Chinese Theatre (Grauman's)

Grauman's Chinese Theatre is a movie theater at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. It is on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Chinese Theatre was commissioned following the success of the nearby Grauman's Egyptian Theatre which opened in 1922. Built over 18 months, from January 1926 by a partnership headed by Sid Grauman, the theater opened May 18, 1927, with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's film The King of Kings.[1] It has since been home to many premieres - including the 1977 launch of George Lucas's Star Wars[2] - birthday parties, corporate junkets and three Academy Awards ceremonies. Among the theater's most distinctive features are the concrete blocks set in the forecourt, which bear the signatures, footprints, and handprints of popular motion picture personalities from the 1920s to the present day.

After his success with the Egyptian Theatre, Sid Grauman turned to Charles E. Toberman to secure a long term lease on property at 6925 Hollywood Blvd. Toberman contracted the architectural firm of Meyer & Holler (who had also designed the Egyptian) to design a "palace type theatre" of Chinese design. Grauman's Chinese Theatre was financed by Grauman, who owned a one-third interest, and his partners: Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Howard Schenck.[1] The principal architect of the Chinese Theatre was Raymond M. Kennedy, of Meyer and Holler.

Sid Grauman sold his share to William Fox's Fox Theatres chain in 1929, but remained as the theater's Managing Director until his death in 1950. The Chinese Theatre was declared a historic and cultural landmark in 1968, and has undergone various restoration projects in the years since then.

There are nearly 200 Hollywood celebrity handprints, footprints, and autographs in the concrete of the theater's forecourt.

Variations of this honored tradition are imprints of the eye glasses of Harold Lloyd, the cigar of Groucho Marx, the magic wands of Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, the facial profile of John Barrymore (reflecting his nickname "The Great Profile"), the legs of Betty Grable, the fist of John Wayne, the knees of Al Jolson, the ice skating blades of Sonja Henie, and the noses of Jimmy Durante and Bob Hope.

Western stars William S. Hart and Roy Rogers left imprints of their guns. The hoofprints of "Tony", the horse of Tom Mix, "Champion", the horse of Gene Autry, and "Trigger", the horse of Rogers, were left in the concrete beside the prints of the stars who rode them in the movies.

For a map of the hand and foot prints in the forecourt, click here.

Chinese Theatre (Grauman's): 6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA