Sherri Shepherd, left, celebrates receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with Niecy Nash Nov. 3. Shepherd was honored for her 30-year career as a comedian, actress and and daytime talk show host.
Photo by Lorenzo Gomez
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce chose Halloween as the day to present a star on the Walk of Fame to actor Robert Englund, best known for playing Freddy Krueger in the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ franchise of movies.
Photo by Lorenzo Gomez
Wave Wire Services
HOLLYWOOD — The number of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame grew to 2,827 in the past week as Sherri Shepherd and Robert Englund were honored on Hollywood Boulevard in separate ceremonies Oct. 31 and Nov. 3.
Shepherd said she was fulfilling a childhood dream Nov. 3 when her star was unveiled, marking the 30th anniversary of her career in comedy, acting and daytime television.
Tyler Perry, Niecy Nash and producer Ira Bernstein joined Shepherd at the ceremony in front of the W Hollywood Hotel at 6258 Hollywood Blvd.
“I’ve dreamed about having my own talk show since I was a little girl,” Shepherd said. “I used to always dream that I was going to be somebody, ’cause on my report card it always said, ‘Sherri is amazing and she’s wonderful, but she talks too much.’ So before I got in trouble, I knew it was going to pay off — me talking too much.”
Before Shepherd took the podium, Perry reflected on her impact both as a performer and as a friend. He produced “Precious,” the 2009 Oscar best picture nominee in which Shepherd co-starred. He directed, wrote and produced the psychological crime drama “Straw,” released in June on Netflix in which Shepherd co-starred as a bank teller who meets a struggling single mother (Taraji P. Henson) who is having the worst day of her life.
“There are many people on the planet that were sent here to bring light, and then there are other people who are here to be light,” Perry said. “Sherri is a person who is light. When she walks in the room, you feel it, you know it. She makes everybody feel seen.”
Nash and Shepherd appeared together in the 2005 romantic comedy “Guess Who.” Shepherd later had a recurring role on the 2012-16 TV Land comedy “The Soul Man,” in which Nash was a series regular. Nash, who received her star on the Walk of Fame in 2018, praised Shepherd’s resilience and generosity.
“You will never know what it costs her sometimes to make other people laugh and to make them feel … and I’m so, so grateful to call you (a) friend,” an emotional Nash told Shepherd. “I would’ve never thought that these two girls … would both have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame right across the street from each other.”
Bernstein, co-president of Debmar-Mercury, which distributes Shepherd’s talk show “Sherri,” said her genuine personality is what sets her apart.
“There’s a saying in television, ‘that if you’re on every day, your real self shows through.’ In Sherri’s case, that’s her superpower. What you see on screen is truly who she is — warm, authentic, full of joy and genuinely in love with what she does every day,” Bernstein said.
Born April 22, 1967, in Chicago, Shepherd began her television acting career in 1995 as a cast member on The WB comedy “Cleghorne!” which was canceled after 12 episodes aired.
After guest-starring roles on “Claude’s Crib,” “Living Single,” “Suddenly Susan” and “Friends,” Shepherd was cast in her second series, “Holding the Baby,” which ran for eight episodes on Fox in 1998.
Shepherd was a cast member on the NBC comedy “Suddenly Susan” during its final 1999-2000 season, playing a different character than in her 1997 guest-starring appearance.
She also was a cast member of the 2001 NBC comedy “Emeril;” the 2002 ABC comedy, “Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central);” the 2002-06 ABC comedy “Less Than Perfect;” the 2007 Fox comedy-drama “The Wedding Bells;” the 2009 Lifetime comedy “Sherri;” the 2017-18 NBC mocumentary legal sitcom “Trial & Error;” and the 2019-20 Netflix comedy “Mr. Iglesias.”
Shepherd also had recurring roles on the CBS comedies “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “Man With a Plan;” the NBC comedy “30 Rock;” the Disney Channel comedy “K.C. Undercover”; The WB comedy “The Jamie Foxx Show;” the 2021 ABC comedy “Call Your Mother;” and the 2024-25 Netflix teen comedy drama, “The Sex Lives of College Girls.”
She was a host of “The View” from 2007-14, joining her co-hosts in receiving Daytime Emmy nominations from 2008-2011 and 2014, winning in 2009.
She has hosted “Sherri” since 2022 after being a guest host of “The Wendy Williams Show.”
Shepherd is set to begin a five-month comedy tour in January.
Englund, best known for his portrayal of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” villain Freddy Krueger, fittingly had his star unveiled on Halloween.
Heather Langenkamp and Eli Roth joined Englund in speaking at the ceremony at 6644 Hollywood Blvd., in front of Larry Edmunds Bookshop, near Cherokee Avenue. The location was chosen because the bookstore focused on film and theater history is Englund’s favorite bookstore.
My roommates — my Hollywood roommates — worked here at Larry Edmunds. … Their salary checks actually probably helped pay my rent for a while,” Englund said at the ceremony.
He also took a moment to thank his longtime fans for their support over the years, acknowledging the loyal following that has sustained his career.
“I wouldn’t be here without the fans … thanks for coming, and thanks for supporting me, thanks for going down rabbit holes on the internet, finding my old movies,” Englund said.
Langenkamp, who starred opposite Englund as Nancy Thompson in the original 1984 film, recalled the chilling power of his voice that helped define the Freddy Krueger character.
“Not only did he have this voice. It was gravelly. It was sneering. There was a little spittle involved. … It set your teeth on edge the minute Robert took on Freddy’s voice,” Langenkamp said.
Roth, who worked with Englund as a producer and co-star in the 2005 comedy-horror film “2001 Maniacs,” spoke about the actor’s ability to bring depth to even the darkest characters.
“He buried himself in the makeup so much so that he took the most monstrous figure of our nightmares and turned him into a beloved icon that warmed our hearts,” Roth said during the ceremony.
“Robert is not just a horror royalty, he’s truly a gem in every way — a cinematic and theatrical treasure, a force of nature, and someone who intuitively finds that part of ourselves in any character, no matter how monstrous,” Roth added.
Born June 6, 1947, in Glendale, Englund stumbled into his first acting class through a friend when he was 12 years old, and fell in love with the craft, according to a biography supplied by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame.
Englund received most of his training with the American branch of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts at Oakland University outside Detroit and in regional theater.
After five years performing in classic plays on the East Coast, Englund returned to California and landed the first role he auditioned for, a friend of popular high school senior Buster Lane (Jan-Michael Vincent) in the 1974 neo-noir crime film, “Buster and Billie.”
Englund’s other early films included the 1976 comedy-drama “Stay Hungry,” whose cast included Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sally Field; the 1976 Barbra Streisand-starring musical romantic drama, “A Star is Born;” the 1978 comedy road film, “The Great Smokey Roadblock,” which starred Henry Fonda; and the 1978 coming-of-age surfing film, “Big Wednesday.”
Englund’s breakout role came in the 1983 NBC science fiction miniseries, “V” as Visitor technician and resistance fighter, Willie. He reprised the role when “V” became a series in the 1984-85 season.
After the ratings success of the “V” miniseries — its opening night was second in the weekly prime-time ratings — Englund said he feared he might be forever typecast as a sweet and lovable alien and looked for a role that would allow him to showcase a different side of his talents.
During a hiatus from filming the “V” series, Englund auditioned for what was described as “a little horror movie directed by Wes Craven,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Craven had intended to cast a hulking stuntman in the role, but took a chance on Englund, who brought his classical theatrical training to the role.
Englund would go on to portray Krueger in seven entries in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” film franchise, the crossover with the “Friday the 13th” franchise, “Freddy vs. Jason,” and host — and occasionally star — in the television anthology series, “Freddy’s Nightmares.”
Englund also portrayed the character in a 2018 episode of the ABC comedy, “The Goldbergs” and supplied his ‘voice in a 1998 episode of “The Simpsons.”
