A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Thursday honoring James L. Brooks for a television career in which he was a creator of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Taxi” and “The Simpsons.”
Jamie Lee Curtis and Danny DeVito were among those joining Brooks at the ceremony at 6910 Hollywood Blvd., near the El Capitan Theater.
Curtis is part of the cast of the film comedy “Ella McCay,” which Brooks wrote and directed and is among the producers. It opens Friday.
DeVito received four outstanding supporting actor in a comedy or variety or music series during “Taxi’s” five-season run for his portrayal of abusive dispatcher Louie De Palma, winning in 1981.
“Taxi” cast member Marilu Henner and Rhea Perlman, who had a recurring role as De Palma’s girlfriend Zena, also attended the event, as did Woody Harrelson, who plays the philandering father of Ella McCay (Emma Mackey), who becomes governor of her unnamed state in 2008 when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) resigns to accept a cabinet position in the Obama administration.
The star is the 2,830th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.
Born May 9, 1937, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, Brooks began his career as an usher at CBS then wrote for the network’s news broadcasts.
Brooks moved to Los Angeles in 1965 to work on David L. Wolper’s documentaries. He wrote two episodes of the 1964-65 ABC series about historical conflicts between notable figures, “Men in Crisis,” “Kennedy vs Khrushchev” and “Halsey vs Yamamoto.”
Brooks began his entertainment writing career in 1966 by writing two episodes of the NBC fantasy comedy, “My Mother the Car.” In 2002, TV Guide declared it the second-worst series of all time, behind “The Jerry Springer Show.”
After writing episodes of such series as “The Andy Griffith Show,” “That Girl,” “My Three Sons” and “The Doris Day Show” from 1966 to 1968, Brooks created his first series in 1969, the ABC high school comedy-drama, “Room 222.”
However, he spent only one season with the show, as producer Grant Tinker hired Brooks and another “My Mother the Car” alum to create a create a CBS comedy for his then-wife, “Mary Tyler Moore.”
Brooks received eight producing Emmy nominations for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which won for outstanding comedy series each of its final three seasons, and three writing nominations, winning for being part of the six-man team for its final episode, “The Last Show.”
Brooks and Burns developed two spinoffs from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Rhoda” and “Lou Grant.”
Brooks received one writing and one producing Emmy nomination for “Rhoda” and a producing nomination for “Lou Grant,” the only drama series spun off from a comedy.
Brooks was also a creative consultant for another “Mary Tyler Moore Show” spinoff “Phyllis.”
Brooks created “Taxi” in 1978, which brought him four more producing Emmys and victories in 1979 and 1981.
Brooks’ film career begin by writing and producing the 1979 comedy-drama, “Starting Over,” which starred Burt Reynolds as a recently divorced man torn between his new girlfriend (Jill Clayburgh) and ex-wife (Candice Bergen).
Brooks won the best director Oscar in 1984 for the first film he directed, “Terms of Endearment,” which also won for best picture and best adapted screenplay, bringing Brooks two more Oscars.
Brooks also received best original screenplay and best picture nominations in 1988 for “Broadcast News,” a best picture Oscar nomination in 1997 for “Jerry Maguire” and best original screenplay and best picture nominations in 1998 for “As Good as it Gets.”
In 1987, Brooks formed the film and television production company Gracie Films, named for actress Gracie Allen. “Broadcast News” was its first film project and the Fox sketch comedy series “The Tracey Ullman Show,” its first television project.
“The Tracey Ullman Show,” included animated shorts about the dysfunctional Simpson family, which would go on to be spun off into “The Simpsons,’ the longest-running American scripted primetime series. Brooks continues to receive “developed by” credit.
Brooks has received 33 Emmy nominations from “The Simpsons” and 12 Emmy
“Ella McCay” is the first film Brooks has written or directed since the 2010 romantic comedy, “How Do You Know.”
“I was going nuts, not writing,” Brooks said, “Of course, I was working on other projects that I felt great about, all labors of love, but I just really needed to write.”
Brooks said his goal for the film was ” to pay tribute, as best I could, to the golden age of movie comedy, the 1940s and 50s, when each of the Hepburns reigned.”