Construction of the Chinese Theatre was still ongoing in 1927 when Norma Talmadge (pictured above) visited her friend, Sid Grauman, at the site. Talmadge was a silent film actress and was considered one of the biggest stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood. During her visit, Talmadge accidentally stepped on wet cement and left an imprint, per the Los Angeles Times. This gave Grauman the idea of getting his celebrity friends to leave their prints on cement as a way to promote the new theater.
Grauman invited his business partners and friends, movie stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, to leave prints of their hands and feet on wet cement, and he also left his own, as reported by AP News. The growing collection of imprints was formally named the Forecourt of the Stars. Apart from the footprints and handprints, some celebrities also left short messages to congratulate Grauman. Others left imprints of other body parts, such as Jimmy Durante and Jackie Chan, who both pressed their noses onto the wet cement. Marilyn Monroe left a rhinestone earring to dot the "i" in her name, but unfortunately, it was pried off the cement by a fan just days later.
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