- Sid Grauman
Sidney Patrick Grauman (
March 17 ,1879 Indianapolis, Indiana –March 5 ,1950 )Beverly Hills, California was an American showman who created one ofSouthern California 's most recognizable and visited landmarks,Grauman's Chinese Theater . The son of David Grauman who died in 1921 in Los Angeles, California and Rosa Goldsmith (1853-1936).Biography
A failed prospector in the
Klondike gold rush , he had ownedmovie theater s inAlaska andNorthern California before building three noteworthyLos Angeles movie palace s: theMillion Dollar Theater , the Egyptian Theater, and finally the Chinese Theater, noted for its extravagant exterior design and its forecourt containing celebrity hand- and footprints. Grauman's Chinese Theater is now one of the ten most-visited places in Southern California. He died inLos Angeles onMarch 5 ,1950 . [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Sid Grauman Dies. Theatre Owner, 70. 'Immortalized' Movie Stars by Recording Hand and Footprints in Wet Concrete |url= |quote=Sid Grauman, showman and theatre owner, who built the Egyptian and Chinese Theatres on Hollywood Boulevard, died today at the age of 70. |publisher=New York Times |date=March 6 ,1950 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ]Was known far and wide among Hollywood's leading stars and was considered to be a close friend to many, including
Roscoe Arbuckle . It was in Grauman's office at the Million Dollar Theater that Arbuckle called the San Francisco police to turn himself in.Legacy
Grauman received an honorary Academy Award in 1949 for raising the standard for film exhibition. He has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6379 Hollywood Blvd. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery inGlendale, California .He was one of the original 36 s of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS ).One of Grauman's surviving (albeit somewhat distant) relatives is film and television director
Walter Grauman , who still lives in Los Angeles.References
External links
* [http://www.blastfromyourpast.com/graumans/index.html Sid Grauman's Chinese Theater (Historic Photos)]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
