Hollywood Wax Museum
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The Hollywood Wax Museum is located in the heart of the tourist district of Hollywood, California, USA, at 6767 Hollywood Blvd.
The museum, the brainchild of entrepreneur Spoony Singh, was opened in 1965,[1] and claims in promotional literature to be the only wax museum dedicated solely to celebrities. Behind the small storefront, the displays house some 180 wax figures[1] of media stars, fictional characters, and famous politicians, and a traditional Chamber of Horrors, featuring movie monsters and scenes of torture.
Some of the wax figures include:
- Shirley Temple singing the Good Ship Lollipop
- Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) in The Wizard of Oz
- John Wayne
- Fonzie (Henry Winkler) from Happy Days
- Charleton Heston in Ben Hur
- Christopher Reeves as Superman
- Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
- Mario, mascot of Nintendo, the first video game character to be featured at the wax Museum.
Outside are footprints in concrete of some of the movie stars sculpted in wax inside, in the Grauman's Chinese Theater tradition.
The museum has something of a cult following, centering on its singularly poor wax likenesses, and diorama settings with incongruous groupings of celebrities and props. Nicolas Cage, for example, sits on a motorcycle next to Super Mario. The museum also features a diorama of The Last Supper, alongside the wax T-800 with its face blown off.
Other branches of the museum are located in Buena Vista, California, and Branson, Missouri.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Douglas Martin. "Spoony Singh, 83, Dies; Created Hollywood Wax Museum", New York Times, October 25, 2006, p. A17.
