The original selection committees chose to recognize some entertainers' contributions in multiple categories with multiple stars. Gene Autry is the only honoree with stars in all five categories.Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney, Roy Rogers, and Tony Martin each have stars in four categories. (Rooney has three of his own and a fourth with his wife, Jan; Rogers also has three of his own, and a fourth with his band, the Sons of the Pioneers.) Thirty people, including Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, George Burns, Ed Wynn, and Jack Benny, have stars in three categories; only five of them are women: Dinah Shore, Gale Storm, Jane Froman, Marie Wilson, and Jo Stafford.
George Eastman is the only honoree with two stars in the same category for the same achievement. His original star (for the invention of roll film) is on Vine Street; when the Kodak Theatre was built in 2002, a second, identical star was installed at its entrance at Hollywood and Highland.
Six recording artists have two stars in the same category for distinct achievements: Michael Jackson, as a soloist and as a member of The Jackson Five; Diana Ross, as a member of The Supremes and for solo work; Smokey Robinson, as a solo artist and as a member of theMiracles; and John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, as individuals and as members of The Beatles. Paul McCartney's nomination for an individual star, in 1993, lapsed when a presentation ceremony could not be scheduled. He has since been renominated, and will receive his second star "when a date can be arranged for him to unveil it." Cher forfeited her opportunity to join this exclusive club by declining to schedule the mandatory personal appearance when she was selected in 1983. She did, however, attend the unveiling of the Sonny & Cherstar in 1998, as a tribute to her recently deceased ex-husband, Sonny Bono.
Controversy
Charlie Chaplin is the only celebrity to be selected twice for the same star on the Walk. He was unanimously voted into the initial group of 500 in 1956, but the Selection Committee ultimately excluded him, ostensibly due to questions regarding his morals (he had been charged with violating the Mann Act - and exonerated - during the "White Slavery" hysteria of the 1940s) but more likely due to his left-leaning political views. The rebuke prompted an unsuccessful lawsuit by his son, Charles Chaplin, Jr. His star was finally added to the Walk in 1972, the same year he received his Academy Award; but even then, 16 years later, the Chamber of Commerce received angry letters from across the country protesting its decision to include him.
In 1978 the committee, perhaps recalling its Chaplin difficulties, voted against awarding a star to the brilliant but controversial opera singer, actor, athlete, writer, lawyer, and social activistPaul Robeson. The outcry from the entertainment industry, civic circles, local and national politicians, and many other quarters was so intense that the decision was almost immediately reversed.His star is on the 6600 block of Hollywood Blvd.
Entertainers in politics
Ronald Reagan is the only President of the United States to have a star, and one of two Governors of California. (The other is Arnold Schwarzenegger.)
George Murphy is the only United States Senator (R-California) with a star, in recognition of his prior acting and dancing career.
Two Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have received stars: Helen Gahagan (D-California), and Sonny Bono (R-California).
Ignacy Paderewski is the only European head of government with a star. (He served as Prime Minister of Poland between the World Wars.)
Names in common
There are two pairs of stars bearing identical names but representing different people. Two Harrison Ford stars honor the silent film actor (at 6665 Hollywood Blvd), and the present-day actor (in front of the Kodak Theatre at 6801 Hollywood Blvd). There are also two Michael Jackson stars: one for the legendary singer/dancer/songwriter (at 6811 Hollywood Blvd), and the other for the radio personality (at 1597 Vine Street). When the singer/songwriter Jackson died, in 2009, fans mistakenly began leaving flowers, candles, and other tributes at the Vine Street star. Upon learning of this, the radio host Jackson wrote on his web site, "I am willingly loan[ing] it to him and, if it would bring him back, he can have it."
One might expect a common surname on the Walk to be Jones, and indeed, 12 Joneses have stars: Allan Jones, Buck Jones, Chuck Jones, Dick Jones, Gordon Jones, Jack Jones,Jennifer Jones, Quincy Jones, Shirley Jones, Spike Jones, Tom Jones, and Tommy Lee Jones. Interestingly, there are only seven Smiths: Aubrey, Carl, Smilin' Jack, Jaclyn, Kate,Keely, and Pete. The most common surname, however, is Williams with a total of 15, including Andy Williams, Bill Williams, Billy Dee Williams, Cindy Williams, Earle Williams, Esther Williams, Guy Williams, Hank Williams, Joe Williams, Kathlyn Williams, Paul Williams, Robin Williams, Roger Williams, Tex Williams and Vanessa Williams.
The largest collection of stars honoring one group of blood relatives is the widely-scattered set of seven representing the Barrymore family: John Barrymore, his brother Lionel (who has two), and sister Ethel, their uncle Sidney Drew, John's son John Drew Barrymore, and John Drew's daughter Drew Barrymore.
Bending the rules
Walk of Fame rules prohibit consideration of nominees whose contributions fall outside the five major entertainment categories, but the selection committee has been known to conjure some interesting rule interpretations to justify a selection. The Walk's four round Moon landing monuments at the corners of Hollywood and Vine, for example, officially recognize the Apollo XI astronauts for "contributions to the television industry." Johnny Grant acknowledged, in 2005, that classifying the first Moon landing as a television entertainment event was "a bit of a stretch."
The committee stretched even further for Magic Johnson, whose considerable basketball skills had no plausible connection to movies, music, TV, radio, or theater. They finally squeezed him into the motion picture category, based on his ownership of the Magic Johnson Theatre chain, citing as precedent Sid Grauman, builder of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. "[Now] people want Orville Redenbacher," Grant quipped in the 2005 interview, "because his popcorn is in all the theaters."
Muhammad Ali's star is another example of rule bending; the committee decided boxing (unlike basketball, apparently) could be considered a form of "live performance." His star is the first (and so far only) one to be installed on a vertical surface. It is displayed on a wall of the Kodak Theatre, acceding to Ali's request that his name not be walked upon.
Since 1968, all living honorees have been required to be present at their star's unveiling, and approximately 40 have declined the honor due to this condition. The only recipient to date who has failed to appear after having agreed to do so was Barbra Streisand, in 1976. Her star was unveiled anyway, near the intersection of Hollywood and Highland.Streisand did attend, however, when her husband, James Brolin, unveiled his star in 1998, two blocks to the east.
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