Posted on 01/28/2007 9:03:41 PM PST by fishhound
LOS ANGELES: Danny Finegood, a prankster who famously altered the landmark Hollywood sign to read "Hollyweed", has died. He was 52.
Finegood's large-scale wordplay was sometimes satirical, sometimes political and often both.
His Hollyweed prank, in 1976, was timed to coincide with the liberalisation of California's marijuana laws. To change the sign, he used stones and rope and erected the fabric as though he was hoisting sails. "His parents were up early that morning to catch it," said his wife, Bonnie Finegood, who met her future husband in high school and married him in 1979. "They were very proud that Danny had thought up this."
Later that year, in honour of Easter, he made the sign read "Holywood".
In 1987 to mock the popularity of Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver North during the Iran-Contra hearings, he covered the sign's "H" to make it read "Ollywood". And in a bit of creative vandalism that turned out to be his finale, he draped plastic over several letters to make it say "Oil War", a statement against the Gulf War in 1990. Virtually no one saw that project - park rangers removed the plastic sheeting before sunrise.
Beefed-up security kept Finegood from getting at the sign again, leaving some projects unrealised. He said he wanted to make the sign say "Hollyween" on Halloween, and wanted to cover it completely on April Fool's Day to make it look as though it had disappeared.
Daniel Finegood was born in 1954, in Los Angeles to David Finegood, who owned a furniture-making company, and his wife, Rachel.
As a teenager, Finegood began collecting neon signs, including one depicting the Indian chieftain Pontiac whose name was borrowed by a vehicle manufacturer, and a dragon from a Chinese restaurant.
Finegood studied at Santa Barbara City College, but eventually graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles.
He joined his family's furniture business, and later took over the company.
He also sold "Hollyweed" T-shirts and posters through magazine and internet ads.
Finegood died on Monday last week of multiple myeloma at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Centre. He is survived by his wife and children Matthew and Natalie.
Maybe someone will make the sign say R.I.P. or GOODBYE.
Good Catch!!! LOL
Heh heh heh...
Deborah Orin also dies at 59 of stomach cancer.
Angelina Jolie's mom dies at 56 of ovarian cancer
Same day.
I think my mother and father would have been waiting outside the police station so they could kick my ass if I tried something like that when I was a kid.
Of course, it is different if you are a liberal. Then you can vandalize landmarks and it's all good becuase you are not acting out the stupidity of a dunce, you are making a
Social Protest.
Hey, the first sign mocks stoners so its okay in my book. He used fabric panels rather than painting or permanently marring the sign.
Exactly my thoughts. I don't exactly think "pride" would be the sentiment my parents would emote if I pulled that stunt.
I would have been emoting a boot out of my.........
I'm pretty sure Cal Tech students have "hacked" the sign, and I remember Fox got permission to change it to say "FOX" for a day when they started up a fourth network.
Whatever happened to the, "All your base are belong to us"?
I think it is fine and good that he is dead. I have been in favor of the death penalty for vandals for a long time. (Mindless destruction of personal or government property.)
It has probably been as long since his crime as the average murderer spends on death row.
He didn't destroy anything, he simply changed the sign in a non-destructive way.
To change the sign, he used stones and rope and erected the fabric as though he was hoisting sails.
Anyways, to most sane people, using the death penalty against "vandals" is an overreaction.
Have you ever suffered any vandalism? I have been subjected to three major incidents, with monetary damages approximating $10,000. Most was covered by insurance, but the cost to me was real (deductibles plus increased insurance cost).
My (and others') damages have cost insureds a lot of money. If someone tried to steal $10,000 from you, would you feel justified in defending your property, perhaps killing the thief?
Is there a difference to you between someone stealing and destroying your property? If so, why?
If your child toilet papered a house you would change your mind.
RIP.
Wouldnt you call 911 first?
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