Nerve-tingling action from the Red Bull Air Force Team high above the City of Angels. The following photostory and video are accompanied by ten facts you never knew about the Hollywood sign…
On October 20, 2011, Miles Daisher, Jon Devore, Luke Aikins and Mike Swanson of the Red Bull Air Force Team swooped over the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California during Red Bull LA Swoopers. And yes, we've got the video to prove it.
To celebrate the team's daring mission, we've done our research and found ten facts about the world’s most famous architectural lettering with which to furnish you with…
1 The sign is located on the southern side of Mount Lee in Griffith Park, north of Mulholland Drive.
2 The sign spelling out the area is 45ft-tall (14m) and 350ft-long (110m), with each letter measuring 31-39ft-wide (9.4-12 m). The original sign was created in 1923 (with letters 15ft shorter) and originally read "HOLLYWOODLAND". Its purpose was to advertise a new housing development in Hollywood Hills.
3 From the ground, the contours of the hills give the sign a wavy appearance. But when observed at a comparable altitude, the letters appear nearly level.
4 In September 1932, Welsh-born actress Peg Entwistle jumped to her death from the sign's H.
5 In 1943, Albert Kothe – the sign's official caretaker – accidently destroyed the H. Kothe, who was driving while under the influence, was nearing the top of Mount Lee when he lost control of his car and drove off the cliff. Kothe wasn't injured, but his car, and the letter, were complete write-offs.
6 In 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce won a contract with the City of Los Angeles Parks Department to repair and rebuild the sign. The effort gave it a new lease of life, but the sign's unprotected wood and sheet metal structure continued to crumble. Eventually the first O splintered and broke and the third O fell down, leaving a dilapidated sign to read "HuLLYWO D".
7 In 1978, and after a public campaign to restore the landmark led by rocker Alice Cooper (who donated the missing O in memory of comedian Groucho Marx), the Chamber set out to replace the sign with a more permanent structure. Nine donors, among them Cooper, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and singer Andy Williams, gave a total of $249,300 to sponsor replacement letters made of steel. They lasted until 2005 when new refurbishments were necessary.
8 In 2005, the original 1923 sign was put up for sale on eBay by producer/entrepreneur Dan Bliss. He sold the sign to artist Bill Mack.
9 Eliciting a great deal of attention, the Hollywood sign has been unofficially altered a number of times. It was turned into "HOLLYWeeD" in January 1976, following the passing of a state law decriminalizing marijuana, and to "OIL WAR" following first Gulf War in 1991.
10 Imitations of the signs have sprung up all over the place. Hollinwood near Manchester (UK) had its own sign for a while, as did Wellington in New Zealand, where the movie-making community christened the city “Wellywood”. Faraya (Lebanon), Hammarstrand (Sweden), Brasov (Romania), Caurimare (Venezuela) and, of course, Dolly Parton's Dollywood in Pigeon Forge (Tennessee) have all had their own versions of the sign.
Photos © Andy Farrington / Red Bull Content Pool
(source: wikipedia)
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