Hollywood Sikh Temple plans to honor Malibu resident Dr. Amarjit Singh Marwah for his years of community service by renaming a street in his honor and placing a star with his name on Hollywood Boulevard, according to a press release from the temple.
Originally from India, 93-year-old Marwah first arrived in the U.S. on a scholarship in 1950, according to a 2019 profile in The Malibu Times. Marwah soon opened his popular dentistry practice in Los Angeles; some of his customers included actress Elizabeth Taylor, actor Sidney Poitier and boxer Muhammad Ali.
Alongside his business, Marwah devoted himself to philanthropy in Los Angeles, becoming a commissioner of cultural affairs for the city, chairing the Bombay-Los Angeles Sister City Committee, helping to get the first-ever minority elected to Congress and teaching at the University of Southern California.
“Marwah is responsible for getting historic recognition for 200 monuments throughout L.A., including Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard. Even though it was a salaried position, he gave every cent back,” The Malibu Times reported.
Marwah also gifted one of his alma maters, Howard University, with an emergency dental clinic, paid the college tuition of more than 100 Indian American students and funded the first Sikh temple in the U.S.–Hollywood Sikh Temple.
Hollywood Sikh Temple wrote in their press release that Marwah “has hosted hundreds of weddings, bar and bat Mitzvahs, political and philanthropic events …” The Malibu Times reported that Indira Gandhi was once Marwah and his late wife Kuljit’s guest.
The dentist owns a ranch along PCH in Malibu and several acres along PCH in Ventura County. He has lived at the Malibu address for more than 50 years, according to The Malibu Times, breeding Arabian horses on the property for a period and filling the home with art. He is known for his signature look, “a white turban and bow tie,” and drives a white Rolls Royce convertible.