Tarantino: ‘Happy’ to have star with others who have ‘done a wonderful job’

High school dropout-turned-two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Quentin Tarantino received the 2,569th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday, four days before the release of his latest film, “The Hateful Eight.”

Christoph Waltz, who Tarantino directed to best supporting actor Oscars for “Inglourious Basterds” and “Django Unchained,” and Samuel L. Jackson, who stars in “The Hateful Eight,” having done a half-dozen films with Tarantino, including “Pulp Fiction,” were among those joining the director at the ceremony outside the TCL Chinese Theatre.

Tarantino recalled for the crowd how his parents used to take him to movies as a boy at the Chinese Theatre, seeing “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” in 1969, “Airport” the next year and then his first James Bond movie — “Diamonds are Forever.”

“The line went all the way down the block. And we stayed in that line, and at one point of that line, I stood right there,” he said, pointing to his star. “So, I have called Hollywood my home even before I lived in this ZIP code for a very, very long time. And I take it seriously that I am a member of this community, I am a member of this town, and I respect it and I love it. … And I’m happy to have my star on the Walk of Fame with all the other people that have done a wonderful job in this town.”

Tarantino shared a best original screenplay Oscar with Roger Avary in 1995 for his second film, the black comedy crime film “Pulp Fiction.” Avary had been a co-worker of Tarantino at the now-defunct South Bay video store Video Archives.

Tarantino also won a best original screenplay Oscar in 2013 for the script for the black comedy western, “Django Unchained.”

Tarantino also received best director Oscar nominations for “Pulp Fiction” and “Inglourious Basterds” and a best original screenplay nomination for “Inglourious Basterds.”

Born March 27, 1963, in Knoxville, Tennessee,  Tarantino was raised in Los Angeles County’s South Bay section. He dropped out of Harbor City’s Narbonne High School and became an usher in a pornographic theater in Torrance by lying about his age.

Tarantino began his filmmaking career by selling the script for the 1992 heist film, “Reservoir Dogs,” which brought him Independent Spirit Award nominations for best director and best first feature, which he shared with producer Lawrence Bender.

Tarantino also wrote and directed the martial arts films “Kill Bill: Volume 1” and “Kill Bill: Volume 2,” which were released in 2003 and 2004; the 1997 crime thriller “Jackie Brown”; and the 2007 horror film “Death Proof.”