The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an integral part of Hollywood and entertainment culture. Spanning fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, the 2,690 brass stars are embedded into the sidewalks and are meant to honor the legacy of various entertainers. That includes actors, directors, writers, musicians, singers, producers, and even various fictional characters.
The stars are there for life, serving as a monument to one's incredible accomplishments. So, naturally, it's only fitting that they be spelled and honored correctly. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen. For some reason or another, various embarrassing mistakes have been made throughout the years.
These are ten errors that have been made on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is one of the greatest and most respectable television actresses of all time, having starred in the incredible sitcoms Seinfeld and Veep. She has won a total of 8 acting Emmys, including six straight for Veep between 2012 and 2017. Unfortunately, her star was spelled "Julia Luis Dreyfus," both misspelling her name and omitting the hyphen. Fortunately, Louis-Dreyfus took it in stride, and the star was eventually corrected.
A very similar thing occurred to screen legend and comedian Dick Van Dyke. Van Dyke was an enormously celebrated performer, known the world over for his roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins, and The Dick Van Dyke Show. With his name being the title of his show, one would think that the star would be spelled correctly. Unfortunately, he was honored as "Dick Vandyke." This, too, was eventually corrected.
Misspellings happen. They shouldn't, especially with something so monumental and important, but they do. But to get the wrong name entirely? Don Haggerty was a famous actor who appeared in dozens and films and TV shows throughout his decades-spanning career. He received a star for his work, but it read "Dan Haggerty" instead of Don. This caused incredible confusion when Dan Haggerty of Grizzly Adams also received a star...
Mistaking Don for Dan is one thing. But something really wrong happened with poor Mauritz Stiller. Stiller was a Swedish film director who is known for bringing Greta Garbo to America.
Garbo is one of the most acclaimed actresses of all time, having been ranked the fifth greatest female star by the American Film Institute. Stiller received a posthumous star in 1960, but it erroneously (and sort of hilariously) read "Maurice Diller." It read as such for the following 28 years before it was finally corrected in 1988.
It's not all misspelled names. Sometimes the makers accidentally categorize the filmmakers in the wrong medium. Such is what befell American actor Monty Woolley. Affectionately known as The Beard, Woolley is a veteran stage and film actor known primarily for his work in The Man Who Came to Dinner (both the play and the film). But despite being officially categorized within the "motion picture" category, Woolley's star displays a TV - the symbol for television star.
This same thing happened to famous and esteemed film actress Carmen Miranda. Miranda was very popular throughout the '30s, '40s, and '50s and was nicknamed The Brazilian Bombshell. She was the highest paid woman in the United States in 1945, making 14 Hollywood films between 1940 and 1953 and dancing for President Roosevelt. She was the first South American to be honored with a Star, but it erroneously bore the TV symbol.
The opposite happened to TV legend Larry King. King is a two-time Peabody winning radio and TV host with a prosperous career that has spanned decades.
He rose to prominence through his radio program The Larry King Show before hosting the nightly TV interview program Larry King Live. In other words, no one should have mistaken him for a movie star. But mistake him they did, and Larry King's star is adorned not with a TV, but with a movie camera.
Fortunately, most misspellings are caught and fixed. Unfortunately, some are not. Such is the case for poor Merian C. Cooper. Cooper co-invented the Cinerama film projection process and directed the revolutionary King Kong in 1933. He was eventually given a lifetime achievement Oscar for his work in the film industry in 1952. Eight years later he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but his name was misspelled "Meriam C. Cooper." The error remains to this day.
Auguste Lumière and his brother Louis are practitioners in the field of film. They invented the cinematograph, a revolutionary motion picture film camera that also serves as a projector. It was used in nickelodeons (the first type of indoor movie theater), and the brothers even produced their own short films to show off the invention. Their March 22, 1895 Paris screening in front of 200 people is widely regarded as the very first presentation of film for a large audience. Despite Lumière's incredible contributions, his name is misspelled "August Lumière."
Lotte Lehmann was a world-renowned soprano who performed in the operas of Strauss, Mozart, and Beethoven. She is perhaps best known for her starring role in Fidelio, Beethoven's only produced opera. She made the cover of Time Magazine in February 1935, and for her contributions to the recording industry, she was given a star on the Walk of Fame. Unfortunately, her first name is misspelled "Lottie," an error that remains to this day.
