Hollywood, CA Discount Hotels

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Hollywood Boulevard at Vine Street,

Hollywood, California 90028

323-469-8311

Along Hollywood Boulevard runs a mile-long stretch of sidewalk, with names embossed in brass, each at the center of a pink star embedded in dark-gray terrazzo. The first eight stars were unveiled in 1960. Since then, more than 1,600 other motion picture industry stars have been immortalized. These include:  Marlon Brando at 1765 Vine, Charlie Chaplin at 6751 Hollywood, W. C. Fields at 7004 Hollywood, George and Ira Gershwin at 7083 Hollywood, Clark Gable at 1608 Vine, Greta Garbo at 6901 Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe at 6774 Hollywood, Rudolph Valentino at 6164 Hollywood, and John Wayne at 1541 Vine. Recent arrivals include Drew Barrymore at 6925 Hollywood and Dr. Seuss at 6600 Hollywood.

Mann's Chinese Theatre

6925 Hollywood Blvd.,

Hollywood, California 90028

323-464-8111

This ornate Chinese pagoda-style movie palace is a Hollywood  icon. Although you have to buy a movie ticket to view the massive interior, the courtyard is open to the public. Here you'll find cement imbedded hand and footprints. This tradition is said to have begun at the theater's opening in 1927, with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's King of Kings, when actress Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped into the wet cement. Now more than 160 celebrities have contributed, along with an imprint of Jimmy Durante's famous nose.

Capitol Records Building

1750 Vine St.,

Hollywood, California 90028

323-462-6252

Even though this famous recording studio is not open to the public, it is viewed and admired as a reminder of the past.  Its unique circular design looks like a stack of old 45rpm records.  The legend of this symbol of the 1950s is that singer Nat King Cole and songwriter Johnny Mercer suggested that the record company's headquarters be shaped to look like a stack of 45s. Architect Welton Becket claimed he just wanted to design a structure that economized space and in so doing, he created the world's first cylindrical office building. On its south wall, L.A. artist Richard Wyatt created the mural Hollywood Jazz, 1945-1972.   At the top of the tower, a blinking light spells out "Hollywood" in Morse code.

Hollywood Entertainment Museum

7021 Hollywood Blvd.,

Hollywood, California 90028

323- 465-7900

Daily 11am-6pm (Thurs-Sun 11am-6pm Labor Day through Memorial Day)

Admission charged.   Free to children under 5.

On display are highlights from a nearly a century of film, TV, and radio. Visitors can pull up a stool at the complete Cheers bar (look for where the stars carved their initials in the bar during the final episode) or sit in the captain's chair of the original set from Star Trek: The Next Generation. There is a series of interactive demonstration rooms that teach various tricks of filmmaking.  Visitors can create Foley soundtracks for a movie segment, test their skills at digital editing, and try out other entertaining, educational procedures and then sign up for the studio back-lot tour to learn more about the film-making process.

Egyptian Theatre

6712 Hollywood Blvd.,

Hollywood, California 90028

323-466-3456

1:00 pm - 4:00 pm Tues. - Sun. and 1:00 PM until 30 minutes after the last show of the day

Admision charged.

The Egyptian Theatre is just down the street from Grauman’s  better-known Chinese Theatre, but it remains less altered from its original design, which was based on the then-headline-news discovery of hidden treasures in Pharaohs' tombs.  There are hieroglyphic murals and enormous scarab decorations above the stage. Hollywood's first movie premiere, Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks, was shown here in 1922, followed by the premiere of The Ten Commandments in 1923. The building recently underwent a sensitive restoration by American Cinematheque, which now screens rare, classic, and independent films.

Hollywood Sign

6342 Mulholland Highway,

Hollywood, California, 90068

These famous 50-foot-high white sheet-metal letters have come to symbolize the movie industry and the city itself. The sign was erected on Mount Lee in 1923 as an advertisement for a real estate development. The full text originally read HOLLYWOODLAND and was lined with thousands of 20-watt bulbs around the letters which were changed periodically by a full-time caretaker who lived in a small house behind the sign.

The LAND section of the sign was damaged by a landslide, and the entire sign fell into major disrepair until Hugh Hefner, Alice Cooper, Gene Autry, and Andy Williams contributed funds to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for its repair. Officially updated in 1978, the 450-foot-long sign is now protected by a fence and motion detectors. The best view is from the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Bronson Avenue.

860 N. Gower St. at Melrose Avenue,

Hollywood, California, 90038

323-956-1777

Call for reservations

Experience the living history of Paramount Studios.  Take a guided 2-hour historical and informative look behind the scenes of the daily operations of a major motion picture and television facility.