Wave Wire Services
HOLLYWOOD — Filmmaker Tim Burton and the late actor Carl Weathers are the latest to be honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Burton was honored Sept. 3, three days before the release of his latest film, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
Weathers was honored posthumously Aug. 29.
Cast members Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder joined Burton in speaking at the ceremony in front of Hollywood Toys & Costumes at 6600 Hollywood Blvd. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is the fifth time Burton has directed Keaton and fourth time he has directed Ryder.
Burton said he was particularly appreciative of his star’s location outside a store he visited often “since I was a little child.” He called it “very emotional for me.”
“Thank you so much,” he told the cheering crowd as he accepted the honor. “This is very special to me. … As a child I used to come down here from Burbank on the bus — no adults. In fact, I was young enough to think these things [stars] were actually gravestones when I first came down here.”
Ryder hailed Burton for giving voice to “outcasts” through his movies, saying he has a “beautiful, unique understanding of the human heart.”
“To work with Tim is like being invited to wander through his heart and imagination,” Ryder said.
She said giving Burton a Walk of Fame star “is sort of like pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the tallest mountain.”
Keaton re-told his story about the first time he met with Burton, noting that he left that meeting saying, “I have no idea what he’s talking about.”
“Five movies later, and over 30 years of knowing him, I still have no idea what he’s talking about,” Keaton joked.
He added: “Not only do I know what he’s talking about, seriously, I feel it on every movie. It’s beyond shorthand. … I feel really, really comfortable working with this guy. It’s just a joy.”
Burton has written, directed and produced acclaimed films in a variety of genres. He is credited with fostering the rise of superhero films with “Batman” and “Batman Returns,” which both starred Keaton, and reinvigorating stop-motion animation with “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Corpse Bride.”
Burton also created two of cinema’s most iconic antiheroes — Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands.
Born Aug. 25, 1958, in Burbank, where he was raised, Burton made short films in his backyard as a youth, using crude stop motion animation techniques or shooting on 8 millimeter film without sound. After graduating from Burbank High School, where he played water polo, Burton attended CalArts in Valencia, studying character animation.
A 90-second pencil-drawn animated film he made as a CalArts student in 1979, “Stalk of the Celery Monster,” attracted the attention of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, who offered him an animator’s apprenticeship.
Burton directed his first professional short in 1982 while at Disney, “Vincent,” a 6-minute black-and-white stop motion film based on a poem he wrote that was narrated by his hero, Vincent Price.
During his time with Disney, Burton also directed the 1983 kung fu-inspired short film adaptation of “Hansel and Gretel” and the 1984 live-action short film “Frankenweenie,” which he remade as a feature-length stop motion film in 2012.
Burton made his feature-film directing debut with “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” a comedy released in 1985. He would next direct “Beetlejuice,” released in 1988, and “Batman,” released in 1989.
Burton’s other film directing credits include “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” which earned him a Golden Globe best director nomination in 2007; “Ed Wood;” “Sleepy Hollow;” “Big Fish;” and “Alice in Wonderland.”
Burton shared an Oscar nomination with Mike Johnson in 2006 for best animated feature film for “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride,” which he directed with Johnson. Burton was also nominated in the category in 2013 for “Frankenweenie.”
Burton was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 2023 for outstanding directing for a comedy series for an episode of “Wednesday,” Netflix’s supernatural mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ (Jenna Ortega) years at Nevermore Academy. Burton is among the show’s executive producers.
Weathers was honored for a nearly 50-year acting career best remembered for his portrayal of Sylvester Stallone’s boxing nemesis-turned-friend and mentor Apollo Creed in four “Rocky” films.
His star was the second in the walk’s sports entertainment category, which was announced in 2021 by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame. The category honors individuals, not teams or sports affiliated groups, who have made significant contributions to the world of entertainment and demonstrated “longevity of excellence” in their sport, according to Ana Martinez, the Hollywood Walk of Fame’s producer.
Pro Football Hall of Famer turned “Good Morning America” anchor and “Fox NFL Sunday” analyst Michael Strahan was the first recipient in the category.
Weathers was a first-team All-Pacific Coast Athletic Association linebacker as a San Diego State senior in 1969, then played seven games and two playoff games for the Oakland Raiders in 1970 and one regular-season game in 1971 before being cut, with coach John Madden telling him, “You’re just too sensitive.”
The Las Vegas Raiders sponsored the ceremony with owner Mark Davis reminiscing about meeting Weathers in 1970, when the future movie star was an undrafted free agent rookie.
“In addition to size, speed, Carl also had bravado and a mouth to go with it,” Davis said during the ceremony at 7076 Hollywood Blvd., near La Brea Avenue. “He would quote Shakespeare. He would pretend he was Muhammad Ali. The confidence that Carl exuded sometimes rubbed people the wrong way. And while I’ve seen that act played out many times before with other players time and time again, usually with an unhappy ending, things certainly turned for the better in Carl’s case.”
Weathers concluded his football career by playing 18 games for the Canadian Football League’s BC Lions from 1971-73.
“I was an actor before I was an athlete,” Weathers said in a 2021 interview with SDSU NewsCenter. “I started acting when I was in grade school, and I majored in theater while I was on a football scholarship.
“There was always a Jekyll and Hyde, well, actually I’ll just say a ‘split personality’ between the artistic and the athletic, which I learned to love”
Weathers starred in several campus theater productions at San Diego State, including in 1970 when he played Pylades in “Orestes,” a Greek tragedy written by Euripides.
Weathers’ fellow actor-directors LeVar Burton and Bryce Dallas Howard also spoke at the ceremony.
Weathers’ son Matthew accepted the star on behalf of his late father.
“My father was an individual with dreams and aspirations. He knew what he wanted at a very young age,” Matthew Weathers said. “He told me on numerous occasions that if he had some money in his pocket as a young man he’d go to the movies. He became a good football player, wanted an education, went to college, studied theater, got picked up by the Raiders, played for the BC Lions, finished his education and eventually made it to Hollywood.
“Not a lot of people have the opportunity to do what he did and he knew that. He really, really did. He was proud of what he created. So am I.”
Weathers was selected to receive a star in 2023 and “was actively involved in preparing to receive his star” before he died Feb. 2 at age 76, Martinez said.
Born Jan, 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Weathers moved to Long Beach with his family while he was in high school, attending Long Beach Poly High. He attended Long Beach City College for two years before transferring to San Diego State.
Weathers received a bachelor’s degree in drama and a master’s degree in theatre arts from San Francisco State University.
Weathers’ first credited role came in 1975 in the CBS comedy “Good Times,” playing the husband of a woman (Betty A. Bridges) who commissions JJ (Jimmy Walker) to paint a picture of her to give to her husband for her birthday.
Weathers rose to fame for his portrayal of Creed, the flamboyant world heavyweight champion in “Rocky,” which won the best picture Oscar in 1977.
“Carl Weathers was such an integral part of my life, my success,” Stallone said in a video posted on Instagram after learning of Weathers’ death. “I give him incredible credit and kudos because when he walked into that room and I saw him for the first time, I saw greatness. But I didn’t realize how great.”
Weathers reprised the role in the next three “Rocky” films.
His other memorable film roles included Col. Al Dillon in the 1987 sci-fi/action film “Predator,” and golf pro Chubbs Peterson in the 1996 comedy “Happy Gilmore.”
Weathers starred in the 1991-93 syndicated action crime drama “Street Justice,” co-starred on the final season of the CBS crime drama “In the Heat of the Night” in the 1993-94 season, and had a recurring role as an exaggerated version of himself in the Fox comedy “Arrested Development.”
Weathers’ recurring role as High Magistrate Greef Karga in the Disney+ “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” brought him an outstanding guest actor in a drama series Emmy nomination in 2021.
Weathers also directed episodes of “The Mandalorian,” “FBI,” “Chicago Med,” “Hawaii 5-0” and “Law & Order.”
