Grauman's Chinese Theatre, also known as Mann's Chinese Theatre, is a movie theater at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. It is on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Chinese Theatre was commissioned following the success of the nearby Grauman's Egyptian Theatre which opened in 1922. Built over 18 months, from January 1926 by a partnership headed by Sid Grauman, the theater opened May 18, 1927, with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's film The King of Kings. It has since been home to many premieres - including the 1977 launch of George Lucas's Star Wars - birthday parties, corporate junkets and three Academy Awards ceremonies. Among the theater's most distinctive features are the concrete blocks set in the forecourt, which bear the signatures, footprints, and handprints of popular motion picture personalities from the 1920s to the present day.

Footprints

Many older entries contain personal messages to Sid Grauman, such as Myrna Loy's 1936 contribution. Loy's first job was as a dancer at the theater in the 1920s.There are nearly 200 Hollywood celebrity handprints, footprints, and autographs in the concrete of the theater's forecourt.

Variations of this honored tradition are imprints of the eye glasses of Harold Lloyd, the cigar of Groucho Marx, the magic wands of Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, the legs of Betty Grable, the fist of John Wayne, the knees of Al Jolson, the ice skating blades of Sonja Henie, and the noses of Jimmy Durante and Bob Hope.

Western stars William S. Hart and Roy Rogers left imprints of their guns. The hoofprints of "Tony", the horse of Tom Mix, "Champion", the horse of Gene Autry, and "Trigger", the horse of Rogers, were left in the concrete beside the prints of the stars who rode them in the movies.

The first person not associated with the movie industry to have a signature and handprint in front of the theater is Grauman's mother.[citation needed] On February 19, 2011, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant became the second person outside the movie industry to be so honored when he had his handprints and footprints embedded. Additionally, Charles Nelson, the winner of a "Talent Quest," had his handprints and footprints embedded in the "Forecourt of the Stars."