Millions of Curious Stargazers turned small limo company into a Hollywood icon
HOLLYWOOD, CA—February 1, 2010—This year marks the 75th anniversary the Movie Stars’ Homes Tour – the must-do tour for people wanting to see the location of celebrity homes in and around Beverly Hills. Originally developed out of a passing comment from the creator of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, today Starline Tours shows thousands of people annually a glimpse of the homes of the stars, and when lucky, the homeowner. Starline Tours pioneered the industry with a simple concept: curious tourists want to know where the stars live.
In 1935—twenty-five years before the Walk of Fame existed - a young chauffeur named Bud Delp was working for the great Hollywood impresario, Sid Grauman – the man behind the world famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Through his movie palace, Sid Grauman was acquainted with Hollywood’s greatest movie stars, directors and producers and, as a result, Bud knew where to find all these people - because he drove his boss to visit them. Sid Grauman was one of the world’s greatest marketers with a publicity stunt that still draws millions of tourists to this day – honoring movie stars by immortalizing their hands and feet in cement in the forecourt of the Chinese Theatre.
One day Sid Grauman gave Bud some advice. “All those tourists at Hollywood and Highland are just dying for a chance to find their favorite movie stars,” he said. “Someone who knows where they live could make a pretty penny - even in the middle of the Depression.” Bud took the hint and started taking visitors to the mansions and hideaways of the stars in Beverly Hills. The business grew, and Bud’s Limo Service eventually had four limousines driving the route from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to Beverly Hills.
In the 1960’s Bud sold Bud’s Limo Service an enterprising young exchange-student – Vahid Sapir – who renamed it Starline Tours and who, along with his brother Fred Sapir, grew the business into Hollywood’s preeminent sightseeing company. Today, Starline Tours operates the 2-hour Move Stars’ Homes Tours departing from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre from 9:30 a.m. to sundown, 365 days a year.
Technology, local ordinances and popularity have shaped the Movie Stars’ Homes Tour over the years. As public demand grew for the Movie Stars’ Homes Tours, so grew the bus size. Full-size coach tours could be seen and heard lumbering around the residential streets of Beverly Hills, filled to the brim with snap-happy tourists. But in the 1980’s, the city of Beverly Hills stopped the use of these large buses and enforced a maximum weight limit of 6,000 lbs on companies operating tours on city residential streets. The Sapir brothers saw the restriction as opportunity. Starline’s new, 13-passenger, air-conditioned mini-buses equipped with jumbo viewing windows soon became synonymous with celebrity touring. These mini-buses have had their own close up or two in movies and television shows, such as American Idol, The Apprentice and the closing sequence of the movie Speed.
In 2008, Fred and Vahid Sapir saw another marketing opportunity: getting visitors even closer to the celebrity experience. Starline Tours expanded their fleet to include new, “topless” mini-buses—open air buses that give tourists a chance to bask in the famous Los Angeles sunshine. These open-air vans have been hugely popular with the public, and as part of the 75th anniversary, the vans are being fitted with personal headsets for each passenger, for crystal-clear insider tour information from Starline’s expert and entertaining guides - as well as complete peace and tranquility of the neighborhood.
Every celebrity-seeker has their own wish list of which houses, front gates and hedges they hope to see, but some celebrity homes are consistently requested.
Starline offers this top-ten list of the most popular homes, both current and former, on the Starline Tours’ Movie Stars’ Homes
Tour for 2010:
1.Michael Jackson - the house where he lived before his death (the Starline Bus and tour guide was featured on TMZ when the ambulance was on the scene and Jackson was being taken from the premises)
2. Jennifer Aniston
3. Tom Cruise
4. Lucille Ball
5. Orlando Bloom
6. Courtney Cox
7. Elvis Presley
8. Christina Aguilera
9. Dr. Phil
10. Playboy Mansion
This year during the 75th anniversary Starline is adding a star-quality extra to its Movie Stars’ Homes Tour-–complimentary admission to Madame Tussauds, Hollywood’s newest celebrity attraction, with more than 120 amazingly realistic wax figures. This anniversary offer is only available when purchasing the Move Stars’ Homes Tour directly from the Starline Tours kiosk in the forecourt of the Chinese Theatre or online at www.starlinetours.com . (Some restrictions apply.)
Starline Tours’ 2-hour Movie Stars’ Homes Tour is Adult $39, and Child (3-11) $29 for customers making their own way to the Starline Tours Terminal located at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre at 6925 Hollywood Blvd on the Walk of Fame. Hotel pick-up is also available from more than 200 hotels in Los Angeles area for a $6 incremental charge. Bookings can be made by calling 1-800-959-3131 or online at www.starlinetours.com.
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Starline Movie Stars’ Homes Tour Turns 75 Feb 2010
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