COUNCIL FILE NO. 01/" ¿ ii & COUNCIL DISTRICT NO. 13
APPROVAL FOR ACCELERATED PROCESSING DIRECT TO CITY COUNCIL
The attached Council File may be processed directly to Council pursuant to the procedure approved June 26, 1990, (CF 83-1075-S1) without being referred to the Public Works Committee because the action on the file checked below is deemed to be routine and/or administrative in nature:
_) A. Future Street Acceptance. _) B. Quitclaim of Easement(s). _) C. Dedication of Easement(s). _) D. Release of Restriction(s). i) E. Request for Star in Hollywood Walk of Fame. _ ì F. Brass Plaque(s) in San Pedro Sport Walk. _ ì G. Resolution to Vacate or Ordinance submitted in response to Council action. _) H. Approval of plans/specifications submitted by Los Angeles County Flood Control District.
APPROVAL/DISAPPROVAL FOR ACCELERATED PROCESSING:
APPROVED DISAPPROVED* Council Office of the District ~ Public Works Committee Chairperson *DISAPPROVED FILES WILL BE REFERRED TO THE PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE.
Please return to Council Index Section, Room 615 City Hall
City Clerk Processing:
Date notice and report copy mailed to interested parties advising of Council date for this item.
Date scheduled in CounciL.
AFTER COUNCIL ACTION:
) Send copy of adopted report to the Real Estate Section, Development Services Division, Bureau of Engineering (Mail Stop No. 515) for further processing. ) Other:
PLEASE DO NOT DETACH THIS APPROVAL SHEET FROM THE COUNCIL FILE ACCELERATED REVIEW PROCESS - E
Offce of the City Engineer
Los Angeles, California
To the Honorable Council
SEP 2 6 2007 Ofthe City of Los Angeles
Honorable Members: C. D. No. 13
SUBJECT:
Hollywood Boulevard and Vinc Strcct - Walk of Fame Additional Name in Tcrrazzo Sidewalk LEW WASSERMAN
RECOMMENDATIONS:
A. That the City Council designate the unnumbered location situated one sidewalk square
northerly of and between numbered locations 51k and 51 K as shown on Sheet 19 of
Plan D-13788 for the Hollywood Walk of Fame for the installation of the name of Lew Wasserman at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.
B. Inform the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce of the Council's action on this matter.
C. That this report be adopted prior to thc datc ofthc ccrcmony on Octobcr 5,2007.
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT:
No General Fund Impact. All cost paid by permittee.
TRANSMITTALS:
1. Unnumbered communication dated September 18, 2007, from the Hollywood Historic
Trust of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, biographical information and excerpts
from the minutes of the Chamber's meeting with recommendations. City Council - 2- C. D. No. 13
DISCUSSION:
Thc Walk of Fame Committee of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has submitted a request for insertion into the Hollywood Walk of Fame the name ofLew Wasserman. The ceremony is scheduled for Friday, October 5, 2007 at I I :30 a.m.
The communicant's request is in accordance with City Council action of October 18, 1978, under
Council File No. 78-3949. Following the Council's action of approval, and upon proper application and payment ofthc rcquircd fcc, an installation permit can be secured at 201 N. Figucroa Strcct, 3rd Floor, Counter 23.
Respectfully submitted, 1i~~ Lemuel M. Paco, P.E. Central District Engineer
Bureau of Engineering
sm: Wassennan.02 (213)482-7055 cc: Constrction Services Center, Counter 23 Bureau of Street Services Administration ~OllVWOOD~* WALK OF FAME
September 18, 2007
Mr. Gary L. Moore Public Works Enginecring Atl: Lemuel Paco 201 N. Figueroa St., 3'd Floor, M.S. 503 Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear Mr. Moore:
The Walk of Fame Committee of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has approved the below listed
name for insertion into the Hollywood Walk of Fame:
LEW WASSERMAN -Category -(MOTION PICTURES) Requested star location to be 6925
Hollywood Boulevard, north side of the street in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The star for LEW WASSERMAN will be placed in the second row next to the usual row closest to the building in the second row next to the star of Godzilla (2ND ROW) and a blank square, neither have a number. The star will also be located next to those located in the original row and previously dedicated to CREIGHTON HALE which is numbered 51K to the west and TOM SELLECK which is numbered 51 k and faces the east. According to sheet #19 plao 13788, LEW WASSERMAN' star has no designated number. The dedication ceremony is scheduled for Friday, October 5, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. Thank you for your cooperation in this request. I look forward to a response from your offce soon.
The following materials are enclosed: LEW WASSERMAN'S hio and the Board of Director's Minutes.
a rtinez-Holler Vice President, Media Relatioos cc: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Leron Gubler Johnny Grant Sgt. Mike Arminio Carmine Goglia Insp. R. Gladden T opher Best Michael Kantor Sally Castro Top End Const. Ralph Pipes BOAR OF DIRECTORS MINUTES - JUE 16, 1993 PAGE 5 WALK OF FAM COMMITTEE - MOTION WAS MAE BY JOHNNY GRAT AN SECONDED BY CHRIS BAUMGART TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING FOR INSERTION IN THE WALK OF FAM: MOTION PICTURES - JAMS COBUR, ANETTE FUNICELLO, MAURICE JARE, BEN JOHNSON, MAEE MATLIN, CHALIE SHEEN, RAQUEL WELCH AN LEW WASSERM. TELEVISION - BIG BIRD, DELLA REESE, FRED ROGERS (MISTER ROGERS), PAT SAJAK AN JOHN TESH. RECORDING - ANITA BAER, JAMS BROWN, DUR DUR, THE POINTER SISTERS, DOC SEVERINSEN AN THE SUPREMES. LIVE THEATRE - VICTOR BORGE, KEITH CARINE, PLACIDO DOMINGO AN TOMMY TUNE. RAIO - RAPH STORY. THE MOTION CARIED.
CLINT MILLER ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Lew Wasserman Bio
The New York Times called him "The Last of the Hollywood Moguls," but it may have been the late Jack Valenti who best described the legendary Lew Wasserman's place in the entertainment firmament when he said: "If Hollywood is Mount Olympus, Lew Wasserman is Zeus." During a career spanning more than six decades, Wasserman helped create the entertainment industry as we know it today. Under his leadership, the Music Corporation of America (MCA) became Hollywood's dominant talent agency, the first studio to release a summer movie blockbuster and the original modern multimedia empire. Wasserman also gave the industry, through his savvy political activities, its public voice and, through his extensive philanthropic enterprises, its heart. Born in Cleveland in 1913, Wasserman worked as a movie theater usher while still a teenager. As a young man he landed a job handling advertising and promotion for a local nightclub that booked bands through the Music Corporation of America. He soon caught the eye of MCA's founder, Dr. Jules C. Stein and in 1936 became Stein's national director of advertising and public relations. Just ten years later, Stein turned over the agency to his former protégé. As president of MCA in the 1940s, Wasserman represented such top talent as Bette Davis, Jimmy Stewart, Judy Garland, Henry Fonda and Alfred Hitchcock and almost single-handedly brought about an end to the onerous long- term actor contracts that turned even big names into studio property. He forged a landmark deal for Stewart that gave his client a share of a movie's profits and wide-ranging creative control, an arrangement that is the norm for A-list talent today. In the 1950's, Wasserman recognized the commercial promise of television and persuaded a wary Hollywood to accept the new medium as a partner rather than a feared competitor. He oversaw the creation of TV division that through the decades would go on to produce dozens of hit shows ranging from "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "Marcus Welby, M.D." to "Miami Vice" and "Murder, She Wrote." In the 1960's, he bolstered Hollywood's political clout by organizing highly successful fund-raising campaigns, most notably for the Democratic Party. Never an ideologue, however, Wasserman forged close ties with top politicians on both sides of the aisle. He was instrumental in helping Ronald Reagan become president of the Screen Actors Guild and the two men remained 900d friends during Reagan's years in the California Statehouse and the White House. He also was close to President Lyndon Johnson and was one of the first Hollywood executives to get to know Bill Clinton when the future president was still a litte- known Arkansas governor.
1 In the 1970's, Mr. Wasserman's deft marketing of Steven Spielberg's Jaws created the summer blockbuster as we now know it. He went on to finance and release such acclaimed and commercially successful Spielberg classics as Jurassic Park, E. T. and Schindler's List. The director, whose first film, the made- for-television thriller "Duel" was also produced by MCA subsidiary Universal TV, called Wasserman "the chief justice of the film industry; fair, tough-minded, and innovative." Among the other enduring films produced by Universal during Wasserman's tenure were Psycho, Oscar winners The Sting and Out of Africa and beloved comedies Animal House and Back to the Future. The original architect of today's multi-faceted entertainment conglomerates, Wasserman pioneered the idea of integrating diverse media units and leveraging successes in one business into profitable ventures for another. Every year, the Universal Studios theme park he built attracts millions of visitors to Southern California. Meanwhile, MCA's music arm boasted top acts across the popular spectrum including Nirvana, Reba McEntire and Elton John. In 1990, as media giants including Time Warner and News Corp. rose to prominence, Wasserman sold MCA to the Matsushita Company of Japan. Even after relinquishing the helm of the company, Wasserman remained Hollywood's sage patriarch. Top executives, union leaders and politicians lined up to seek his counsel on matters great and smalL. Wasserman's philanthropic causes were numerous and Included the Motion Picture & Television Fund in Woodland Hills, which cares for aging actors and others in the industry, and the prestigious Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA. He also helped Dorothy Chandler raise the funds to build the Los Angeles Music Center. In 1995, President Clinton awarded Wasserman the country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his contributions to the Research to Prevent Blindness foundation and other charitable efforts. After Wasserman died at the age of 89 in 2002, Clinton commented: "He was one of the smartest men I ever met, and in more than intellectual ways. He just came across as someone who understood what life was all about and was pulling for people to have good lives." The Wasserman family, including his wife Edie, their daughter Lynne and grandchildren Casey and Carol, remains committed to the causes for which he cared so deeply. Casey Wasserman is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Wasserman Foundation, founded by Lew and Edie in 1952, and the organization continues its work to benefit the community and assist those in need. Throughout his long career, Wasserman avoided the limelight. "Publicity is for clients, not for us," he often told his colleagues. But while he may have shunned attention, his profound and lasting impact on the entertainment business and philanthropy will never be forgotten.
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