May 4th, 2023 Hollywood, CA
Today is May 4th, aka Star Wars Day. Reason? Because when you say the date “May the 4th”, it sounds like STAR WARS most famous quote “May the Force be with you”. So fans say/post/tweet, etc “May the 4th be with you” as a wink to the fandom and phenomena of the laser filled space opera. It’s a “Hallmark greeting” from one to another.
I suppose that any film franchise and cultural juggernaut like Star Wars SHOULD have a world wide day of celebration and acknowledgement. May the 4th is sort of the St. Patrick’s Day of nerds the galaxy over.
This year is a bit special, however. The powers that be will bestow a high Hollywood honor, long overdue, to Carrie Fisher. She will finally receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Posthumously. It is the 2,574th star to be added to the infamous constellation.
It’s ludicrous that she didn’t already have one considering her Hollywood/entertainment industry pedigree. She has famous parents, became a pop culture icon at 19, starred in extremely successful films, wrote best selling books, had addictions, divorces, and rehab stints. By all Hollywood standards, she is/was all aspects of what a “star” is.
She wasn’t just a mere celebrity, especially when you consider all of the stars we walked over on the famous boulevard with names of people that once had their day/era, but whose presence and accomplishments have been forgotten, faded, or quieted by time.
Certainly very few have affected our world so much that not only has her likeness been used to sell millions of posters, t-shirts, action figures, but also has become a face of the female empowerment movement. That, ladies, gentlemen, and Jedi, is what they call an icon. She is a textbook definition of the word.
It’s the reason why when she died in 2016, fans took a permanent marker and wrote neatly on an as yet unclaimed star: “Carrie Fisher. May the Force Be With You Always” in dedication to her.
Soon after, flowers and candles adorned the lovingly vandalized concrete star in memoriam. It’s a common tradition on the Boulevard when a celebrity passes.
For example, fans of David Bowie crowd his star with flowers, fan-made artistic renderings, and stuffed animals, not only on the anniversary of his death, but also on his birthday every year.
My friend Kim and I head down to its location just in front of what used to the Galaxy Theater with vials of multicolored glitter in our pockets to sprinkle “stardust” in his honor.
Of all the years I’ve lived in LA, though, I’ve never been to a walk of fame ceremony. I’ve darkened the Boulevard sidewalk with my shadow a thousand times, but have never witnessed an induction. The date, time, and address location made its way to social media, so I decided that if I was to witness a ceremony adding a name to the roster, then this is the one to go to.
I texted my friend Anthony who is new to town by less than a month, and he agreed to go along for some sightseeing and to get more familiar with the city he now lives in.
In all honesty, I love showing people around the LA/Hollywood area. It’s rich with history and bizarre happenings that could take place no where else.
We left my place at 9am, taking the 101 and battling slight morning commute traffic. We exited on Highland cruising past the Hollywood Bowl and on into the 90028 zip code. Parking was going to be an issue, because parking is always an issue in SoCal, so I devised a small plan to park a little out of the way and walk to the induction site.
To avoid the always insane intersection of Hollywood and Highland, we hooked a right onto Franklin where sojourn became a short impromptu tour of famous locations as we scouted for a place to park.
“There’s the Magic Castle, which is basically Hogwarts for magicians of all sorts. It’s more like a country club, has memberships, and is exclusive. Invite only to the public” I told him. “If you say ‘Magic Castle’ fast, it sounds like you’re saying ‘magic asshole’”. We both chuckled. Immature, yes, for sure. It’s true though. Say it fast out loud. You’re welcome!
“Now, see this hotel right here? That window on the first floor right there? That’s hotel room 105. The room where Janis Joplin OD’d.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Yeah, she was staying there while recording at Sunset Sound just a few blocks away. It’s the same studio Prince recorded PURPLE RAIN and 1999 in, plus countless other legends recorded there. Pretty much anyone who was ever anyone has recorded there.
See that building right there? Ron Jeremy supposedly lived there in the 2000s. I can’t confirm that, but I’ve seen him as I drove past it a couple times over the years.
I’ve got a couple stories about that guy. Nothing bad, though. I did almost run over him once in front of the Hustler store. He was jaywalking across the street, and walked right in front of my truck. I had to slam my brakes.
Turn left here on La Brea.”
We started looking for parking in the same blocks I used to park in when I’d go out in Hollywood 3 to 4 nights a week. Unfortunately, all those spots are timed parking now. Two hour time limits to be enforced according to the newer signs. I started to wonder to myself what could possibly take less than 2 hours to do in that highly trafficked area of Hollywood? Practically nothing.
Anyway, we needed to turn around, but I wanted to make it a scenic u-turn to show Anthony a couple of points of interest. We cut down Fairfax and into the neighborhood cruising by the murder houses from the original Halloween (78). I’m always impressed how that neighborhood looks like a street in the midwest, yet is seated between buzzing Hollywood Blvd and Sunset.
We climbed our way through the streets of multimillion dollar homes back into the fray of Hollywood morning traffic. The easiest and safest parking was a structure we found close to Amoeba records. It was a small trek, but we walked our way up Hollywood Blvd making our way to the ceremony. By the time we’d reached the intersection of Highland, they had blocked off traffic all the way to the Roosevelt Hotel.
The crowd gathered along waist high guard rails pinpointing where the actual star would be. It’s in a highly trafficked area, just a few feet west of Mark Hamill’s star in front of the El Capitan theater, and across the street from the Grauman’s Chinese Theater where the footprints of R2D2, C3PO and Darth Vader are cemented in the forecourt.
White canopies clearly marked the spot where the guests and celebrities would sit in conference once the festivities start.
News camera tripods were still being set up and positioned for the best shots. Organizers and security were milling about taking care of various last minute tasks. The crowd was thickening as the 11:30 am start time drew near. Cell phones were being prepped for social media posts of all varieties. Several people were in costume, though not nearly as many as I expected.
It was kind of disappointing, but then again, I wasn’t in costume either. I could have opted to mold my chops into Leia buns like I have in years past, but it was raining heavily earlier, and I didn’t want to chance them getting wet and melting down.
Though by the time we got down there, the weather had mostly cleared up except for a few sprinkles here and there.
The anticipation was definitely building. The crowd randomly shouted the names of the two surviving stars into the humid air. “Mark! Harrison!” which made the entire crowd look around to see if they had actually shown up.
Mark Hamill was rumored to be in attendance, but Harrison Ford was most certainly not expected. In truth, I was hoping to see George Lucas, though I knew it’d be a long shot that he’d appear. Living in LA, celebrity sightings are a common occurrence and don’t necessarily register as a big deal. However, seeing Lucas would be a celebrity sighting of the rarified variety. He hardly makes appearances at all. If he’s seen in public, it’s usually in Marin County up north.
Later, on our way home however, Anthony did share a story about seeing George Lucas behind him in the drive-thru at Jack In The Box. That is a very interesting way to see any celebrity, especially one of Lucas’ caliber. I couldn’t help but wonder what a world famous auteur would shout into a cracking speakerbox of a greasy fastfood joint. A lower level restaurant, at that. Food for thought later, I guess.
Hamill on the other hand, I’ve met on several occasions throughout my years here in LA. We even worked together briefly when he voiced the Joker in “THE KILLING JOKE” animated movie I was a PA on. I will say though, that every time I see him, I think to myself, “Wow, that man’s face has been on my shirts and underwear my entire life”. I never say that out loud, though, for obvious reasons.
The skies cleared up and the bright sun heated the air just as a couple of stormtroopers took guarding positions on either side of the 4 step staircase that led to the slightly elevated stage.
Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher’s daughter, only child, and heir apparent to the Princess Leiah legacy arrived with friends or acquaintances flocking around her. A tall plain looking gentleman, whom I’d later find out was her husband, also joined in with shaking hands and exchanging “Hollywood hugs” with a few of the people waiting under the canopy.
We all know this type of hug. It happens everywhere, but especially in entertainment business circles. An insincere, light embrace that is awkward yet necessary. Necessary, not just for the people greeting each other, but necessary to let those around them know that they know each other well enough to feign familiarity, and by extension, approval, especially if a celebrity is one of the two forced faux affectionate parties.
When she pulled away from one of the hugs, the separation of bodies revealed she was wearing a dress of shiny slip-like material with the image of her mother as Princess Leiah on it.
Soon after, Mark Hamill did walk out to the festivities. The crowd cheered of course. I know it’s Billie Lourd’s day as ambassador to her mother, but fans were really there to see Hamill. Frankly, they were there to see any stars of the original trilogy. The organizers did not disappoint.
More fan eruption as C3PO and a remote R2D2 made their way over the star-embedded sidewalk to the front of the small stage.
When I saw this, I focused on Hamill and watched his head pan slowly, tracking with the movement of the droids as they crossed in front of him. Though, from our position, I could only see the back of his head, and couldn’t see any facial expression that may be registering at that moment. I couldn’t help but wonder what he must be thinking as he saw his two shiny former coworkers that share the same iconic status as him.
I mean, even for how huge he is in STAR WARS world, practically the messiah sitting to George Lucas’s right, their celebrity stature in that universe in which his character Luke dwells, has to register with him. It would have to I’d think. Right? Though, maybe it has been so long that he’s used to it and attributes little emotion or thought beyond “Meh, whatever. STAR WARS, so what?”
The STAR WARS theme began to emit from the temporary event speakers that have been set up signalling the ceremony was about to start. The invitees still standing quickly found one of the wooden white foldout chairs to sit in.
I Heart Radio personality Ellen K. was there as the official emcee. She introduced someone newly hired to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce who then officially declared May 4th as “Carrie Fisher Day in Hollywood” as his first official duty of the position. How exciting is that first day at work for him? That story will be cocktail hour fodder for years to come!
Mark Hamill was then summoned to the mic and delivered a speech that quite frankly, seemed like he was phoning it in. I love the guy, but he just seemed kind of blase`. Who can blame him, though? I’m sure he’s given the same speech about STAR WARS and Carrie Fisher a million times before.
Though of note, he did refer to her as his “space twin”, and lovingly called her a brat. He told, i.e. repeated, the story of their first meeting at a dinner that took place in London in 1976. It was a short anecdote of the egos and cockiness of two youths meeting as they were unknowingly on the cusp of lifelong international superstardom.
Next, star of the show, Billie Lourd got up and gave a speech about her mother that was heartfelt, emotional, and sprinkled with a little of that trademark Fisher sass she has clearly inherited.
Closing her speech, she took out a small envelope containing glitter and sprinkled a fistful over the Blvd and her mother’s newly minted honor. Then as she, C3PO, and R2 stood over it, an official from the chamber of commerce lifted the ceremonial star cover by its tassels and revealed the quartz pink star with gold outline and lettering that read “CARRIE FISHER”.
The fans cheered as expensive professional cameras clicked in rapid succession, and our princess, possibly the most famous ever, is now amongst the stars where she belongs.
The ceremony ended and the crowd dispersed across the still empty Blvd pavement like debris from the Death Star floating into space.
