A celebrity wall, caricature wall, or wall of fame is a gallery of

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

s or

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

s of

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

, typically found on the wall of restaurants and bars. They suggest that celebrities are liable to be encountered there, and also function as publicity for the celebrities.Jan Whitaker, "Faces on the wall", ''Restaurant-ing through history'', blog
September 11, 2016
/ref> The portraits are often signed by their subject, showing that the portraits were "made from life, a document of an authentic celebrity encounter between artist and subject".Wendy Wick Reaves, ''Celebrity Caricatures in America'', 1998, , p. 184

History

Early celebrity walls first developed in downtown theater districts. An early example was at Chapin & Gore in Chicago, in the 1870's, which was near

McVicker's Theater McVicker's Theater (1857–1984) was a playhouse in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Built for actor James Hubert McVicker, the theater was the leading stage for comedic plays in Chicago's early years. It often hosted performances by Edwin Boot ...

. The wall included actors, politicians, and leading industrialists. A back room included "'indecent and obscene' caricatures of European notables".

List

Some well-known celebrity walls are found at:

United States

Cartoon_Room_at_Joel's_Bohemian_Refreshery

* 1870s: Chapin & Gore, Chicago (defunct). * 1890s: Otto Moser's café, Cleveland * 1910: Joel's Bohemia, New York (defunct); cartoons by Carlo de Fornaro. * 1914: The Blue Ribbon, New York (defunct) * 1927:

Sardi's Sardi's is a Continental food, continental restaurant located at 234 West 44th Street, between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eighth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Manhattan, New Yo ...

, New York, popular with theater people. Inspired by the caricature walls at the Parisian restaurant Joe Zelli's.Wendy Wick Reaves, ''Celebrity Caricatures in America'', 1998, , p. 184

Alex Gard Alex Gard (born Alexei Mikhailovich Kremkov, russian: Алексе́й Миха́йлович Кремко́в; also tr. Kremkoff; June 17, 1898 – June 1, 1948) was a Russian American cartoonist. He was a regular cartoonist for newspapers, mag ...

provided 720 caricatures over a period of twenty years in exchange for daily meals. Other caricaturists included John Mackey,

Donald Bevan Donald Joseph Bevan (January 16, 1920 Holyoke, Massachusetts – May 29, 2013 Studio City, California) was an American playwright whose works include the Broadway play ''Stalag 17'', co-written with Edmund Trzcinski, and adapted as a movie in 195 ...

, Richard Baratz; see the

List of caricatures at Sardi's The following is an incomplete list of celebrities whose caricatures appear on the celebrity wall at Sardi's restaurant in New York City. All have eaten at Sardi's. The date or year each caricature was added to Sardi's is often mentioned in bra ...

. * 1920s: The Palm, New York and branches, with caricatures drawn directly on the walls by Jolly Bill Steinke, Mac Miller,

Bill Lignante William Gaetano Lignante (March 20, 1925 – February 27, 2018), better known as Bill Lignante, was an American artist notable for his varied career as a comic book illustrator, comic strip artist, animator and television courtroom sketch artist. ...

, Bronwyn and Bill Bird, Zack Bird, and others. * 1929:

Brown Derby Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and best known was shaped like a derby hat, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was opened by Wilson Mizner in 1926. The chain ...

, Hollywood, Los Angeles (defunct), popular with the film industry: caricatures by

Eddie Vitch File:Eddie Vitch.jpg, Eddie Vitch, Caricaturist and Mime Artist Eddie Vitch (April 6, 1903 – September 1, 1986) was born in Skierniewice, Poland and made his way to the USA in the 1930s. In 1931, he approached the Brown Derby owner Robert H. C ...

, Jack Lane,

Nicholas Volpe Nicholas A. Volpe (19111992) was an American artist, noted for his portraits of Hollywood celebrities, presidents, sports figures, and other famous personalities.Hy Vogel Hy is a dialect of the Lisp programming language designed to interact with Python by translating s-expressions into Python's abstract syntax tree (AST). Hy was introduced at Python Conference (PyCon) 2013 by Paul Tagliamonte. Lisp allows operat ...

Europe

* Alfredo alla Scrofa and Il Vero Alfredo, Rome, the originators of

fettuccine Alfredo Fettuccine Alfredo () or fettuccine al burro ("fettuccine with butter") is an Italian pasta dish of fresh fettuccine tossed with butter and Parmesan cheese ('' it, pasta al burro e parmigiano'').Carnacina (1975), p. 72–73 As the cheese melts, ...

.John F. Mariani, ''How Italian Food Conquered the World'', 2011, , p. 79 *

Joe Zelli's Joe Zelli (Rome 1889 – Copake, New York 1971) ran celebrated nightclubs in Paris and New York City from the 1910s to the 1930s. Zelli's Club, 16bis rue Fontaine, Paris opened in 1922 and closed in 1932. It had a balcony with an American bar and ...

, Paris.{{citation needed, date=November 2022

History

List

United States

Europe

Notes

See also