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| William F. "Bill" Hertz |
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| Forecourt Ceremony held on Thursday, March 18, 1999 |
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Born: December 5, 1923, in Wishek, North Dakota
Age at the time of the ceremony: 75
Died: August 19, 2008, in Tarzana, California, age 84
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William F. "Bill" Hertz was a theatre executive with Mann Theatres and, for a time, chairman of The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's Walk of Fame.
Born in the small town of Wishek, North Dakota, Hertz joined the Army during World War II, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant, working in the European theatre. After mustering out, Hertz located himself in Los Angeles, where he became a theatre manager for Fox West Coast Theatres, a chain of theatres in the Southland, of which the Chinese was a part.
By 1965, Hertz had risen to become district manager for the first-run FWCT houses located in Hollywood and Westwood. With the sale of the FWCT chain to National General in 1967, Hertz was promoted to Pacific division manager. After the purchase of the chain by Tedd Mann in 1973, Hertz became director of theatre operations. Did it help that Mann and Hertz were both from Wishek, North Dakota??
Hertz was the director of marketing and public releations for the Mann Theatre chain, working out of their offices in Encino, California. In this capacity, he oversaw all of the Forecourt ceremonies during the 70s and 80s. We have pictures of him on the pages of the following ceremonies:
• Ali MacGraw, Thursday, December 14, 1972
• Chinese Theatre 50th Anniversary, Wednesday, May 18, 1977
• George Burns, Thursday, January 25, 1979
• John Travolta, Monday, June 2, 1980
• Clint Eastwood, Tuesday, August 21, 1984
• Mickey Rooney Replacement, Tuesday, February 18, 1986
• Johhny Grant, Tuesday, May 13, 1997
He retired along with Ted Mann in 1991. Hertz was at Mann's side during the stroke which felled him in 2001. He remained as a consultant to the chain until his own illness in 2008.
In addition, Hertz was chairman of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce from 1979 to 1980; he was chairman of the Walk of Fame, which allowed him to supervise the installation ceremonies for many stars on that walk. He was also the chairman of the Santa Claus Lane Parade. Current Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president Leron Gubler said of Hertz: "Bill was a wonderful man, who loved the Chinese Theatre and dedicated a lot of his time to Hollywood."
Hertz sat on the board of the Hollywood Revitalization Committee, and the William H. Parker Los Angeles Police Foundation, where he also served as president.
He passed away at his home in Tarzana after suffering complications from heart surgery at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife of 60 years, Ruth, two sons and a daughter, 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. |
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| Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. William F. Hertz Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Thursday, March 18, 1999. 49 x 43 inches. |
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