Interesting Facts About Grauman’s Chinese Theater - Fun Facts About Grauman’s Chinese Theater

The Grauman's Chinese Theatre, located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood serves as a first-run movie theatre. Following the success of the nearby Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre opened in 1922, the Chinese Theatre was commissioned to be constructed. The construction began in the year 1926, and was built over a period of 18 months by a partnership headed by Sid Grauman. Since 1927, the theatre has played host to thousands of premieres, birthday parties, corporate junkets as well as three Academy Award ceremonies. One of the most distinctive features of the theatre is the cluster of concrete blocks set in the forecourt, which has embedded in it the signatures, footprints, and handprints of Hollywood celebrities from the 1920s to the present day. This article contains a bunch of interesting facts about the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Interesting & Fun Facts About Grumman’s Chinese Theater

Grauman's Chinese Theatre was inaugurated on May 18, 1927 with the screening of the film "The King of Kings", directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring H.B. Warner.
The Chinese Theatre has a seating capacity of 2000 and is the site of thousands of movie screenings.
There are nearly 200 Hollywood celebrity handprints, footprints, and autographs in the concrete of the Chinese theater's forecourt, known as the “Forecourt of the stars”.
The first footprint at Grauman's Chinese Theater, also known as Mann's Chinese Theater, was made by Norma Talmadge in 1927. Douglas Fairbanks, the third founding partner of the theatre was the second celebrity to be immortalized in the concrete.
Hollywood stars, William S. Hart and Roy Rogers left imprints on the concrete with their guns. The horses used in the film, also left their hoof prints just beside the footprints of the stars who rode them in the films.
Few stars have gone beyond the set tradition of hand and foot prints on the concrete. While Harold Lloyd left the imprint of his eye glasses, there are imprints of the cigars of Groucho Marx and George Burns, the magic wands of Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, the legs of Betty Grable, the fist of John Wayne, the knees of Al Jolson, the ice skating blades of Sonja Henie and the noses of Jimmy Durante and Bob Hope.
During World War II, the theater did not install any concrete handprints and footprints. However, with the end of the war in 1945, the tradition resumed with Gene Tierney.
The only person not associated with the movie industry who has a signature and handprint in front of the theater is Grauman's mother.
For three consecutive years from 1944-46, 1945, the Academy Awards ceremonies were held at the Chinese Theatre.
In the year 1968, the Chinese Theatre was declared a historic and cultural landmark and since then, it has undergone several restoration projects.
Ted Mann, owner of the “Mann Theatres” chain, and husband of actress Rhonda Fleming bought the Grauman’s Theatre in 1973. From 1973 through 2001, the theatre was known as Mann's Chinese Theatre. Due to Mann’s bankruptcy, the theatre was sold to a partnership of Warner Brothers and Paramount Pictures in 2000, who also acquired the Mann brand name. In 2002, the original name, Grauman’s Theatre, was restored to the cinema palace.
The exterior of the theater is designed to resemble a giant red Chinese pagoda. There is a huge Chinese dragon across the front with two Ming Heaven dogs guarding the main entrance. There are also silhouettes of tiny dragons up and down the sides of copper roof.

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