Here's a quick look at all of the Sign's many roles through the years, including each film's year of release, the Sign's co-stars and director, and a brief description of its big screen moment ...

Based on Nathanael West's dark satire of Hollywood, the movie features a scene where a tour guide at the base of the sign recounts how "Camille McRae, 1929 Clam Queen of Pismo Beach" leapt to her death from "the great H" in 1932. McRae's story refers to that of Peg Entwistle, a dispirited would-be starlet who actually did commit suicide in 1932 by jumping off of the "H."

About as "B" as a B-movie can get, this extremely low budget film was made by intercutting filmed plot scenes with action sequences from Roger Corman movies, such as Death Race 2000. The Sign gets an (unpaid) cameo. (contributed by David Sebastien)

During a series of scenes depicting worldwide destruction, the Sign leans precariously during an earthquake -- quickly communicating that Los Angeles/the West Coast is part of the devastation.

The very first scene of the movie features the Hollywood Sign. (Contributed by Andy Mills)

Okay, it doesn't really count as screen time, but the murder of Barbara Stone (Midler) was supposed to have taken place "not far from Hollywood Sign."

The characters drive up a (fictional) road that ends in front of the Hollywood Sign. (Contributed by Marcel Pazzin)

Slam Dance included Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Virginia Madsen, and the always superb Harry Dean Stanton. There were at least a couple of defacto contemporaneous punkers in the film -- Adam Ant, and L.A. staple John Doe of "X." (Contributed by Rocky Rockmaker)

This feature-length adaptation of the cult classic short film offers one of the most creative uses of the Sign to date, as a futuristic technology transforms HOLLYWOOD into WHOLLY ODD. ... Now why didn't CalTech think of that?

The establishing shot at the beginning of the picture uses the Hollywood Sign. (Contributed by Marcel Pazzin)

The movie opens with a helicopter shot that comes up the back side of the Hollywood Hills meant to recall the jungle setting of the first movie. Then the helicopter flies over the hills to reveal the city of L.A. in the distance, and the Hollywood sign. (Contributed by Don Solosan)

Depicted in its original "Hollywoodland" form, the Sign is used to efficiently communicate place (Los Angeles) and time (relatively early in the 20th century) during an establishing scene in the film. (Contributed by Marcel Pazzin)

The film's epilogue features Frank Whaley as Jim. As he reads a book, he fantasizes that the Sign's letters transform to read "Jimwood."

The film offers the other alternate explanation for the loss of the LAND portion of the Sign: Villain Neville Sinclair (Dalton) crashes into them with a faulty rocketpack. Whatever else she achieves during her career, Jennifer Connelly will almost certainly go down in history as the only actor/actress to star alongside the Sign in two films in the same year.

In the poster picture, they added Doc to the front of the Hollywood Sign. (Contributed by Chuck Williams)

The movie features a great scene where Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. ride horses up to the sign (Fairbanks even takes a leak on the sign) and discuss the rising tide of Americanism sweeping the country as Fairbanks proceeds to climb the sign and even performs some gymnastics on one of the letters as the camera pulls back to reveal the entire "Hollywoodland" sign. (Contributed by Leslie A. Turner)

Again, the Sign is used to establish setting -- in this case, a dystopian, violence-wracked future Los Angeles.

There's a hilarious scene in which Robin Hood arrives at the coast of England. How do we know? A giant Hollywood Sign-style sign spells out ENGLAND on the distant hillside. It was the Sign's first comedic role ... but not its last.

The Sign is featured during the first and final shots of the film as part of a wide-angle pan. The purposefully artificial-looking, miniaturized depiction of Hollywood serves as the perfect introduction to Wood's world.

This barbed satire of L.A. (and, in turn, American) pop culture features a shot of the Sign with the Hollywood hills on fire in the background --a poignant image of just how badly things have gone in Los Angeles' future as imagined by Carpenter.

As the aliens are introduced to us by the director he gives us a great shot of the Hollywood sign to make sure that we know where the alien invasion is taking place. (Contributed by Angel Frost)

Remarkably, the Sign is spared. It is, however, the compositional centerpiece of a shot featuring a tower (in the foreground) that's knocked over to dam a river of molten lava.

This comedy about a naïve young Mormon missionary who's recruited to star in a sci-fi porn movie opens with a prominent shot of the Sign, under which the humorously obvious title card Hollywood, U.S.A. fades up.

The Sign's comedy calvacade continues. ... Actually, the Sign isn't featured in the film itself, but it's the focus of a promotional poster. In the poster, Bean (Atkinson) proudly marches down Hollywood Blvd. with a giant O under his arm. In the background, we can clearly see the Sign -- which now reads HOLLYWO D.

The film is about a man who discovers that what he thought was his life is, in fact, a TV show. His existential crisis is punctuated by a shot revealing that his hometown (Seahaven) is actually a set built inside of an enormous dome ... located just north of the Hollywood Sign.

The Sign is once again destroyed, but at least it's in an interesting way. Joe, the giant, enraged gorilla, picks up an O and hurls it at his attackers.

When Stan, Kyle, Eric, and Kenny see the R-rated Canadian movie "Terrance & Phillip: Asses of Fire", they are pronounced "corrupted". Kyle's mom Sheila, with the rest of the parents, pressure the United States to wage war against Canada. The Sign is used as a backdrop when the Canadian Air Forces bomb the Baldwin brothers' mansion. (Alec, Stephen, etc.). (Contributed by Steve Etzkorn)

The Sign (again depicted in its original Hollywoodland incarnation) serves as the perfect backdrop for this film about Orson Welle's struggle to make Citizen Kane. The film is accurate in that the LAND portion of the Sign, which wasn't scrapped until 1949, would have been standing during the time of Citizen Kane's filming (1940-41). Still, the Sign would have looked much worse for wear than it appears here.

It is a helicopter shot from behind the sign on Mt. Lee and the camera nearly passes through. The purpose of the shot is to establish the all-powerful presence of Hollywood as an industry, a place where anything can happen. (Contributed by Daniel Ferry)

One of the actresses that Steve Martin's character was hiring for his movie is sitting on a park bench underneath the sign. (Contributed by Dave Lepkowski)

The main plot of the movie is in Hollywood and the sign appears at the very beginning of the movie right before the scene with Cotton weary in his car. (Contributed by James Stewart)

The Hollywood Sign appears in about 20 minutes in. It is shown after Naomi Watts arrives in Los Angeles. (Contributed by Julie King)

Dr. Evil's secret lair was built into the hill behind the Sign ... Talk about your glamorous digs.

Dr. Evil's secret lair was built into the hill behind the Sign ... Talk about your glamorous digs.

You KNOW the climate is getting weird when it's a tornado, not an Earthquake, that knocks the Sign over -- in this case, killing an innocent reporter who's covering the freak storm from the street below.

Our heroes arrive in a land far far away ... as evidenced by a ridiculous FAR FAR AWAY Sign that's similar in appearance to the Hollywood Sign.

The film's villain (an immortal baby who never ages) has a secret lair inside of the Sign's H.

10.5 (2004)
Starring Beau Bridges, Kim Delaney.
Directed by John Lafia.

This emmy-nominated TV movie depicts what would happen to Los Angeles in the event of a 10.5 earthquake. Given the magnitude of the quake, the damage isn’t that bad: Only one of the Ls and a W go toppling over the hillside this time. Heck, the Sign probably looked worse circa 1976.

Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! (2004)
Starring Kate Bosworth and Topher Grace.
Directed by Robert Luketic.

In the animated opening credits, the Hollywood Sign makes an appearance to set up the romantic comedy plot of a small town girl winning a date with a movie star.

The Sign, which at the of the film’s setting (1940) still read HOLLYWOODLAND, was near the site of the grisly Black Dahlia murder. It’s shown, accurately, with the "H" damaged, as it would have been before the Chamber of Commerce’s 1949 refurbishment.

(Contributed by Jim Pinard)

(Contributed by Steven Etzkorn)

Terminator Salvation (2009)
Starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Helena Bonham Carter.
Directed by McG.

A major portion of the plot is centered in a post apocalyptic Los Angeles, where a group of resistance fighters have established a small foothold. When a character goes to Griffith Park Observatory to locate a car to rebuild, a tracking shot includes a shot of a charred Hollywood Sign high on Mt Lee. As usual, no disaster film is complete without the Hollywood Sign shown in pieces... that's when you know the world as we know it is in serious trouble!

Contributed by Duff Ferguson

Miss March (2009)
Starring Zach Cregger, Trevor Moore.
Directed by Zach Cregger, Trevor Moore.

A young man awakens from a four-year coma to hear that his once pure high-school sweetheart has since become a pinup star. He and his girl-crazed best friend decide to take a cross-country road trip to crash a party at the Playboy mansion and win back the girl. The Hollywood Sign has a cameo as the guys near L.A. and are about to pull up to the mansion.

Contributed by Steven Etzkorn

20th Century Fox knows that nothing says "showbiz" like the Hollywood Sign, which is why the world-famous icon is now being used to open all of the studio's releases ... Looks like we'll be seeing even more of the Hollywood Sign at the movies in the very near future!

The Sign is no stranger to the small screen, where a quick visual of the Sign on a Hollywood hillside can instantly communicate all the glamour of its location. Here's a quick look at all of the Sign's roles through the years, including the Sign's co-stars and director, and a brief description of its appearance...

When the Ricardo's moved to Hollywood to bolster Ricky's career, the Sign is visible on the backdrop to their hotel room. (Contributed by Jim Pinard)

In the episode "The Simpsons Go to Hollywood," the Hollywood Sign appears. (Contributed by Robert Oranchuk)

Starring Jason Priestley, Tori Spelling, Jenni Garth.
Directed by Darren Star.

There is a framed picture in The Peach Pit of the sign reading "Hollywoodland." (Contributed by Meredith Gardner)

Starring Conan O'Brien.

The opening credit sequence, which features a whirlwind tour of the most important landmarks of Los Angeles, includes a tracking camera shot of the Sign from behind silhouetted against the LA skyline at night. (Contributed by Duff Ferguson)

If you've seen the Sign in a movie or television show that we haven't listed, we'd love to hear from you! Just contact us to tell us about the appearance and a brief description of the Sign's role. We'll review and add it to our list, and if you give your permission, we'll give your name a special "screen credit" for your contribution.