Featured image credit: Thomas Wolf
Perched atop Mount Lee just 1,708 feet above Los Angeles, the Hollywood sign can be seen all around the world. Figuratively speaking, of course. Obviously, it needs no introduction. But this global icon only exists today because of the efforts (and considerable donations) of nine unlikely individuals, each vowing sponsorship for one of the sign’s 44-foot tall letters. It’s a tale carved into Hollywood legend, yet one that still raises the eyebrows of the uninitiated.
The Crumbling Ruins of the Hollywood Sign
Starting its watch over the city in 1923 as the “Hollywoodland” sign, the civic icon was intended to promote a housing development of the same name. And it wasn’t supposed to remain standing in the Santa Monica Mountains for over a century. The sign endured public efforts to remove it, natural disasters, and the abrasive hands of time before it attained its sacred status. At times, it even resembled a post-apocalyptic parody of the sign we recognize today.
The letter “H” was the first casualty of the elements… or so history remembers. In 1949, the Los Angeles Times cited potential vandals as the culprit while also acknowledging the more popular windstorm theory. It was in this year that residents began to raise complaints about the sign’s dilapidated appearance. Just a little over 25 years after its installation, it didn’t have the historical reinforcement it enjoys today.
Yet, enough people recognized the potential of the Hollywood sign to rally behind it. This support was further organized by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce which drafted a contract with the Parks Department for the sign’s renovation and preservation. As part of this agreement, the “LAND” portion of the sign was removed, leaving behind the Hollywood sign we recognize today. But it wasn’t out of the woods… err, chaparral… yet.
Anything Can Happen in HuLLYWO D
Over the decades, the original Hollywood sign continued to deteriorate. But it wasn’t until early 1978 that the sign was subjected to a windstorm so severe as to disfigure it. When the winds subsided, a fraction of the first “O” had broken off and the last “O” was downed completely.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce acknowledged that it was time for a full-scale replacement of the sign with letters that could better weather the harsh elements. But this ambitious project would cost $250,000 (or roughly a little over $1.2 million by today’s value). To fund these new letters, crafted from steel with steel support beams in a concrete foundation, the Chamber would need some star power.
“Welcome to My… Restoration Project?”
Yet, the Chamber wasn’t actively looking when Alice Cooper, a controversial shock rocker who had yet to cement his legendary status, decided he’d had enough of watching the city’s name dragged through the dirt. Disgusted with the deterioration of the Hollywood sign, he contacted the Chamber of Commerce and was the very first luminary to sponsor a letter for $27,700 (almost $134,000 today).
As an interesting side note, Cooper dedicated the sponsorship of his letter (the final “O”) to his dear friend, Groucho Marx, the renowned comedian who had just passed away in 1977. Groucho Marx and Alice Cooper may seem an unlikely friendship. But Cooper’s theatrical rock shows appealed to Marx’s vaudevillian history. In fact, Marx would often bring Hollywood royalty to Cooper’s shows including the likes of George Burns, Jack Benny, and Mae West.
The Remaining Sponsors
Cooper’s sponsorship was closely followed by Warner Bros. Records who chose to sponsor the sign’s second “O”. But it wasn’t until the sponsorship of the third letter that the trend started by Cooper caught on. On June 29, 1978, Hugh Hefner held a fundraising gala for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce at his Playboy Mansion with a $150-a-head entry fee. Toward the end of the night, singer Andy Williams surprised guests by announcing that he would personally donate $27,700 to sponsor the letter “W” in the revived Hollywood sign. When Hefner turned over the $45,000 raised that evening, Chamber President Jack Foreman showed his appreciation by using $27,700 of that amount to sponsor the letter “Y” in Hefner’s name.
Today, it’s popularly accepted that the motley crew of 1978 sponsors, and their accommodating letters, included:
- H – Terrence Donnelly (publisher of Hollywood Independent)
- O – Warner Bros. Records
- L – Les Kelley (founder of Kelley Blue Book)
- L – Gene Autry (actor, musician, singer) and KTLA (which Autry owned at the time)
- Y – Hugh Hefner (founder of Playboy)
- W – Andy Williams (singer)
- O – Giovanni Mazza (co-founder of Panaria Film)
- O – Alice Cooper (musician) in the name of Groucho Marx (comedian, actor)
- D – Dennis Lidtke (designer, co-founder of Gribbitt! Studio) in the name of Matthew Williams
Popularly Accepted… But Not Universally Accepted
However, there is some dispute over who sponsored which letters in the renewed Hollywood sign. Personal assistant to Alice Cooper Brian Nelson stated in 1995 that Hefner actually sponsored the “H” and Warner Bros. Records chose the “W”. Several sources follow Cooper’s claims that he sponsored the first “O”, but Nelson disputes this, claiming he has proof that backs up that Cooper actually sponsored the last “O.” Pictures from a sponsorship event show Cooper pointing to the dilapidated final “O” in “HOLLYWOOD” while sporting an ear-to-ear grin, seeming to reinforce at least that portion of Nelson’s story.
But no matter who sponsored what, the Chamber finally had the significant funding needed to build the new Hollywood sign. While it may have been better with its steel craftsmanship rooted in concrete lending increased durability, it wasn’t actually bigger. The original Hollywood sign’s letters had stood at about 50 feet tall. The new and improved 1978 version introduced shorter letters measuring 44 feet tall. But it could withstand the area’s windstorms, offering the resilience needed of a worldwide icon. And, to keep it as Hollywood as possible, we owe it all to the guy who brought us “School’s Out.”
