Norma Talmadge and the Footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Did you know that the famous footprint ceremonies at Grauman's Chinese Theatre were accidentally created by silent film star Norma Talmadge?

After his success with the Egyptian Theatre, established in 1922, showman Sid Grauman asked real estate developer Charles E. Toberman to secure a lease on a property at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard. Toberman subsequently contacted the architure firm Meyer & Holler, responsible for the Egyptian, to design a «palace type theatre» of Chinese influence. Grauman financed and owned one-third interest in the theatre, while his partners — Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Howard Schenck — owned the remainder.

 

Under the guidance of principal architect Raymond M. Kennedy, the Chinese Theatre was built over a period of 18 months, starting in January 1926. Many of the fittings were imported from China and Chinese artisans were hired to create a number of sculptures that were placed in the theatre's forecourt (these works are now housed inside the theatre). The grand opening of Grauman's Chinese Theatre was held on May 18, 1927, with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's biblical epic The King of Kings (1927).

 

LEFT: Front courtyard of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1927. RIGHT: Aerial view of the premiere of The King of Kings at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Near the end of construction, Grauman invited Pickford, Fairbanks and Norma Talmadge to take a look at the Chinese Theatre. When Talmadge stepped out of the car, she accidentally placed her foot directly on wet cement, leaving an imprint behind. Rather than being annoyed, Grauman saw this as an opportunity to create a unique promotional feature for his theatre: he would invite the most popular Hollywood stars to leave their hand and footprints on the concrete of the theatre's forecourt, thus immortalizing them for all time.

 

In honour of Talmadge and the inspiration her accident had given him, Grauman asked her to be first personality to place her hands and feet in the cement at the Chinese Theatre's first official footprint ceremony on May 18, 1927, the same day as the premiere of The King of Kings. Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford had put their feet and handprints into fresh concrete at the theatre on April 30 of that same year, but the event was not open to the public. Talmadge signed the cement block with the following inscription: «Sid dear — my wish is for your success — Norma Talmadge.»

 

LEFT: Norma Talmadge with Sid Grauman, leaving her hand and footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. RIGHT: Close-up view of Norma Talmadge's prints.

To this date, about 200 Hollywood celebrities have left their hand and footprints, as well as their autographs, in the «Forecourt of the Stars.» In some cases, other body parts and objects have been imprinted, such as John Barrymore's facial profile (a nod his nickname «The Great Profile»), Betty Grable's leg, Harry Lloyd's glass, Groucho Marx's cigar and Eleanor Powell's tap shoes.

 

 

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SOURCES:

Eureka! The Surprising Stories Behind the Ideas That Shaped the World by Marlene Wagman-Geller (Perigee Books, 2010)