The TRUE Story of Grauman's Chinese Theater
Footprints
The Chinese Theater - circa 1927
Jean W. Klossner (Mr. Footprint) is the man who built
Sid
Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, then went on to perform the
world-famous
footprint ceremonies from 1926-1957. Nobody "slipped" or "fell" into
wet
cement ... there
was NO WET CEMENT AT THAT TIME!!, it was all carefully planned out by
Mr. Grauman and Mr. Klossner.
The real footprint (hand print) idea came from
Mr.
Klossner's
family in the early 1800's. As three generations of Klossners (Jean,
James &
William) completed work on the Notre Dame Cathedral, they "signed"
their
work by
pressing their hands in the fresh cement. Jean Klossner brought this
idea
over
with him from Europe and used it on all the buildings he completed with
the
Meyer-Holler Construction Co. in Los Angeles including:
The Egyptian Theater, The All-American
Theater, The Hollywood Masonic Lodge, Hollywood First Federal Savings
and many others.
When it was time to finish
Sid
Grauman's Chinese, Mr. Klossner pressed his hand in the fresh cement
out
front
of the theater's right-hand poster frame, where it remains today, some
85
years ago THIS YEAR!. When Sid Grauman saw him do this, the two
developed the idea to
decorate
the otherwise drab forecourt ... and the rest is history.
Jean William Klossner
Do you know where the duck prints are?
How about
Charlie
Chaplin's set of footprints ... can you find them?
Or how about Those of JWK
and
Joan of Arc's? ... Keep looking ...
....See
how it was done ..
... The First Footprints ...
.. Footprints 1930-1935 ..
.. Footprints 1935-1940 ..
.. Footprints
1940-1945 ..
..
Footprints 1945-1950 ..
.. Footprints 1950-1955 ..
.. Footprints 1955-1960 ..
After Mr. Klossner passed away in 1965, (age 91) the
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce jumped at the chance to
"BORROW" the idea for FREE and have used it for their "Walk of Fame" in
spite of the fact that it is still covered under world copyrights. ***
Even though the C of C has benefitted for years from an
idea which they took from us, they refuse to give credit where credit
is due - to the man who started it all Jean W. Klossner
You are VISITOR number :
to imprint this page !
THIS SITE WAS MADE ON A MAC, thanks to
DIZDAV (1999)
....See
how it was done ..
