Sidney Patrick Grauman was an American showman who created two of Hollywood's most recognizable and visited landmarks, the Chinese Theatre and the Egyptian Theatre.
33 Facts About Sid Grauman
2.
Sid Grauman and his father went to Dawson City, Yukon, for the Gold Rush when he was a young man.
3.
Sid Grauman told a story about a store owner who purchased a newspaper from him for $50.
4.
When his father's sister became ill and he left the territory to care for her, young Sid Grauman remained in Dawson City for a time.
5.
Sid Grauman's parents settled in San Francisco and Grauman joined them there in 1900.
6.
David and Sidney Grauman decided to open a vaudeville theater in San Francisco.
7.
David Grauman tried his hand at expanding his theater business in New York City and the East Coast, where he was far from successful; for a time, Sid worked in Scranton, Pennsylvania, at one of the theaters he and his father were interested in.
8.
David Sid Grauman suffered enough financial loss to have the need to take a business partner in his Lyceum Theater, and to accept an offer from the partner to buy him out in 1905.
9.
Sid Grauman later arranged to take over the lease of the Lyceum, which would then evict his former partner from the theater in 1907.
10.
The structure was able to house a theater only because Sid Grauman had established one there before a fire ordinance prohibiting it was passed.
11.
Sid Grauman was able to save one of the theater's movie projectors from the ruins.
12.
Sid Grauman was able to get a tent from an evangelist preacher in Oakland.
13.
On February 7,1903, Sid Grauman opened the Unique Theatre at 20 East Santa Clara Street in San Jose.
14.
The 1906 earthquake demolished the Unique Theatre, and Sid Grauman moved on to Los Angeles, founding the Princess Theatre and Sid Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
15.
In 1921 in Los Angeles, David Sid Grauman died suddenly, never able to see the completion of the Egyptian Theatre which opened the year after his death.
16.
Now working on his own, Sid Grauman began the building of his last theater, the Chinese Theatre in 1926.
17.
Two versions of the story have been published; one has Mary Pickford as the actress who stepped in the wet cement on her way to see Sid Grauman's new building, and the other credits Norma Talmadge with the misstep.
18.
Sid Grauman decided it was a wonderful way to have a permanent record of the stars, and began inviting selected film personalities to put their hand and footprints in concrete.
19.
Sid Grauman himself made the choices; the tradition continued after his death using a secret system for choosing celebrities.
20.
Sid Grauman was not the sole owner of the Chinese Theatre, even though it bears his name.
21.
Sid Grauman formed the Black Hills Exploration Corporation in a gold mining effort near Deadwood, South Dakota.
22.
Sid Grauman had convinced others such as entertainer Al Jolson and many movie company executives to join him in investing in the company.
23.
Sid Grauman was not successful, and Grauman advised everyone to get out of the investment.
24.
David Sid Grauman was the originator of Pickford's "America's Sweetheart" nickname.
25.
Sid Grauman was the only non-celebrity whose imprints were taken for display; after Rosa's death, Grauman kept all of her personal effects.
26.
Sid Grauman was very closely connected with the motion picture industry and appeared in several cameo appearances that nodded to his fame in Hollywood and further afield in the Gold Rush.
27.
Sid Grauman liked being at Cedars and would leave to eat at various premier restaurants and return to the hospital to sleep.
28.
Sid Grauman received an honorary Academy Award in 1949 for raising the standard for film exhibition.
29.
Sid Grauman has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6379 Hollywood Blvd.
30.
Sid Grauman was one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
31.
Sid Grauman died of a coronary occlusion at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on March 5,1950, twelve days shy of his 71st birthday.
32.
Sid Grauman was interred in the Sanctuary of Benediction alcove in the Memorial Terrace section of the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
33.
Sid Grauman stated that the child Adair referred to was actually her daughter and not Adair's.