2010 marks the 75th anniversary of Starline Tours’ Movie Stars Homes Tour. Begun in 1935, the story of the firm that originated celebrity drive-by home tours reads like a Hollywood script.
It started when movie mogul Sid Grauman gave his young chauffeur, Bud Delp, some advice. “All those tourists who come to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre are just dying for a chance to find their favorite movie stars,” Grauman reportedly said. “Someone who knows where they live could make a pretty penny - even in the middle of the Depression.”
Delp took the hint and began driving visitors from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to the mansions of the stars in Beverly Hills. Bud’s Limo Service grew and in the 1960s, Delp sold his company to an exchange-student, Vahid Sapir, who renamed it Starline Tours. With his brother Fred Sapir, they grew it into today’s preeminent Hollywood sightseeing company. The two-hour Movie Stars’ Homes Tours depart from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre from 9:30 a.m. to sundown, 365 days a year.
Its 13-person passenger vans and “topless” open-air mini-buses have appeared in movies and TV shows including American Idol and The Apprentice. The vans feature headsets for each passenger, for crystal-clear insider information from Starline’s expert and entertaining guides.
The 2010 top-10 most popular homes on the tour are:
1.Michael Jackson – The house where he lived at the time of his death (a Starline bus and tour guide was featured on TMZ when the ambulance was on the scene and Jackson was being taken from the premises.)
2. Jennifer Aniston
3. Tom Cruise
4. Lucille Ball
5. Orlando Bloom
6. Courtney Cox
7. Elvis Presley
8. Christina Aguilera
9. Dr. Phil
10. Spelling Manor
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