Hollywood celebrates 50 years of Walk of Fame

Hollywood will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Walk of Fame on Sunday with a party. The festival, which runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., will include free movie screenings and performances and tours of area studios and theaters.

The Walk of Fame was conceived in the 1950s by business leaders in Hollywood as a way to beautify the historic core. The first star was set on March 28, 1960.

Since then, the attraction has proved a perennial draw for tourists eager for a taste of Hollywood.  An estimated 10 million people visit the 18-block stretch each year.

More information about Sunday's festivities can be found on the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce website.

And if you're eager to know more about the 2,400 stars on the Walk of Fame, check out the L.A. Times’ Star Walk -- a virtual tour that puts readers on the streets of Hollywood.  

-- Kate Linthicum

Photo: The Feb. 8, 1960, groundbreaking for the Walk of Fame, with, from left, L.A. County Supervisor Ernest Debs, E.M. Stuart, actresses Gigi Perreau and Linda Darnell, Harry M. Sugarman, and actors Francis X. Bushman and Charles Coburn.

The Times database of the stars on the Walk of Fame puts readers on the sidewalks of Hollywood, using more than a century of archives to track the lives of the stars.