Britney, Olsen Twins Get Starred

Fri., Jun. 20, 2003 12:50 PM PDT by Joal Ryan

Finally, Anthony Hopkins and the Olsen twins have something more in common than winning smiles.

The Silence of the Lambs psycho and the G-rated, gazillion-dollar-grossing teenagers are among Hollywood's Walk of Fame Class of 2004, as announced Friday.

Halle Berry, Britney Spears and Kevin Costner also made the cut.

In all, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's Walk of Fame Committee unveiled plans for chiseling names into 21 terrazzo-and-brass stars along the sidewalks of Tinseltown.

Movie types rule the Class of 2004, with eight honorees. Hopkins, Berry and Costner are joined by Glenn Close, Patty Duke, Brooke Shields, director John Singleton and composer Hans Zimmer (Gladiator). All but new mom Shields are Oscar nominees or Oscar winners. And all but Shields are best known for their films, as opposed to their supposedly Must-See sitcoms (in Shields' case, Suddenly Susan).

TV stars account for four of the new stars. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the Full House babies turned home-video titans, will be honored along with CNN founder Ted Turner, Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley's Shirley) and Los Angeles TV personality Steve Edwards, late of the syndicated morning show Good Day Live.

Britney Spears tops the list of recording artists, beating starless rivals Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera to the street. Other acts fans will be able to walk all over: Nancy Sinatra, Journey and veteran Mexican artist Jose Jose.

Mickey Rooney, once the biggest star in all the world, as he is fond of noting, has something new to boast about: a fourth Walk of Fame star. Rooney's latest honor will be shared with eighth wife Jan, a joint nod for their live stage shows. Rooney's three other stars (all solo acts) were for his film, TV and radio gigs.

Rooney's quartet of stars moves him one closer to the all-time Walk of Fame leader, Gene Autry. The late singing cowboy is immortalized on the not-quite mean streets of Hollywood for warbling his way to riches in movies, TV, radio, records and theater.

Longtime L.A. morning-man Pepe Barreto is the Class of 2004's lone radio honoree.

The Walk of Fame, established in 1960, is made up of more than 2,200 stars (not including the blank ones) along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. The honorees range, literally, from comic Bud Abbott to mogul Adolph Zukor.

Chamber officials say they reviewed hundreds of nominations before settling on this year's finalists. The picks were ratified by the group's board of directors on June 13.

In addition to being, well, famous, Walk of Fame hopefuls must be at least five years into their show-biz careers and noted community do-gooders.

Before the engravers are called, a $15,000 sponsorship fee must be paid by whoever is doing the nominating and the honoree must agree to be present for his or her induction.

The attendance rule has not always been enforced. Rooney, for instance, did not attend the unveilings of his three previous stars. (He has apparently agreed to be on hand for number four.)

Per the chamber, members of the Class of 2004 will have up to five years to clear their schedules for a ceremony.

These days, the lone excuse for being a no-show is death. The Walk of Fame committee has selected three performers for posthumous induction next year: Bewitched's Elizabeth Montgomery, children's author Dr. Seuss and pioneering actress-singer Ethel Waters, who, in 1950, starred in prime time's first black-led drama series, Beulah.

Like Nancy Sinatra, whose dad, Frank, had stars for film, recording and TV, Montgomery's honor makes her a second-generation Walk of Fame star. Her father, Robert Montgomery, received two plaques for his movie and TV credits.

In a ceremony Friday, the Walk of Fame's 2,229th engraved star was awarded to pop star Lionel Richie.