Where is the Hollywood Sign?

The sign was erected in 1923 as a giant advertisement for a housing development called Hollywoodland, and it was originally lit with thousands of light bulbs. It was meant to last only about 18 months, but it became an icon of the growing film industry. In 1949 the last four letters were removed, leaving the word Hollywood. By the 1970s the sign had badly decayed, and in 1978 donors including Hugh Hefner and Alice Cooper each paid to replace individual letters. The current letters are about 14 metres tall, and visitors are not allowed to walk up to the sign itself.