Hollywood Wax Museum

Last updated

Hollywood Wax Museum
Hollywood Wax Museum Logo.png
Hollywood Wax Museum - Hollywood CA.jpg
Hollywood Wax Museum
EstablishedFebruary 6, 1965
Location6767 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California
90028
Coordinates 34°06′06″N118°20′17″W / 34.101627°N 118.338133°W / 34.101627; -118.338133
Type Wax museum
Website www.hollywoodwaxmuseum.com

The Hollywood Wax Museum is a wax museum featuring replicas of celebrities located on Hollywood Boulevard in the tourist district in Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, United States, with other locations in Myrtle Beach, Branson, and Pigeon Forge. Among the wax replicas on display include those of A-List stars, classic entertainers, and legendary singers (such as Elvis Presley).

Contents

Overview

The museum, brainchild of entrepreneur Spoony Singh, opened on February 25, 1965, [1] and claims in promotional literature to be the only wax museum dedicated solely to celebrities. When Singh opened the Hollywood Wax Museum, the line to get in was 1/2 mile long. [1] The former sawmill operator from Canada built the Museum's fame by befriending celebrities, gossip columnists, members of the foreign press association and fans.

After Singh's retirement, his sons and grandson have continued to own, operate and further the Hollywood Wax Museum's legacy. In June 2012, the family was recognized as Heroes of Hollywood by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation for their staunch and generous support of the Hollywood community.

The Hollywood Wax Museum has appeared in the following movies and TV shows: The Mechanic (1972), [2] Wes Craven's Cursed (2005), [3] and America's Next Top Model (2007). [4] The Hollywood Wax Museum is also featured on the video game, Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

Mr. Singh himself appeared on the popular quiz show What's My Line? on the night of November 7, 1965. This also marked the last show featuring long-time panelist Dorothy Kilgallen.

Location

The Hollywood Wax Museum building once housed the most exclusive hangout in Los Angeles: [5] The Embassy Club. It is on Hollywood Blvd, near Highland Ave.

Sets and exhibitions

Wax figures and sets featuring replicas of celebrities continue to change regularly. There is also a Chamber of Horrors, featuring classic and current movie monsters.

Other locations in the US

The group opened Hollywood Wax Museum Branson in Branson, Missouri in 1996, [6] which was completely renovated in 2009 and was recognized with the 2011 Branson Beautification Award for improving an important stretch of the Highway 76 strip. The next Hollywood Wax Museum was opened in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in 2007 and closed in 2010 to make way for the larger Hollywood Wax Museum Pigeon Forge attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee that opened in May 2012. The fourth location opened in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in 2014 at Broadway at the Beach. In 1979, Singh expanded his business operations after opening the Thousand Oaks Self Storage (now known as the Hollywood Storage Center). [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pigeon Forge, Tennessee</span> City in Tennessee, United States

Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Pigeon Forge is a tourist destination that caters primarily to Southern culture and country music fans. The city's attractions include Dollywood and Dollywood's Splash Country as well as numerous gift shops, outlet malls, amusement rides, and musical theaters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wax museum</span> Museum displaying a collection of wax representations of famous people

A wax museum or waxworks usually consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses, wearing real clothes.

<i>Ripleys Believe It or Not!</i> American media franchise

Ripley's Believe It or Not! is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the Believe It or Not feature proved popular and was later adapted into a wide variety of formats, including radio, television, comic books, a chain of museums and a book series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville</span> Casual dining American restaurant chain

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville is a United States–based hospitality company that manages and franchises a casual dining American restaurant chain, retail stores selling Jimmy Buffett–themed merchandise, and hotels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herschend Family Entertainment</span> Private entertainment company

Herschend Family Entertainment (HFE) is a privately owned themed-entertainment company that operates several theme parks and tourist attractions within the United States, and as of 2021, one aquarium in Vancouver, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ripley Entertainment</span> American entertainment company

Ripley Entertainment Inc. is an entertainment and edutainment holding company owned by the Jim Pattison Group of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company has its headquarters in an unincorporated part of southern Orange County, Florida, near Orlando, at an office complex near the intersection of Sand Lake Road and John Young Parkway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway at the Beach</span> Shopping mall in South Carolina, United States

Broadway at the Beach is a shopping center and entertainment complex located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Broadway at the Beach is owned and operated by Burroughs & Chapin. The $250 million attraction is set on 350 acres (1.4 km2) in the heart of Myrtle Beach and features three theaters, over 20 restaurants and over 100 specialty shops as well as attractions, Clubs for the night, and hotels, all surrounding the 23-acre (93,000 m2) Lake Broadway. Broadway at the Beach receives upwards of 14 million visitors annually.

Dinosaur Walk Museum was a series of attractions that feature life-size sculptures of dinosaurs and replicas of fossils. Branches of the museum were located in Riverhead, New York and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Ridemakerz is an American retailer of customizable toy cars. The business was started in 2007 by Larry Andreini, Chip Foose, and Maxine Clark.

Legends in Concert is a live tribute artist production with shows primarily located in Las Vegas, Nevada; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Branson, Missouri; Mashantucket, Connecticut; Waikiki, Hawaii; Foley, Alabama and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Legends in Concert features live concerts paying tribute to musical icons of today and yesterday. The show boasts a wide collection of musical tribute artists who resemble and sing like the original artists while being backed by a live band and dancers. Performances are scheduled year round across the globe and its five primary locations in the United States.

<i>Titanic</i> Museum (Branson, Missouri)

The TitanicMuseum Attraction is a museum located in Branson, Missouri on 76 Country Boulevard. It is one of two Titanic-themed museums owned by John Joslyn ; the other is located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The museum holds 400 pre-discovery artifacts in 20 galleries.

<i>Titanic</i> Museum (Pigeon Forge, Tennessee) Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, US

The TitanicMuseum is a two-story museum shaped like the RMS Titanic. It is located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and opened on April 8, 2010. It is built half-scale to the original ship. Similar to the one in Branson, Missouri, the museum holds 400 pre-discovery artifacts in twenty galleries. It is the largest permanent Titanic museum in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spoony Singh</span> Businessman, owner of Hollywood Wax Museum (1922–2006)

Sapuran Singh Sundher, popularly known as Spoony Singh, was an Indian-born Canadian businessman and entrepreneur known for his personality and establishing the Hollywood Wax Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WonderWorks (museum)</span> American science entertainment center

WonderWorks is an entertainment center focused on science exhibits with six locations in the United States. Its buildings are commonly built as if they are upside down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Storage Center of Thousand Oaks</span>

The Hollywood Storage Center of Thousand Oaks is a self storage and mini storage business located in Newbury Park, California. Services include self-storage, climate controlled storage, wine storage, safety deposit boxes, and vault storage. The storage company was founded by Spoony Singh, the founder of the Hollywood Wax Museum, in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Wax Museum Branson</span> Wax museum in Branson, Missouri

The Hollywood Wax Museum is a two-story wax museum featuring replicas of celebrities located on Highway 76 in Branson, Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Wax Museum Pigeon Forge</span> Wax museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

The Hollywood Wax Museum is a two-story wax museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It features replicas of celebrities in film, television and music. The Tennessee museum was originally located in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Wax Museum Myrtle Beach</span> Wax museum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

The Hollywood Wax Museum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is the fourth wax museum owned and operated by descendants of Spoony Singh.

References

  1. 1 2 Douglas Martin (October 25, 2006). "Spoony Singh, 83, Dies; Created Hollywood Wax Museum". New York Times . p. A17.
  2. ↑ "IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Cursed (2005)". Movie Locations and More. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  4. ↑ "America's Next Top Model". Game Show Kingdom. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  5. ↑ Bailey, Mark (September 30, 2014). Of All the Gin Joints. ISBN   9781616203986 . Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Spoony Singh". malibutimes.com. October 25, 2006. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Hollywood Storage Center". insideselfstorage.com. October 1, 2002. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
34°06′07″N118°20′17″W / 34.101961°N 118.338158°W / 34.101961; -118.338158
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.