Walk of Fame going to have a little work done

Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve is about to get another shot at Hollywood stardom.

That was the name of the lead character played by actor Willard Waterman in the hit 1950s radio comedy "The Great Gildersleeve."

The show went off the air in 1957 and Waterman died in 1995. Since then, Waterman's commemorative plaque with its bronze depiction of a microphone has slowly faded from the Hollywood Walk of Fame too.

Chunks of the pink terrazzo inside the outline of the bronze star have come out. One of the star's five points has disappeared. An asphalt patch fills the hole.

Today, though, Waterman's battered and broken sidewalk marker will be designated one of 778 bronze stars to be replaced as part of a wholesale Walk of Fame makeover.

Hollywood leaders, transit officials and Los Angeles representatives are mapping plans for a major restoration of the 50-year-old black-and-pink terrazzo sidewalk along its entire 2 1/2 -mile length.

In the meantime, officials have issued a report card on the condition of all 2,365 stars on the walk, giving each a letter grade from A to F.

Walkway honorees whose stars were graded F were Waterman and Richard Boleslawski, Joan Collins, Ellen Drew, Paul Douglas, Peter Frampton, Andrew L. Stone, Dick Van Patten, Frank Crumit and Bobby Sherwood.

Fifty celebrities' stars received D grades, including Art Linkletter, Ida Lupino, George "Gabby" Hayes, Virginia Mayo, James Arness, Bud Abbott, Walter Matthau, Edgar Bergen, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Hersholt, Vin Scully, Burt Lancaster and Gloria DeHaven.

"We get calls from celebrities and their families also asking when their star will be repaired," said Ana Martinez-Holler, a chamber of commerce executive who has helped oversee the Walk of Fame. "Producer Mace Neufeld's family called about his star in front of the Pig 'N Whistle, and we fixed it. But Peter Frampton's office calls often and his star can't be fixed until the overall repairs are made."

Officials are forming a "Friends of the Walk of Fame" group in hopes of raising about half the estimated $4.2-million cost of the upcoming repair job. Financing from public agencies will be sought for the rest.

Details of what is expected to be a two-year repair project will be outlined at 11 a.m. atop the most heavily damaged portion of the walkway -- the area in front of the Kodak Theatre and the entrance to the Metro Red Line subway at the Hollywood & Highland Center. Ninety-one stars and blank terrazzo squares there need replacing.