The TCL Chinese Theatre Forecourt

The handprints and footprints

The forecourt concrete holds celebrity handprints, footprints and autographs. Discover Los Angeles puts the total at nearly 200. The first are reported to have been Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, on 30 April 1927, a few weeks before the theatre opened; that date comes from secondary sources. The prints lie at ground level, so they can be read and photographed from above. The forecourt and the Walk of Fame are separate honours: the prints belong to the theatre, while the stars on the sidewalk outside belong to the Walk.

The stars outside the theatre

Mickey Mouse was the first fictional character to receive a star, on 13 November 1978, and the official directory gives its address as 6925 Hollywood Blvd, in front of the theatre. Later fictional honorees include The Simpsons, Godzilla and Kermit the Frog. Stars line both sides of the boulevard here, facing both directions, so the names in front of the theatre are only part of what is on this block. The official directory at walkoffame.com gives each star’s street address, so names in the 6900 block are the ones around the theatre; Gene Autry’s Live Performance star is a little further west at 7000, outside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The fictional characters page covers the cartoon and puppet stars.

Neighbours on the same block

The Chinese Theatre sits in a busy stretch of the Walk. Madame Tussauds Hollywood is next door at 6933; its listing describes more than 120 wax figures and an admission ticket valid for one day with no set entry time. The El Capitan Theatre, Disney’s Hollywood theatre, is at 6838, and Ovation Hollywood with the Dolby Theatre is at 6801. Further west, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel at 7000 opened in 1927, the same year as the Chinese Theatre, and hosted the first Academy Awards dinner on 16 May 1929. The Madame Tussauds close-up and the Dolby Theatre page cover the two ticketed stops nearby.

Costumed performers out front

Costumed street performers work the sidewalk, especially near the Chinese Theatre, and may ask for a tip for a photo. They are not part of the Walk of Fame. Agreeing on any tip before posing keeps things simple.

On a tour

Two of the tour listings name the Chinese Theatre on their routes. The Hollywood Sunset Walk includes the TCL Chinese Theatre in its itinerary, alongside the El Capitan and the Dolby Theatre, before about 20 minutes on the Walk and a climb into Runyon Canyon Park. The Hollywood night tour drives past it on Hollywood Boulevard, per its listing, on the way to Griffith Observatory. The walking tours page sets the sunset walk beside the guided Walk of Fame tour.

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