All About Hollywood

So you're in California, enjoying the sun, surf and sand; cruising the streets in your super cheap car rental, and taking in all the sweet sights that make Cali just so darn awesome. But wait! You've visited Santa Monica, Los Angeles and Orange Country but you're missing something! You haven't been to Hollywood! How could you forget about the one, the only Tinseltown?! Hurry up and grab you're fellow vacationers, and jump into you're cheap car rental, 'cause baby, we're going to Hollywood!

Hollywood History
The Hollywood that we all know and love wasn't always full of glitz and glam. In the 1870's Hollywood was actually a flourishing agricultural community that grew hay, grain and subtropical crops of pineapple and bananas! It wasn't until 1903 that the first film studio opened up on the corner of Sunset and Gower. It wasn't long after this that Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith started filming movies on the main street, and the rest is showbiz history!

Hollywood Studios
This is the place where stars are born. From Clarke Gable to Tom Cruise; Vivian Leigh to Julia Roberts; this is where history is made. Hollywood is home to more than a dozen motion picture studios including Disney, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros and many, many more. Hollywood also house a large number of TV studios including ABC and CBS. Many of these studios offer guided tours of famous soundstages and displays of movie memorabilia. So park your cheap car rental and take a tour of the historic Friends set or even the studio where your favorite movie was filmed.

Hollywood Hills
As you approach downtown Hollywood in your cheap rental car be sure to look up at the hills so that you don't miss out on seeing one of Hollywood's most historic sites. The Hollywood Sign greets tourists and pilots alike as they arrive in Los Angeles from its home at the crest of the rugged Hollywood Hills. The sign stands four stories high and each letter is over 30 feet wide along its base.

But something is missing; actually four things are missing. You see the sign originally said HOLLYWOOD LAND. In the year 1923 Harry Chandler, a local publisher of the Los Angeles Times and an up-and-coming real estate enthusiast, sensed a huge opportunity looming on the Los Angeles skyline. So he teamed up with movie director Mark Sennett to create a giant welcome sign, which beckoned an invitation to all potential starlets and wishful thinkers.

Hollywood Walk of Fame
On Hollywood Boulevard lies the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's not everyday that you can look down to find yourself stepping on the likes of Big Bird, Clint Eastwood and Jane Fonda! The Walk of Fame is continually being expanded to accommodate the constant flow of new stars being added to it. At the west end of the Walk, at the corner of Hollywood and La Brea, lies a huge, glistening gazebo topped by a spire that reads "Hollywood".

Lize-size statues of four silver screen goddesses in evening gowns stand guard at the corners of the silver shrine. The statues are a nod to multiculturalism an are representations of film stars Mae West, Dolores Del Rio and Anna May Wong