Sometimes the rise to the top in Hollywood isn’t always easy. At times you even have to get your hands a little dirty! Take for instance tinsel town’s famous tradition of immortalizing its brightest stars by having them place their hands AND feet in the bed of wet cement! Even Sophia Loren placed her hands and size nine Italian stilettos into the muck.
The tradition to immortalize stars in cement began back in 1927. The owner of the theater Sid Grauman, says it all started by accident. “I walked right into it! While we were building the theater, I accidentally happened to step in some soft concrete. And there it was. So I went to Mary Pickford immediately. And Mary put her foot into it too!”
A couple of years ago I made a trip to Hollywood. During my stay in the movie capital of the world, I had to stop by Grauman’s theater to pay my respects to Hollywood’s brightest stars. As I anxiously searched the pavement blocks, I saw many luminaries of the silver screen: Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp, Judy Garland, even Darth Vadar.
However, there was only one name that I was really looking for, that of Sophia Loren. When I found the spot where La Loren knelt down and placed her two hands into the wet cement on July 26, 1962 — I screamed with delight. I couldn’t resist putting my own hands into the impressions Sophia had left in front of Grauman’s Theater.
My trip to Hollywood occurred in 2011. Little did I know then that one day I would meet Sophia Loren in person. Fast forward to March 2016. This time, instead of Hollywood the was setting Las Vegas where I met up with La Loren in person where I attended her one-woman show “Sophia.” After the show, I did much more than place my hands in impressions left in cold concrete. This time I hugged and kissed the warm and vital actress herself AND spoke with her in Italian!
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a video clip of Sophia’s big moment in front of Grauman’s theater but here is one of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell.
If you liked this post about Sophia Loren you might like this one as well: Meeting Sophia Loren A Dream Comes True
