Hollywood icons John Wayne and Elizabeth Taylor were inducted into the California Hall of Fame on Wednesday in celebration of their ties to the state.
The Hall of Fame was launched by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s wife Maria Shriver in 2006 in collaboration with the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts to honor individuals who have made their mark on history.
Baseball players Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays were also inducted into the Hall of Fame this week.
But some of California’s most famed inhabitants, like Marilyn Monroe, have yet to be presented with the accolade.
Defending the list of inductees, Schwarzenegger says, “It is very, very hard because we have so many great talents in California.”
The event at the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento lured all of the living inductees to attend except Taylor, 75, who failed to show up at the last minute.
Many of those honored on Wednesday spent only part of their lives in the Golden State, such as London-born Taylor and the late Robinson, the first African-American player in Major League Baseball, who hailed from Georgia.
Californian natives inducted this year included author John Steinbeck, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, golf superstar Tiger Woods and photographer Ansel Adams.
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