For 100th birthday, the Hollywood sign gets a new paint job

As its 100th birthday approaches, the iconic Hollywood sign is getting a bit of a makeover.

Cue the inevitable jokes about celebrity face-lifts and nips and tucks because the aging letters are getting a fresh paint job.

Although it might take a couple gallons to cover your bedroom walls, the nonprofit Hollywood Sign Trust will use 400 gallons of High Reflective White SW 7757 from Sherwin Williams to make the city’s biggest star shine brighter.

Each letter stands 45 feet tall, and the paint jobs will take 10 people about eight weeks, according to the Hollywood Sign Trust and Sherwin Williams. Preparation begins Monday, and painting and priming will start Oct. 3.

The sign was last painted in 2012.

“We do it about every 10 years. That’s about the life cycle of the paint. It’ll be completely redone,� said Jeff Zarrinnam, the chair of the Hollywood Sign Trust, which maintains and repairs the sign. “The Hollywood sign is getting its new makeover just in time for its 100th anniversary. We want it to be looking in tip-top shape.�

The project should wrap up by early November. Funding was provided by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and private companies.

The sign was first erected in 1923 as an advertisement hanging over the new real estate venture of Hollywoodland. The last four letters were dropped in 1949 when the sign was restored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

The deteriorating sign was rebuilt in 1978 for $250,000 raised by celebrities like Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who hosted a fundraising party at the Playboy Mansion.