Every day, hundreds of tourists climb the steep slopes of Mount Lee in Griffith Park just to approach it. With selfies, they immortalize their visit to one of the most famous places in the world, offering a breathtaking view of the city of Los Angeles. On the occasion of its centenary in 2023, and while the Californian city is marked by a strike by television and film screenwriters for the first time in 15 years, “l’Obs” looks back on the history of the emblem of the City of Angels.
Originally a billboard
The story begins in 1923 when a real estate project was launched in Hollywood Hills. The promoters wish to build a new residential district on the heights of a booming city. To support the project and advertise it, a huge sign is installed on Mount Lee, on which the name of the program is visible: “Hollywoodland”. Like the Eiffel Tower at the Universal Exhibition of 1889, the sign was to be only temporary, its creators having planned to remove it after eighteen months. The project, estimated at $21,000, is notably financed by Harry Chandler, publisher of the “Los Angeles Times”.
The sequel after the ad
Continuously monitored by cameras, the 15-meter-wide and 9-meter-high logo was at the time covered in light bulbs, providing its thirteen letters with nocturnal lighting. As the years passed, the sign remained in place and began to mark the Californian landscape. Very quickly, it became synonymous with glory and hope for a whole generation of young actors who set off to attack Los Angeles to, who knows, pursue a career in cinema.
Marked by time and dramas
Thanks to a booming movie industry, the Mount Lee sign is gaining notoriety. But the Great Depression and then the Second World War emptied the coffers of Hollywood and the residential district project did not see the light of day. As a result, the panel was abandoned, the interview having officially ended in 1939. On September 16, 1932, however, a macabre event brought it back to center stage. Peg Entwistle, a British actress with some success on Broadway, commits suicide at the foot of the letter H, after failing to find success in Hollywood. His death, massively relayed by the tabloids, will keep for posterity the name of ” the Hollywood sign’s girl “. The following years, a myth will develop: the panel, in ruins, would be cursed.
The year 1949 marked a turning point since the municipality of Los Angeles acquired the panel. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decides to repair the deep damage caused by years of exposure to wind and rain. At the same time, the H, lost, is rested and the lighting removed, as are the last four letters: LAND. Thus remains the logo that we know today. From there, no more question of real estate project, the panel will be a foil, a showcase for the city of Los Angeles.
In the 1970s, the brand had already permeated popular culture and the imagination. In an advanced state of disrepair, it was saved by Hugh Hefner, the boss of the charming magazine “Playboy” thanks to an auction. Each letter is thus sold to other celebrities for 27,700 dollars each with the objective of raising funds for a new restoration. The panel comes out even bigger: 130 meters long, 13 meters high, all on a metal structure weighing more than 200 tons. Very quickly, it is replicated in many cities around the world such as San Fransisco, Avranches in France or Bangui in the Central African Republic.
The sequel after the ad
The most famous billboard in the world
From the end of the 1970s, the logo became cult and took pride of place in popular culture. Its quasi-brand image is used during events, advertising campaigns or to question public opinion. Thus in 1987, in honor of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Los Angeles, Hollywood became “Holywood” (sacred wood). A decade later, in 1997, recently Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh was swinging from a helicopter there during a photoshoot for the cover of “National Geographic.”
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Important pool of jokes – more or less successful – for decades, the panel has experienced many diversions on the networks. He is also present in a string of films or series. We can see him being the victim of a tornado in “The Day After” (2004), or being the door to hell in “Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief” (2010). It is also present in its original form “HOLLYWOODLAND” in “Mulholland Drive” (2000) by David Lynch or “The Artist” (2011) by Michel Hazanavicius.
On the side of cartoons or video games, the sign is also a star, as evidenced by its appearances in “the Simpsons” – where it is parodied by the sign “SPRINGFIELD”, in the video game “Horizon: Forbidden West” or again in “Grand Theft Auto V” where he is present under the name “VINEWOOD”.
For the centennial celebration, the president of the Hollywood Sign Trust announced the construction of an official visitor center, with facilities for tourists, a museum and a cinema. On the sidelines of the anniversary, special events and a makeover were organized. The repainting of the Hollywood sign, which takes place once a decade and takes weeks, is already a small event in itself.
