Hollywood

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(hŏl'ē-wʊd')

1. The U.S. film industry.
2. A flashy, vulgar atmosphere or tone, held to be associated with the U.S. film industry.

1. Of or relating to the U.S. film industry: a Hollywood movie; a Hollywood producer.
2. Flashy and vulgar: their clothes were pure Hollywood.

[After HOLLYWOOD¹, California.]

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(hŏl'ē-wʊd')

A district of Los Angeles, California. Consolidated with Los Angeles in 1910, it has long been a film and entertainment center.

For more information on Hollywood, visit Britannica.com.

An area of the city of Los Angeles famous primarily for its association with the film industry,

Hollywood was originally a small independent agricultural community. It merged with Los Angeles in 1910 in order to obtain an adequate water supply. At approximately the same time, the film industry began to locate in the region, seeking to take advantage of natural sunlight that allowed year-round filming and a diverse southern California landscape that provided cheap scenery. In 1914, the director Cecil B. DeMille decided to locate his studio in Hollywood permanently, and other companies followed. By the 1920s, Hollywood had beaten out rivals such as Culver City and Burbank as the place most associated with the film industry, although in fact movie lots were scattered throughout the Los Angeles area. The growing power and romance of film made Hollywood a cultural icon and a major tourist attraction. In the 1950s and 1960s, Hollywood also began to attract television studios and record companies. While still home to many entertainment-related companies and remaining a popular destination for starstruck visitors, the area's actual role in film production began to lag in the 1970s. Soaring production and living costs in Los Angeles led many companies to seek opportunities elsewhere, and Hollywood itself struggled with problems associated with urban blight.

Bibliography

Friedrich, Otto. City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s. New York: Harper and Row, 1986.

Starr, Kevin. Inventing the Dream: California through the Progressive Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.

Torrence, Bruce T. Hollywood: The First 100 Years. Hollywood, Calif.: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, 1979.

Oscar Nominee Finding Neverland

From our Archives: Today's Highlights, February 27, 2005

District of Los Angeles.

• Center of the American film industry.

Quotes:

"My attitude about Hollywood is that I wouldn't walk across the street to pull one of those executives out of the snow if he was bleeding to death. Not unless I was paid for it. None of them ever did me any favors." - James Woods

"Hollywood is the only industry, even taking in soup companies, which does not have laboratories for the purpose of experimentation." - Orson Welles

"Isn't Hollywood a dump -- in the human sense of the word. A hideous town, pointed up by the insulting gardens of its rich, full of the human spirit at a new low of debasement." - Source Unknown

"It's a mining town in lotus land." - Source Unknown

"Hollywood makes prostitutes out of women and sissies out of men." - Source Unknown

"I hate the place like poison with a sincere hatred." - Source Unknown

See more famous quotes about Hollywood

• Mixed Drinks - Hollywood: vodka, Chambord, and pineapple juice

Dansk (Danish)
n. - Hollywood

Français (French)
n. - Hollywood

Deutsch (German)
n. - Hollywood

Português (Portuguese)
n. - Hollywood

Español (Spanish)
n. - Hollywood

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
好莱坞

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 好萊塢

한국어 (Korean)
할리우드 (Los Angeles 시의 한 지구; 영화 제작의 중심지), 미국 영화 (산업)

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הוליווד‬

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