On June 26, 1953, two of Hollywood’s biggest stars made their mark — literally — at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell knelt down into fresh cement and pressed in their handprints, footprints, and signatures, joining a long line of film legends already immortalized in that famous courtyard. The event was tied directly to their new film together, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which was drawing enormous attention from audiences across the country.
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre had been hosting these cement ceremonies since 1927. By 1953, the courtyard held the prints of some of the most celebrated names in film history. Being invited to add your block was a clear signal that the industry considered you a genuine star. For Monroe and Russell, the timing was perfect — Gentlemen Prefer Blondes had positioned them as one of the most talked-about screen pairings of the decade.
For Marilyn, the ceremony carried personal weight that went far beyond the publicity angle. As a child growing up in Los Angeles, she had visited Grauman’s and pressed her small hands into the cement impressions left by her favorite stars. It was one of her fondest childhood memories. Now, she was the one leaving impressions for the next generation of fans to find.
The cameras were out in force that day. Photographers crowded around as Monroe and Russell posed, laughed, and leaned into the wet cement. The two women had developed a genuine rapport during the making of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and that ease between them shows in the photographs taken at the ceremony. There was nothing stiff or formal about the event — both women seemed to enjoy every moment of it.
Monroe’s block has become the single most visited slab in the entire courtyard. Decades of tourists have placed their hands inside her impressions, and the surface of the cement around her handprints has darkened from the constant contact. The discoloration is a direct result of millions of visitors wanting to connect, even briefly, with the woman whose prints are set in that stone.
Jane Russell was no less a star in her own right. She had already earned major screen credits by 1953, and her pairing with Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes gave both women some of their most iconic screen moments. At Grauman’s that day, they shared equal billing — two names pressed side by side into Hollywood’s most famous stretch of concrete.
The photos from the ceremony give a close look at how the process worked. Studio publicists and theatre staff managed the crowd while the two stars crouched over their individual blocks. Each woman pressed her hands flat into the cement, then her feet, and finally signed her name with a stick or stylus directly into the wet surface. The whole thing moved quickly — cement doesn’t stay workable for long.
Crowds gathered on Hollywood Boulevard to watch. Getting a glimpse of Monroe in person was something fans would talk about for years afterward. Her public appearances drew intense attention, and the Grauman’s ceremony was no exception. The mix of spectacle, celebrity, and the permanent nature of the cement impressions made it exactly the kind of event that Hollywood did better than anywhere else in the world.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes opened in theaters just two days before the ceremony, on June 1, 1953 — actually, the film had already been generating buzz for weeks by the time the Grauman’s event took place at the end of June. The studio timed the imprint ceremony to keep both stars and the film firmly in the public eye throughout the summer release season. It worked. The film was a commercial hit, and the Grauman’s photos ran in newspapers and magazines across the country.
Looking at the photographs today, what stands out is how relaxed and playful both women appear. Monroe is seen grinning broadly, her dress immaculate despite the messy work of pressing into wet cement. Russell matches her energy, and the two of them look like they’re genuinely having a good time rather than going through a scheduled publicity obligation.
The ceremony also held a specific meaning within the broader story of Monroe’s rise. She had spent years working her way through smaller roles and contract disputes before landing the kind of star power that earns a spot at Grauman’s. Being invited to leave her mark in that courtyard, on the same ground where she had once traced the handprints of childhood idols, represented the full arc of her journey from anonymous fan to Hollywood icon.
The photos below capture the full scope of the day — from the initial pressing of hands and feet into the cement, to the signing of signatures, to the wide smiles shared between Monroe and Russell as the cameras clicked around them. Each image is a direct record of one of the most photographed celebrity events of 1953.
