Judy Garland
One of film’s most beloved stars and greatest talents, Judy Garland first stepped onto a stage at the age of two. Her unforgettable performance in The Wizard of Oz won her a special, juvenile Oscar and a truly iconic presence in the collective consciousness of generations. Classics like Meet Me in St. Louis, Easter Parade, A Star Is Born (1954), and Judgment at Nuremberg earned her two more Oscar nominations. Few songs are as firmly embedded within the great American songbook as “Over the Rainbow,” “The Man That Got Away,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” In her later years, she returned to the concert hall, packing theaters with unwavering fans.
Rudolph Valentino
One of the true legends of cinema, Rudolph Valentino still epitomizes the image of the Latin lover to many. His seductive, sensual style set him apart from the era’s more conventional images of leading men embodied by all-American Wallace Reid or swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks. Some of his greatest successes were The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Young Rajah, Monsieur Beaucaire, and The Son of the Sheik. A memorial has been held in the Cathedral Mausoleum on the anniversary of his death, August 23rd, since 1927.
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille’s first film, 1914’s The Squaw Man, was also the first feature-length movie filmed in Hollywood. One of the most successful filmmakers in the history of cinema, DeMille is perhaps best remembered for spectacles like The Ten Commandments (1923 and 1956), The Sign of the Cross, Cleopatra (1934), Union Pacific, Samson and Delilah, and The Greatest Show on Earth, 1952’s Academy Award winner for Best Picture. He appeared as himself in several films, most memorably in Sunset Boulevard, where he was further immortalized by Gloria Swanson’s unforgettable line, “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my closeup.”
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney’s career began before the age of 2 in his parents’ vaudeville act. His first work in Hollywood was as the title character in the 78 installments of the Mickey McGuire short subjects between 1927 and 1934. Memorable roles in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Captains Courageous, and Boys Town earned him critical praise, but it was the 15 Andy Hardy films and the blockbuster musicals with Judy Garland that made him a superstar, positioning him as the #1 box office draw from 1939 until 1941. His career blossomed again in 1979 with The Black Stallion and the hit revue Sugar Babies, his long overdue Broadway debut.
Tyrone Power
The scion of an acting dynasty, Tyrone Power truly embodied the matinée idol of Hollywood’s golden age. His striking looks and on-screen charisma had made him a star by 1942, when he put his career on hold to enlist in the U. S. Marine Corps. He would go on to fly troop and cargo planes in the Pacific during World War II, most notably during the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Among his most memorable films are In Old Chicago, Marie Antoinette, The Mark of Zorro (1940), Blood and Sand, The Razor’s Edge, Nightmare Alley, Captain from Castile, King of the Khyber Rifles, The Sun Also Rises, and Witness for the Prosecution.
Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone
The Ramones blazed a punkish trail through a stagnant music scene in the 1970s and 1980s with hits like “I Wanna be Sedated,” “Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,” and “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks was a star of comedies before making The Mark of Zorro in 1920, the first of several blockbuster adventure films with which he is most closely associated, among them The Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1921), and The Thief of Baghdad (1924). Seeking independence from studios and distributors, he joined Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, and future wife Mary Pickford to found United Artists in 1919. Along with other Hollywood stars, the four established the Motion Picture Relief Fund in 1921. He was also the first president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His monument was designed by Howard Seidell.
Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc, who would become known as “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” began his career as a radio actor in Portland, Oregon, in 1927. In 1936, he joined Leon Schlesinger Productions, which at the time was producing cartoon shorts for Warner Bros. In the decades to come, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Speedy Gonzales, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, the Tasmanian Devil, and many other memorable characters came to be as closely associated with their unique voices as with their visual images.
