Hugh Hefner saves Hollywood!
The Trust for Public Land (TPL) today announced it has raised enough money to buy and protect the 138 acres behind the world-famous Hollywood Sign, as Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner stepped forward to close the gap with a $900,000 donation toward the $12.5 million needed.
“Today, we have the Hollywood ending we hoped for and now Cahuenga Peak will be forever protected by adding it to Griffith Park,”
said Will Rogers, TPL President.
“We want to thank the thousands of donors worldwide who so generously helped us, and we owe a particular thanks to Hugh Hefner, who stepped forward at the end to close the final gap.”
Calling Hefner’s last-minute heroic move “the Hollywood ending we hoped for,” Schwarzenegger sprinkled in a little self-referential humor during the press conference: “The Hollywood sign will welcome dreamers, artists and Austrian bodybuilders for generations to come.”
But he wasn’t done yet. Just in case we forgot about that little movie he was in 26 years ago, he added, “I did what the ‘Terminator’ was supposed to do, and that was to jump into action.”
Then it was time to thank the actual donors responsible for keeping the land untouched by developers. Donations came from:
* The Trust for Public Land conservation group raised $6.7 million
* California raised $3.1 million; local funds provided $2.7 million
* Private donations from all 50 states and 10 foreign countries
* Aileen Getty and The Tiffany and Co. Foundation: $1 million
* Other individual donors include Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and of course, Hefner
A little background on the land: It was originally purchased in 1940 by Howard Hughes, who planned to build a home for his girlfriend of the moment, Ginger Rogers. However, the two went splitsville and the Hughes estate ended up selling the property to a group of Chicago investors in 2002.
The property was put on the market two years ago for $22 million. So thanks to Hef, we get to keep gazing at shrubbery (hmm) behind the sign instead of sprawling luxury homes.
Filed Under: Lifestyle • Lights Camera Action • News • featured
