Grauman's Chinese Theatre

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Grauman's Chinese Theater

Grauman's Chinese Theatre, at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood is a world-famous movie palace that opened in 1927 and has since become one of Southern California's most recognizable and visited landmarks.

It was built by showman Sid Grauman, who also built the nearby Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, as well as the Million Dollar Theater on Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles.

The exterior of the movie theater supposedly resembles a giant, red Chinese pagoda. The architecture features a huge Chinese dragon across the front, two stone lion-dogs guarding the main entrance, and the silhouettes of tiny dragons up and down the sides of the copper roof.

According to some sources, the theater's famous collection of footprints began with an accident. Before the Chinese Theater officially opened, owner Sid Grauman gave a tour to some celebrities, during which actress Norma Talmadge unintentionally walked across a wet slab of cement.

Variations of this honored tradition are imprints of the eyeglasses of Harold Lloyd, the cigars of Groucho Marx and George Burns, 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.

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Many older entries contain personal messages to Sid Grauman, such as Myrna Loy's 1936 contribution. Loy's first job was as a dancer at the theatre in the 1920s.

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

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Steve McQueen's hand and foot prints

The only person not associated with the movie industry to have a signature and hand print in front of the theater was Grauman's mother.

The theater opened May 18, 1927 to huge fanfare with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings, after a well publicized construction. The Chinese had cost more to build than any other theatre to date.

In 1968 it was declared an historic and cultural landmarked, and has undergone restoration projects in the years since then. The theater was purchased in 1973 by Ted Mann, owner of the Mann's Theater chain and husband of actress Rhonda Fleming, who renamed it Mann's Chinese Theater. As of November 9, 2001, the original name was returned to the front of the theater.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre continues as a first-run movie theater where, for the price of a ticket, a visitor can see a film in the fully renovated and restored auditorium.