The Hollywood sign is an iconic landmark. It was first erected and officially dedicated on July 13, 1923. Originally, it didn’t just say “Hollywood” but “Hollywoodland”, as a means of selling property in that area of Los Angeles.
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A century later, it is still standing on Hollywood Hills, although it has seen many makeovers and facelifts, and it even got auctioned off to stars like Alice Cooper and Gene Autry. After decades, they will be lighting up parts of the Hollywood sign to celebrate its centenary.
Originally, the Hollywood sign was a wooden sign but after several years, many of the letters had already deteriorated and vandals had sullied the letter H. When the locals asked that the sign be torn down, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce stepped in and offered to get it renovated.
In 1949, the new sign read “HOLLYWOOD”. However, even that didn’t last long, and in the 1970s, some of the letters had once again fallen in disrepair, particularly the first O transforming into a lower case “u”, with its accompanying O completely falling over. So, Alice Cooper launched a public campaign to have the sign restored.
He donated $28,000 to sponsor the restoration of the sign along with eight other stars including Gene Autry, Hugh Hefner, and Andy Williams. Each one of them sponsored one letter on the sign with Cooper getting the first O, Autry, the second L, Heffner, the Y, and Williams, the W.
The Hollywood Sign Trust recently had the sign repainted in celebration of its 100th anniversary. For a gallery of the Hollywood sign’s 100-year history, check out this article from Deadline.
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Source: neatorama