October 30, 1986|By Ellis E. Conklin, Los Angeles Daily News.
The Walk of Fame and the 45-foot-high Hollywood sign in Griffith Park were registered with the office of the California Secretary of State. Now, any company using the word ``Hollywood`` or a likeness of the sidewalk or the sign in its advertising or design must first pay a fee to the Chamber.
A one-year exclusive license to put the ``Hollywood`` logo on T-shirts costs $20,000, while using the Walk of Fame or sign designs on posters, coffee cups, key chains and buttons can run as much as $25,000 for exclusive rights. The chamber hopes to raise about $65,000 this year. Much of it is earmarked to replace the estimated 200 bronze stars damaged by age, including stars belonging to Shirley Temple and Michael Landon.
There are three steps to gaining a star on the Walk of Fame, Grant said. First, one has to be nominated. Usually the celebrity`s business manager or public relations agent sees to that, and then the sponsor must promise the committee that the star will show up for the big event.
No one has ever failed to attend the ceremony and still received a star, except for Barbra Streisand. Her star was anchored in the pavement outside the legendary Mann`s Chinese Theater.
Second, the one-page application must be considered by the committee when it meets every June. Finally, if the candidate gets the needed votes, a date is set for the ceremony and the $3,500 is turned over to the Hollywood Chamber.
``I`ve never felt we put people in who are obscure,`` Chamber president Bill Welsh said. ``Of course, I`ve been in the business long enough, so I know most of them.``
Gary Owens, the popular Los Angeles radio personality who netted a star of his own in 1980, said, ``There does seem to be some inconsistencies in the way it`s handled. One would presume Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood would have stars.``
Grant said the criteria for reeling in a star is ``professional achievement,`` at least five years in the motion picture, radio, television or recording business and ``making a contribution to the community`` such as performing charitable work.
How then could Hoffman, Newman and Fonda fall through the pink and charcoal terrazzo cracks?
It certainly couldn`t be the $3,500 price tag the Hollywood Chamber charges to offset the cost of tearing up the sidewalk, embedding the star as well as paying for security guards so no one gets trampled during the ceremony.