from plaster. After the war, the Oscars were again made from an alloy called british and covered with gold.

4. In 1978, time brought the famous inscription to a very miserable state. Now instead of "HOLLYWOOD" it looked like "HuLLYWO D". The inscription was decided to be properly restored, and Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner held an auction of the letters. As a result, each letter got its own sponsor.

5. The first eight stars on the Walk of Fame appeared simultaneously on February 8, 1960. One of them - star Joan Woodward - is considered by many to be the very first of all.

6. The emblems inside each star symbolize the category in which it was awarded. There are five of them: a contribution to the development of the film industry (the emblem is a movie camera), a contribution to the development of television (TV), a contribution to the development of sound recording and music (an old phonograph), a contribution to the development of radio (radio microphone), a contribution to the development of the theater (comedy-tragedy masks ).

There are also two special "stars" on the Walk of Fame, which are made in the shape of the moon. One of them marked the flight of Apollo 11 to the moon, and the other was installed in honor of the landing on the moon itself.

Stars on the Walk of Fame were received not only by people, but also by cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse.

7. Gene Autry is the owner of a kind of record - all five emblems are present on his star. The thing is that this performer had wide popularity on radio, in films and television for three decades, starting from the 30s.

8. November 9, 2001 in Los Angeles opened famous theater Dolby, also known as Kodak. This theater has become a permanent venue for the Oscars. The auditorium of the theater can accommodate almost 3,400 people, and its stage is one of the largest in the United States.

9. In Hollywood itself, movies can be seen not only in cinemas. It is shown on huge screens, special stands and even in cemeteries. So, since 2002, as part of the Cinespia summer film forum, films have been shown at night at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The image is projected directly onto the wall of the mausoleum of Rudolph Valentino, one of the most famous actors of the silent film era.

10. The author of the term "Hollywood smile" is the dentist Charles Pincus. In the 30s of the last century, he invented the so-called veneers - special plates that are put on teeth in order to improve them. appearance and also for protection.

At that time, porcelain veneers were attached to the teeth with a special adhesive powder and could not last very long. But among the actors, the invention was so popular that Pincus even got the nickname "star dentist". He gave dazzling smiles to celebrities such as Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Stenwyck, Fred Astaire and others.

World of travel

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14.08.15 11:43

The most famous area of ​​Los Angeles, glitzy Hollywood, is home to world-famous stars and studios where masterpieces are born. There is no actor in the world who has never dreamed of "cooking" in a Hollywood boiler! The local cinematographic production is the most pretentious, billions of dollars are “forged” here. Today we will introduce you to some interesting facts about Hollywood, otherwise known as the Dream Factory.

Famous letters were repaired at the suggestion of the main "playboy"

The Hollywood area was founded in 1887 - at first it was conceived as a religious community, who would have thought that this place would become so famous?

Everyone knows the symbol of Hollywood - huge letters. But it was originally an advertisement for a residential area, invented by real estate agent Harry Chandler, and it read "Hollywoodland". It appeared in 1923 and was supposed to hang for only a year and a half. However, the "sign" turned out to be long-lived. After 13 years, it was equipped with a huge number of light bulbs (there are 4,000 of them). And after another 10 years, some of the letters were removed, resulting in the very famous inscription "Hollywood".

An interesting fact about Hollywood: when his symbol needed repairs, Hugh Hefner held an auction, as a result, celebrities (Alice Cooper, Jean Autry, Paul Williams) paid for the restoration of the letters of the inscription.

Main attractions

Legendary Chinese theater Grauman was opened in 1927 - this is one of the attractions of Hollywood. An interesting fact: on the site opposite the theater, many stars left their hand and foot prints, including the most famous blonde of the last century, Marilyn Monroe, the “cowboy of all times and peoples” John Wayne, three-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson.

In the fall of 2001, the construction of the Kodak Theater for over 3,000 seats was completed. Since then, Oscar has been permanently registered in its hall; the annual ceremony is held here.

In 1960, they began to lay the Walk of Fame - since then more than 2,600 people have become owners of stars embedded in the sidewalks - for their huge contribution to the development of theater, cinema, sound recording, television, and radio. Moreover, stars can be awarded and fictional characters like cartoon characters.

Four stars were stolen: James Stewart, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck and Gene Autry), some of them were found, others were replaced. The attackers had to sweat, because each star weighs 136 kg.

The famous "Diplomat Hotel" opened its doors in 1958, since then many stars of the first magnitude have lived in it.

Hollywood smile

The common expression "Hollywood smile" was born in the first half of the twentieth century - it was first used by a dentist from France, Charles Pincus. It was he who came up with the ceramic pads that were attached to the teeth (for a snow-white dazzling smile, you didn’t think that all the actors are happy owners of one?). Pincus used many stars: Elizabeth Taylor, baby Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire.

How do you like this fact about Hollywood: the most expensive of the films shot here is the blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End", which took exactly $ 300 million.

The very first

The first sound film was called The Jazz Singer, released in 1927. His budget was impressive (for those years) - 422 thousand dollars.

One of Hollywood's first studios was founded in 1918 by four Ohio soap merchants. They were siblings, so they named their new venture Warner Brothers.

Peg's ghost and horse head

British Peg Entwistle starred in just one film, but her name forever entered the history of Hollywood because of the sad fact: the 24-year-old actress committed suicide in 1932 by jumping from the letter "H" of the Hollywood sign. Many believe that her ghost still haunts those places.

Actor John Marley, who starred in The Godfather, was treated rather cruelly: in the scene where his character discovers a severed horse head in his bed, a real head was used. That's why Marley's scream was so natural.

Let's count the money!

The most profitable films ever made in Hollywood are Avatar, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Titanic.

But the greatest failure was expected by the tape with Eddie Murphy "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" (at a cost of 100 million dollars, he collected 4.4 million in the domestic box office, and 7.1 million in the world).

In 2014, Robert Downey Jr., who earned $ 75 million, "jumped" all his colleagues.

The first film to cross the 100-million mark at the box office was the thriller Jaws.

But the film Twilight: New Moon was the fastest to collect $ 100 million. To be honest, it's pretty strange fact about Hollywood. After all, in the franchise, this tape is the most boring.

Another "money" fact about Hollywood. 1966 drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Wood? Nichols is the most expensive of the black-and-white films (it "cost" $7.5 million). By the way, this is a five-time Oscar winner.

Convicted in absentia and malarial delirium

Studio head Jack L. Warner was on Adolf Hitler's famous hit list because he made the movie Confessions of a Nazi Spy.

When filming his "Planet of the Apes", Tim Burton abandoned the "computer" primates - this is a well-known fact about Hollywood. Did you know that even more elaborate makeup was used in the original 1968 film, and it was the most expensive makeup in the history of cinema - it cost $ 1 million.

Fun fact about Hollywood: actress Rebel Wilson chose this profession because during her illness she dreamed that she was a star and received an Oscar. Here is such a "productive" she had malaria.

2. British actress Peg Entwhistle, unable to achieve recognition in Hollywood, committed suicide by jumping off the letter "H" of the Hollywood sign.

3. During World War II, Oscar figurines were made from plaster.

4. Over time, the letters on the Hollywood sign began to fall off. To restore it, in 1978 the founder of Playboy magazine Hugh Hefner organized an auction of letters. This auction was held for three months. American rock musician Ellis Cooper sponsored the restoration of the letter "O", Gene Autry and Paul Williams sponsored the restoration of the letters "L" and "W".

6. "Stars" are awarded for contribution to the development of the film industry (camera emblem), sound recording (phonograph emblem), theater development (emblem theatrical mask), television (TV logo), and radio (radio microphone logo). In total, there are about 2,600 stars on the Walk of Fame, and only 4 stars have been stolen during its existence (Kirk Douglas, James Stewart, Gene Autry and Gregory Peck). These stars are awarded not only to people, but also to cartoon characters, for example, Mickey Mouse, and buildings, and companies, and heroes, and many others. There are also empty stars.

7. Gene Autry is the only artist to have all five emblems on a star.
8. In November 2001, the Kodak Theater was opened in the heart of Hollywood, accommodating more than 3,000 spectators. This theater became the first permanent venue for the Oscars, an award from the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

9. In Hollywood, movies are shown everywhere: on stands, on posters, on big screens, and even in cemeteries. There is a "star" cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where such famous cinematographers as Mel Blanc, Cecil B. DeMille, Bugsy Siegel and others found their last refuge. Since 2002, new films have been shown there as part of the Cinespia summer film forum. They are projected onto the walls of the mausoleum of Hollywood legend Rudolph Valentino.
Eddie Murphy

10. The term "Hollywood Smile" was coined by French dentist Charles Pincus in the 1930s. In order for Hollywood actors to show off an even string of snow-white teeth on the screen, Pincus came up with a technology called Hollywood Laminates - ceramic linings fixed on the actor's teeth with a special adhesive powder used to attach dentures. Thanks to his clientele, Pincus earned the nickname "star dentist" - among his patients were Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Stenwyck, Fred Astaire and many others.