The landmark of Los Angeles is the huge letters “Hollywood” in the hills on the outskirts. They are now 100 years old. Entry is forbidden, but the temptation is great.
The landmark of Los Angeles does not invite you to visit – on the contrary. “No Access to Hollywood Sign” reads warning signs on chain link fences, arrest and fines possible. “Caution, dangerous animals” – warnings are given of mountain lions and rattlesnakes.
Nevertheless, the famous lettering “Hollywood” in the steep hills of the metropolis has a magical attraction. Hardly any visitor leaves the dream factory without taking a look at the letters, which are a good 13 meters high and up to 12 meters wide.
On the way through Los Angeles, you can often see the lettering in the distance, just not close enough to touch. “A lot of people want a close-up,” says Diana Wright. The 37-year-old Californian stands at the foot of the giant D letter. “Sure, some are jealous of me,” she adds with a wink. Wright works for the non-profit organization “The Hollywood Sign Trust”, which is committed to preserving the landmark – “as an international symbol for filmmaking and the realization of dreams”.
“We want to protect the sign from visitors”
Wright is one of the few authorized people with access who can lead selected visitors, including members of the press, to the letters. Especially this year, on the occasion of the 100th birthday, the demand is high. You have to be “like a mountain goat,” laughs the guide. And it’s getting serious. A climbing rope takes you backwards down a narrow path. It’s almost a hundred meters to the foot of the letters, below which the rugged canyon continues steeply into the valley.
“It’s really dangerous,” Wright insists. “We want to protect the sign from visitors, but also keep people with stupid ideas away who could get injured here.”
In 1923, workers carried the material with donkeys in this difficult-to-access area. The original lettering was made from old telephone poles made of wood and pieces of sheet metal – it was four letters longer. “Hollywoodland” was the publicity stunt of a brokerage firm that wanted to sell land in the then uninhabited hills. 3700 lightbulbs lit up the billboard at night. Albert Kothe, a German immigrant, had the job of maintaining the structure, which included changing the lamps.
There were calls to tear down the sign altogether
“It started out as a billboard, went through ups and downs, and eventually became iconic,” Wright muses. In fact, the landmark has often made headlines in a hundred years. In 1932, young, unemployed actress Peg Entwistle fell to her death from the letter H. “She became known as the ‘Hollywood Sign Girl,'” Wright says. It’s the only known suicide from the sign.
Over time, the letters weathered, the paint peeled off, parts fell over. There were calls to tear down the sign altogether.
But in the late 1940s the construction was renovated and the last four letters were removed. In 1978, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and some prominent financiers intervened. There was a complete facelift, all the letters were changed, made of steel beams and huge corrugated iron sheets. “Playboy” boss Hugh Hefner paid a new “Y”, shock rocker Alice Cooper donated an “O”.
The lettering has survived earthquakes and forest fires, but has occasionally been used for puns: Pope John Paul II was greeted with “Holywood” (holy forest) during a visit in 1987. Twice advocates of a liberal drug policy made “Hollywood” “Hollyweed” – “weed” (herb) colloquially means marijuana.
This happened most recently on New Year’s Eve 2017, when unauthorized persons turned the two O letters into E’s with white and black tarpaulins. The police are usually there quickly. The sign is guarded around the clock, says Wright. 13 cameras and other sensors were installed.
“Hollywood loves to smash the sign”
The iconic setting is also a popular target for directors. “Hollywood loves to smash the sign,” Wright quips. “It’s already been blown up, set on fire and shot at with laser beams.” With the help of special effects, of course. In the disaster film “The Day After Tomorrow” Roland Emmerich causes the letters to collapse with a tornado, in “San Andreas” a mega earthquake wipes out the landmark.
Just in time for the anniversary year, the lettering was revamped last autumn with 1,500 liters of white paint in a beautification campaign lasting several weeks. In January, the Hollywood Sign Trust announced initial plans to build a visitor center. The aim is to offer tourists a place where they can learn more about history.
At the moment, fans have to be satisfied with the view from afar. Hiking trails in Griffith Park’s hilly terrain provide the best vantage points. It is a popular selfie setting for many tourists.
“You have to see that once in your life,” says a young woman from the US state of Arizona who is vacationing with friends in Los Angeles. The group is now sitting in the countryside, high above the city, with the cameras trained on the “Hollywood” letters. “It’s so peaceful here,” says the tourist. “This is a good place to escape the madness of Hollywood.”