Hollywood is the film capital of the world. Many of the studios of the film industry in the United States are founded in the neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California: Columbia Pictures, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, and Universal Pictures.
Its name has come to be a shorthand reference not only for the US film industry but also the people – movie stars, directors, scriptwriters, and the like – associated with anything on film and television.
In 1923, a large sign reading HOLLYWOODLAND was erected in the Hollywood Hills to advertise real estate developers Woodruff’s and Shoults’ housing development. In 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce entered a contract with the city of Los Angeles to repair and rebuild the sign. The agreement stipulated that LAND be removed to spell HOLLYWOOD so the sign would now refer to the district, rather than the housing development.
Now, here are some facts – odd, trivial, fascinating and otherwise – you might want to know about Hollywood. All the information contained here were taken from the book, Empire Movie Miscellany: Hundreds of Amazing Filmic Facts:
Let’s start with the real unique names of some stars: Alphonse d’Abbruzzo (Alan Alda), Jennifer Anastassakis (Jennifer Aniston), Jose Antonio Dominguez Bandera (Antonio Banderas), Tadie Khan (Yul Brynner), Mark Vincent (Vien Diesel), Goldie Jean Studiendghawn (Goldie Hawn), Julie Ann Smith (Julianne Moore), and Walter Bruce Willison (Bruce Willis).
The less words in a movie title, the better. But there are movies whose titles are a kilometer long. Consider the following: “Night of the Day of the Dawn of the Son of the Bride of the Return of the Revenge of the Terror of the Attack of the Evil, Mutant, Alien, Flesh-eating, Hellbound, Zombified Living Dead Part 1: In Shocking 2-D.”
Here are more: “The Heart of a Lady as Pure as a Full Moon Over the Place of Medical Salvation,” “The Incredibly Strange Creatures who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies,” “The Englishman who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain,” “I Could Never Have Sex with a Man who had so Little Regard for my Husband,” and “Who is Harry Kellerman and Why is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?”
Some famous movie stars appeared in some movies but they were never credited in their appearances. Consider the following: Kenneth Branagh in Swing Kids, Sean Connery in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Matt Damon in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Glenda Jackson in The Boy Friend, Shirley MacLaine in Ocean’s Eleven, Madonna in Die Another Day, and Jack Nicholson in Broadcast News.
Just for the record: The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) is the first feature film ever made. Running for 85 hours, The Cure for Insomnia (1987) is the longest film ever made. William Beaudine, who made 182 pictures between 1922 and 1965, is the most prolific director.
The largest number of extras – about 300,000 of them – happened in 1982 when the film Gandhi was made. The most kissed dispatched in one film is Don Juan performed by John Barrymore, who kissed 127 women.
These movie stars are actually Canadians and not Americans: Dan Aykroyd, James Cameron, Jim Carrey, Rae Dawn Chong, Lolita Davidovich, Michael J. Fox, Margot Kidder, Rick Moranis, Mary Pickford, William Shatner, and Donald Sutherland.
How did some of those movie stars die? James Dean died of a car accident in 1955; so did Janet Gaynor (1982), Grace Kelly (1982), Jayne Mansfield (1967), and Tom Mix (1940).
The following died of plane crashes: Leslie Howard (1943), Carole Lombard (1942), Audie Murphy (1971), Ricky Nelson (1986) and Aaliyah (2001).
Award-winning actors Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn appeared in several movies together. Although they were living as husband and wife, they were never married. Their films together: 1942’s Woman of the Year, 1942’s Keeper of the Flame, 1945’s Without Love, 1947’s The Sea of Grass, 1948’s State of the Union, 1949’s Adam’s Rib, 1952’s Pat and Mike, 1957’s Desk Set, and 1967’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
The following tied the nuptial knot after meeting at work: Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger in The Marrying Man (1991), Warren Beatty and Annette Bening in Bugsy (1991), Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not (1944), Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra (1963), Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Days of Thunder (1990), Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis in The Fly (1986), Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson in Volunteers (1985), and Kate Winslet and James Threapleton in Hideous Kinky (1998).
Do you want to know the intelligence quotient (IQ) of your favorite stars? Here they are: Jodie Foster (132), Nicole Kidman (132), Steve Martin (135), Arnold Schwarzenegger (135), Geena Davis (140), Madonna (140), Sharon Stone (154), Sylvester Stallone (160), Quentin Tarantino (160), and James Woods (160).
Education never fails, so goes a saying. But there are some stars who never finished school: Brigitte Bardot, Drew Barrymore, Ellen Burstyn, Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Jim Carrey, Cher, Sean Connery, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Bo Derek, Robert Downey, Jr., Laurence Fishburne, Cary Grnt, Gene Hackman, and Sophia Loren.
Here are more: Rob Lowe, Dean Martin, Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen, Demi Moore, Roger Moore, Olivia Newton-John, Peter O’Toole, Al Pacino, Anthony Quinn, Keanu Reeves, Charlie Sheen, Frank Sinatra, Uma Thurman, John Travolta, and Peter Ustinov.
We have our own fears. Hollywood stars are no exception. Here are the stars and their phobias: Woody Allen (showers with drains in the middle), Drew Barrymore (insomnia and claustrophobia), Kim Basinger (agoraphobia), Chevy Chase (snakes), Cher, Whoopi Goldberg and Liv Ullman (flying), Katharine Hepburn (fire), Robert Mitchum (crowds), Steven Spielberg (elevators), and Billy Bob Thornton (antiques).
