Wave Wire Services
HOLLYWOOD — There was a “Friends” reunion on Hollywood Boulevard Feb. 27 when a star on the Walk of Fame honoring Courteney Cox was unveiled. Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow were among those joining her for the ceremony.
Laura Dern also took part in the event at 6284 Hollywood Blvd., near Vine Street. Dern starred in the 2008 short film “The Monday Before Thanksgiving,” which Cox directed.
Cox’s star is “a few feet away from” Aniston’s, said Ana Martinez, the producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“I’ve been really blessed to be a part of some really successful longstanding projects,” Cox said. “And I’ve been lucky to work with some of the best people in this business.”
Aniston said Cox has always been more to her than just a friend.
“To be friends with Courteney is to be family with Courteney,” Aniston said. “And she is responsible for all of that. From the beginning of when we met her, she was immediately inclusive, warm, loving, interested in everything about you.”
Born June 15, 1964, in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in its suburb of Mountain Brook, Cox dropped out of Mount Vernon College in Washington, D.C. to pursue a modeling career.
Cox made her acting debut in a 1984 episode of the CBS daytime drama, “As the World Turns.” She appeared ina video for the Bruce Springsteen song, “Dancing in the Dark,” later that year as a young woman Springsteen pulls from the audience at the St. Paul Civic Center to dance with him onstage.
Cox’s first series was the 1985-86 NBC science fiction comedy-drama “Misfits of Science” portraying a troubled telekinetic teenager with a history of juvenile delinquency. She made her film debut in the 1987 thriller “Down Twisted.”
Cox had a recurring role in the NBC comedy “Family Ties” from 1987-89 as the girlfriend of Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox). She was the female lead in “The Trouble With Larry,” which ran for three episodes on CBS in 1993.
During “Friends’” 1994-2004 run, Cox appeared in the first three “Scream” films as reporter and author Gale Weathers, a role she reprised in the next three films, including “Scream VI,” set to be released March 10.
Cox’s other film credits include “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “3000 Miles to Graceland,” “Masters of the Universe,” “Cocoon: The Return,” “The Longest Yard” and “Mr. Destiny.”
Cox’s first series after “Friends” was the 2007-08 FX drama, “Dirt,” starring as the editor-in-chief of a glossy tabloid magazine. Cox then starred in “Cougar Town” as a recently divorced real estate agent in her 40s. The comedy ran from 2009-12 on ABC and 2013-15 on TBS.
Cox now stars in the Starz horror comedy “Shining Vale” as a woman who rose to fame by writing a raunchy, drug-and-alcohol-soaked women’s empowerment novel who moves with her husband (Greg Kinnear) and teenage children to a large, old house in the suburbs with a storied past in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage.
It capped a busy week for the Walk of Fame.
On Feb. 21, Pentatonix became the first a cappella singing group to be honored on the Walk of Fame.
The five-member group’s star is located at 7060 Hollywood Blvd., between La Brea and Sycamore avenues and near the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. It is situated between the stars of stars of singer Etta James and composer Cole Porter.
Pentatonix won its first Grammy in 2015 for best instrumental arrangement for “Daft Punk.” It won again in the category the following year for “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and for best country duo/group performance in 2017 for its cover of “Jolene” with Dolly Parton as the featured artist.
Pentatonix was among the nominees for the 2023 Grammys for best traditional pop vocal album for “Evergreen,” but lost to Michael Buble’s “Higher.”
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce also honored the late actor Ray Liotta with a posthumous star ceremony Feb. 24.
Liotta was honored for a career that featured appearances in more than 60 feature films, most notably his leading role in the mob classic “Goodfellas.”
The ceremony came on the same day as the release of “Cocaine Bear.” Liotta portrays a drug kingpin in the dark comedy inspired by the 1985 crash of a drug runner’s plane, missing cocaine and the black bear that ate it.
Liotta was selected to receive a star by the Walk of Fame Selection Panel of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce on June 14, 2021, 11 months before he died in his sleep while filming the thriller “Dangerous Waters” in the Dominican Republic. Liotta was 67.
The star was accepted by Liotta’s daughter Karsen Liotta.
“I’m so touched to be accepting this honor on behalf of my dad,” she told the crowd. “I couldn’t be more proud of him. He was a one-of-a-kind actor, and the best friend, brother and father anyone could ask for. I lucked out with you.
