The Most Recognizable Sign in the World Was Almost Demolished

It’s the most famous sign in the world … constructed as a real estate advertisement but enduring as an industry icon. Now the Hollywood sign has a website solely dedicated to its more than 90-year history.

According to Los Angeles Magazine, “Historian Bruce Torrence, whose grandfather Charles E. Toberman built the Chinese, Egyptian, and El Capitan theaters and was dubbed ‘The Father of Hollywood,’ spent months researching the long history of the sign and created an incredibly thorough timeline at his new website Hollywood Sign History. His 11,000-word treatise includes a look back on the suicide of Peg Entwistle, the mystery of the ‘white dot,’ and the star-studded 1970s party at the Playboy Mansion that ultimately helped save the sign.”

You can find links to his website and more Hollywood sign lore here.