Who are the only women with three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
If you’ve ever flown into Los Angeles and been graced with a window seat, you’ll have seen the Hollywood sign, larger than life, standing tall and proud over the otherwise flat terrain of the magical city.
Of course, this isn’t the only landmark in the city, as the Hollywood Walk of Fame is just as important for celebrating the ongoing contributions of film, TV, music, radio, and theatre stars, so it should be no shock to you that it, though an incredible representation of the importance of the artistic universe, has suffered from the unyielding, inky tentacles of the patriarchy.
This disparity was most evident in the representation of animated characters on the walk, where, while Mickey Mouse received his star in 1978, Minnie Mouse had to wait four entire decades before she got hers, which highlights the systemic inequality in the recognition process and shows that we still have so far to go when it comes to giving women the flowers they truly deserve.
Leaving the gaudy world of animation behind, there’s another stat that plays into this oppressive dynamic, which shows that 33 people have been awarded stars in three fields, but only two of them are women.
The likes of Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, and Jack Benny have been awarded three stars throughout their illustrious careers, parcelled in that perfect pink shape for all to see and appreciate, but it’s equally, if not more, important to note the women who were afforded this great honour.
The first was Dinah Shore, who had her fingers in many pies: radio, television, cookbooks and even her own celebrity golf tournament. Aside from the stars, she picked up nine gold records, ten Emmys, and a Peabody, showing the global impact of her career, which began in earnest in the 1950s and ended in the 1990s. The stars, in TV, music, and radio, can be seen on both the south side and north side of the 6900 block of Hollywood Boulevard, and the West side of the 1700 block of Vine Street.
The only other woman to have achieved three stars on the Walk of Fame is none other than Gale Storm, who was awarded for her contributions to TV, music, and radio.
Before Hollywood, the 17-year-old arrived from Houston, Texas, as Josephine Cottle, and settled into her alter-ego to become one of the most beloved stars of the 20th century, which began with a film career that stretched from 1940 to 1952, before starring in two hugely popular television programmes in the 1950s, namely My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show.
Acting aside, you’d need two hands to count the number of top ten hits Storm has under her belt, with her career dazzling as the public fell deeper in love with her at every turn, making it important to celebrate the two talented women who join the other 31 men in the list of three-star celebrities.
However, it’s hard not to feel disillusioned with the entire process, and at this rate, Minnie Mouse will probably get the three stars she deserves at the turn of the new millennium.
