Arnold Schwarzenegger in Austria
This ripped tribute to
“Austria's most famous living son” as the local Mayor put it was erected
in 2011 outside the house in the tiny Alpine village where
Schwarzenegger was born. The former California governor commissioned the
bronze likeness of his younger, bodybuilding self to mark the occasion,
the opening of a museum dedicated to all things Arnie.
Bob Marley in Serbia
Musicians from the former Yugoslavia raised this statue of late Jamaican reggae icon Bob Marley
as a symbol of peace less than a decade after the region's bloody civil
war. Prominent Serbian and Croatian musicians unveiled the statue with
its inscription (in Serbo-Croat): “Bob Marley -- fighter for freedom
armed with a guitar” at the “Rock Village” music festival in the
Serbian hamlet of Banatski Sokolac.
Bruce Lee in Bosnia
The Balkans have a thing
for out-of-place celebrity statuary. Why else would, on November 26,
2005, the first ever public monument to Bruce Lee be
unveiled in Bosnia? (To be fair, Hong Kong put up its own Lee tribute a
day later). But it took L.A. until this week to get around to
memorializing the Kung Fu legend with a 7-foot likeness in Central Plaza
in Chinatown.
Elvis in Nashville
The King is probably the
most effigized VIP world wide. Statues of Elvis attract fans and pigeons
from Memphis to Japan, from Israel to Shreveport, Louisiana. This
tribute to the Rock and Roll giant, showing Presley in all his hip
swinging glory, stands in the country music capital of Nashville.
Jean-Claude Van Damme in Brussels
The Mussels from Brussels finally got his due last year when a permanent tribute to the 80s action legend – and Expendables 2
co-star – was inaugurated in his hometown. It somehow seems appropriate
that the unveiling took place in honor of the 40th anniversary of the
Brussels Westland Shopping Mall.
John Lennon in Cuba
John Lennon has a whole park dedicated to him in Havana, Cuba. Fidel Castro
himself unveiled this statue to the former Beatle on December 8, 2000,
the 20th anniversary of Lennon's murder. The inscription is a Spanish
translation of a lyric from “Imagine”: You may say I'm a dreamer, but
I'm not the only one.” Apparently, if you ask, a nearby security guard
will put a pair of Lennon's signature round-lens glasses on the statue
for a photo.
Johnny Depp in Serbia
One of the stranger attempts at VIP statuary is this carving located in a Serbian mountain village. Serbian director Emir Kusturica, who directed Depp in Arizona Dream (1992) unveiled the statue to the Pirates of the Caribbean star to kick off Kusturica's annual Kustendorf film festival three years ago.
Michael Jackson in West London
But the prize for the most truly bizarre placement of celebrity monument has to go to this tribute to Michael Jackson that stands outside the Fulham soccer stadium in West London. Egyptian business magnate Mohammed Al Fayed,
owner of Fulham and a friend of Jackos, told fans of the soccer team
they could “go to hell” if they didn't appreciate having the King of Pop
immortalized outside their home club.
Sylvester Stallone in Belgrade
The Balkan Balboa. This 10-foot-tall monument to Sylvester Stallone's
fighting spirit stands proudly in Zitiste, a a village just north of
Belgrade. Unlike other celeb statues in the region, Rocky wasn't put up
to inspire world peace but in the hopes the Serbian town, which had been
beset by years of flooding and landslides, would channel some of the
fighter's never-say-die spirit.
Kobe Bryant in China
Images of this bronze
tribute to the L.A. Lakers' superstar turned up on Twitter this week,
apparently shortly after the monument to number 24 went up outside the
Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. It's not so surprising basketball-mad
China would choose to immortalize Kobe. There's already a statue to
ex-Laker Shaquille O'Neal towering over a park in Beijing.
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