Temple Tuesday: The Mural Fades

I recently acquired these June 1985 images of the mural in Hollywood known as “You are the Star.” The name is because all of the “stars” are sitting in the audience and from the vantage point, YOU are the one on the silver screen. Cute idea! Painted by Thomas Suriya in 1983, it shows a wide variety of actors from the silents to (at that time) the present. Edited from The Gainesville Sun:

“You Are the Star,” Suriya recalled, began, as so much does in this town, with a dream. In 1983, he said, he had “a vision of a movie theater but in reverse, with the stars looking out at the world which is a projection - the opposite of what we do when we go to the movies.” A few days later a friend invited him to brighten up the side of a family building at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Wilcox Avenue. “I came here cold - I had never painted a mural before, not even a portrait - but it grew into a wonderful thing,” Suriya said. He pored over film-history books to find top-tier actors from different eras - from sex symbols to action heroes. The mural’s audience includes 71 celebrities from silent films to the 1980s. “The heavy hitters are in the front row,” the 59-year-old painter said, pointing to Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. “All the tough guys are over there with John Wayne,'' he said. “There’s James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. Then there's the science-fiction-fantasy section'' with Superman and R2-D2. Jack Lemmon, Bruce Lee and the Marx Brothers are his personal favorites, the self-trained artist said.…The painting, which became a bona fide tourist attraction that seems to transfix those gazing at the stars watching them, was the big break Suriya had dreamed about. Even with no pay. He stayed with a friend during the project and local businesses donated paint and scaffolding. Before he came to Los Angeles, Suriya was living in the northern California mountains with friends, including Michael Attie, whose parents owned the building and ran a lingerie store on the ground floor. “It was a leap of faith on his part and an adventure for me,” he said. “It was pretty intense.” He went on to paint other murals in the city and work as a special-effects designer. 

Front and center is little Shirley Temple, sitting in the lap of W.C. Fields with Lassie at their feet. How ironic since these two quotes have been attributed to Fields: “Anyone who hates children and animals can't be all bad,” and “Never work with children or animals.” I am assuming Suriya (or whoever consulted with him on the selection of Stars) knew of this and made it part of an inside joke.



Here is the photo of Shirley from “Little Miss Marker” that the artist used for inspiration. He was nice enough to fix the tear in her dress.



This alternate view from 1985 shows a wider view of the mural while still including the red Pontiac Fiero parked in front. Nothing screams eighties like a Fiero.



Front row has Marilyn, Charlie Chaplin, and James Dean on the other side of Fields and Temple. Second row has Katharine Hepburn, Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh (from “Gone with the Wind”), Mae West, and Sophia Loren. Third row has Paul Newman and Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Woody Allen, Judy Garland Mickey Rooney, and Marlene Dietrich. Fourth row has Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, Gregory Peck (?), Laurel & Hardy, Richard Pryor, and Al Jolson in blackface. Sixth row is a lot tougher. Kirk Douglas, Richard Widmark, Woody Woodpecker, Barbara Stanwyck on a really bad day (?), Greta Garbo, Anthony Quinn, Cantinflas, Jane Russell, and Bruce Lee.

 

Front row: Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, Rudolph Valentino. Second row: Henry Fonda, Marlon Brando, Brigitte Bardot; Third Row: Dietrich, Jane Fonda, Dustin Hoffman, Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds in “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1982). Fourth row: Theda Bara, Mary Pickford, Elvis Presley, Diana Ross (?). Behind Theda Bara are the Marx Brothers (Chico, Harpo, and Groucho). I believe Jack Lemmon is the one behind Chico.



Front row: James Cagney, Lauren Bocall and Humphrey Bogart next to Marilyn. Second row: Jean Harlow (?), Edward G. Robinson, John Wayne, Cary Grant, and Hepburn. Third row: Burt Lancaster, Toshiro Mifune, Errol Flynn, Spencer Tracy, Newman and Redford. Fourth row: Anne Bancroft (?), Ingrid Bergman, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, Joan and Bette. Fifth row: Godzilla, R2D2, King Kong and Boris Karloff as Frankenstein (with Bela Lugosi as Dracula behind them), Christopher Reeve as Superman, and Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire dancing over the aisle. Phew!



Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) visited LA in August 2006. According to the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles website, the mural was “restored” in 1995. I would imagine direct sunlight, cars, and people could take quite a toll on a piece of public art. Here is Melissa with daughter:



Despite the restoration, it was still looking a bit rough in 2006:



Melissa’s daughter was ready for her closeup:



Of course they had to have a photo near Shirley’s portion of the mural.



UPDATE: Daveland frequent reader Fifthrider pointed out this gem (after alerting me to a few others):

Until now I never noticed the open doorway at the dark back of the theater. Inside the yellow rectangle you can see E.T. trying to use the payphone.

Apparently, Suriya returned in 2007 for another restoration, according to The Gainsville Sun:

Thomas Suriya is back, with his brushes, paint and scaffolding, to restore the luster that 24 years of sun, smog and anti-graffiti coating have stolen from the 20- by 30-foot mural of a fantasy Tinseltown mash-up.…The star of his favorite movie - Harrison Ford in "Blade Runner'' - didn't make his cut in 1983. If Suriya (pronounced SIR-ee-uh) were doing the mural today, he said, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp and Jack Nicholson would also get a seat. “Now I look at (the mural) and it looks so rough,” he said, pointing to James Dean's hand. “I was so ambitious.” This time, Suriya is getting paid for his work through a grant from the Hollywood Arts Council. Suriya said he was reluctant to return to Los Angeles because of the working conditions: Heat, car exhaust and a narrow sidewalk on a sketchy corner. But he’s been surprised.“People trudge along with their shopping carts and they look up and say, ‘Nice job,’” he said. Luxury lofts and chain stores have been built a few blocks away, but redevelopment hasn’t touched this stretch of Hollywood Blvd. “The spirit is different now,” he said. “In the early ’80s the economy wasn't that good, but the vibe was better.” The Attie family sold the building last month to an East Coast investment group, said Steve Tronson, a commercial real-estate broker. The new owners plan to preserve the mural and the exterior of the elegant 1931 Art Deco building, Tronson said. Suriya hopes the restored mural will last another quarter century. His first work has been photographed by thousands of movie buffs and tourists and has played bit parts in commercials, music videos and movies, including “The Player,” “S.W.A.T.” and a David Bowie video.

Flash forward to 2016 when the mural was featured in “La La Land” with Emma Stone (at right) and Ryan Gosling. 



Once again, the mural was looking rough.



From Google views comes this truly disheartening image. The mural is fading quickly and the Stars are barely recognizable any more. The homeless man with his back turned to the mural is an unintentional commentary on how this piece of art has been treated.



Suriya, come back!!

See more photos at my main website.