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death. She would go down in infamy as the “Hollywood Sign Girl.” By the end of the 1940s, Harry Chandler’s real estate venture was defunct (a residual effect of the Great Depression) and the letters of the one-time billboard were now decaying. Albert Kothe, the sign’s caretaker didn’t help matters when he drove drunk one night and lost control of his vehicle, destroying the letter “H.” Though the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce teamed up with the city of Los Angeles to repair the façade in 1949, the sign would continue to deterio-
DISCOVER
Hugh Hefner, who’s been called “the sign’s number one fan,” stepped up by hosting a gala to auction off brand-new letters for $27,700 each. Some of the biggest names in the biz helped fund the effort, including Gene Autry, who purchased an “L,” Warner Bros. an “O” and singer Andy Williams, a “W.” Throughout the 1980s and 90s, efforts continued to
“TODAY, THE BILLBOARD THAT WAS ONLY MEANT TO LAST 18 MONTHS REMAINS AMONG THE MOST-VISITED LANDMARKS IN THE WORLD.” star in its own right. In 1930, Thomas Lee took his father’s (radio pioneer Don Lee) following to the smallscreen. Broadcasting news and other events from the Hollywood sign (the area around it had been dubbed “Mt. Lee”), the younger Lee brought a visual to the dayto-day glamour of L.A. life. The sign would become the object of scandal in 1933 when New York stage actress Peg Entwistle plunged to her death from the letter “H.” Entwistle, who’d failed to succeed at the film career she’d so desperately wanted, would finally achieve fame in her
TRAVEL
rate over the next two decades. If the first 20 years of its life were about promoting Hollywood real estate, the years to come would be about preserving its cultural and historic impact. In the 1970s, recognizing the desperate need for restoration (the top of the first “O” had all but eroded and the second one had fallen off and tumbled down the hill, now reading “Hullywod”) the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce commissioned a quarter million dollar renovation.
revitalize sign, as well as the city of Hollywood continued. Today, the billboard that was only meant to last 18 months remains among the most-visited landmarks in the world. It’s a destination for everyone from photographers, historians and film buffs, to outdoor and environmental enthusiasts. The sign that Hugh Hefner has called “Hollywood’s Eiffel Tower” remains a symbol of celebrity, glamour and fame — and has a mystique that can only be found in Hollywood. ❖
For information about visiting the Hollywood sign, go to www.hollywoodsign.org
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LIFE - SEPT.OCT2015
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