The Shield star
Forest Whitaker capped a great year by getting the 2,335th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This year Whitaker received the Academy, Screen Actors Guild, and Golden Globe Awards for his excellent portrayal of brutal Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin in the movie,
The Last King of Scotland, which is being released on DVD this week.
Whitaker called the honor "amazing." He said receiving the star shows that dreams are achievable, and it is possible "to do and to reach and grab."
"I remember as a kid coming to the Walk of Fame. It was like a field trip and very exciting to us," said the 45-year-old actor-director at the ceremony for the Walk's 2,335th star. The honor represents "where I came from, and where I am going and hopefully where I am at right now," he said.
Kiefer Sutherland , Angela Bassett, and Victoria Rowell were in attendance to help celebrate with Whitaker, his wife Keisha, and their three daughters, Autumn, Sonnet and True.
Born in Longview, Texas in 1961, Whitaker was a star football player for his high school. He began his acting career after suffering a back injury while on a football scholarship at Cal Poly Pomona.
He plays Jon Kavanaugh, an Internal Affairs officer, in the FX Network Drama,
The Shield. Aside from
The Shield his other recent television appearance included a role on
ER. His other acting credits include
Fast Times at Ridgemont High,
Phone Booth, and
Good Morning, Vietnam. His producing credits include
First Daughter, and his directing credits include
Waiting to Exhale and
Hope Floats. He also has two movies in post production,
Vantage Point with Dennis Quaid and
The Air I Breathe. He is currently filming
Winged Creatures with Dakota Fanning, Jackie Earle Haley and Academy Award winner/
American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson.
-Robyn, BuddyTV Forum Moderator
Sources: imdb.com, Houston Chronical online
Image Courtesy of keyetv.com