Golden Gate Bridge: San Francisco star always ready for her close-up

 San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is known worldwide for its dramatic bridge towers.Since 1941, it has been featured
 in a wide range of movies -- from suspense dramas to family fare and science fiction.

WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS BRIDGE CELEBRATES  81 YEARS WITH DOZENS OF FILM APPEARANCES -- CAMEOS TO STARRING ROLES

Tourists and locals alike traverse the bridge on 
foot, by car, bike and even aboard a vintage fire truck.
Hollywood has shot many pictures on and around her. 

'San Francisco, open your Golden Gate,
you let no stranger wait outside your door....'

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS
PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER
and Hollywood studio archives

ONE OF THE world's most famous landmarks is celebrating her 81st birthday this month with a star-studded string of movie close-ups to her credit.
The song that became the anthem for 1906 earthquake survivors implied what savvy Hollywood has long known: no one is a stranger to this magnificent architectural and engineering feat.
Hollywood has loved the landmark for decades, even when the bridge was but a youngster.
DID YOU KNOW that since the bridge opened to the public in 1937, it has appeared in nearly three dozen movies -- romances to science fiction and disaster epics, suspense thrillers to Disney pics?

Director John Huston loved San Francisco and
used the bridge in his film, "The Maltese Falcon."
Right, we toured the bridge recently aboard
a vintage 1955 fire engine, for our own movie.

Jimmy Stewart rescued Kim Novak in "Vertigo."
Director Alfred Hitchcock loved San Francisco.

At the young age of four years, the bridge made its movie debut. Director John Huston used it to enhance the mood of his 1941 film noir classic, "The Maltese Falcon," starring Humphrey Bogart as the no-nonsense private detective Sam Spade.
Director Alfred Hitchcock, who loved northern California and the City by the Bay, used the bridge in a famous scene in his 1958 thriller, "Vertigo."
Remember when Jimmy Stewart's detective Scotty rescued apparently suicidal Madeleine (Kim Novak) from the bay?
 Visit the bridge by fire truck
Christopher Reeve in “Superman: The Movie,’’ saved a group of teens just as their school bus was about to slip off the ‘quake-damaged bridge.

"Planet of the Apes" films have used the bridge.

"Star Trek" has used the bridge
more than once.

Roger Moore's James Bond took
a turn on the bridge, too.

My favorite James Bond, Roger Moore, went on location in San Francisco for the 1985 film "A View to a Kill." The suave Agent 007 took on his nemesis Max Zorin on one of the bridge's iconic towers high above the roiling waters and whizzing traffic.

The bridge is constantly being painted its distinctive 
orange by a full-time crew, to keep it looking good
for international tourists and for the movies.

IN MORE than one "Planet of the Apes” movies, the bridge has been featured. In 2011, a super smart chimp, Caesar, led a revolution of apes and a whiz bang fight scene on the bridge pitted apes against the California Highway Patrol.

Remember the shock as a giant tsunami hurdled a huge freighter at the bridge in the 2015 disaster film, “San Andreas"?

   THE BRIDGE has taken bows in romances, too, as in “Going the Distance” a 2010 romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. "Star Trek" fans know that the bridge was featured in the 1986 time-travel adventure “Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home.’' A captured Klingon Bird of Prey starship from 2286 flew under the foggy span to land in 1980s San Francisco. Then William Shatner’s James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy’s Mister Spock rode a bus across the bridge to Sausalito, trying to track a rare humpback whale. In the 21st century “Star Trek’’ flicks, Starfleet Command runs the galaxy from headquarters near -- guess where -- the Golden Gate Bridge.

                                                           photo by Aaron Rumley
From left, Omri Schein, Richard Baird and Loren Lester are
three of the gifted ensemble in "Around the World in 80 Days."
The North Coast Repertory Theatre production is top drawer.

UP NEXT:   Elevate your artistic visions and feed your soul with a  satisfying offering of fine theater.  The arts are bread and butter -- not mere dessert -- and there's nothing like a first-rate production. Here in southern California, San Diego's North Coast Repertory Theatre is serving up a smashing version of  Jules Verne's classic novel, "Around the World in 80 Days."  Five gifted actors, dozens of quick costume changes and inspired direction make for an engaging time.  It's held over through Feb. 11. Don't miss it -- and other San Diego theater treats which we'll preview next time. Remember to explore, learn and live. Catch us weekly for a fresh spin on travel, nature and art.