NEWS

VIOLA DAVIS, JAMES FRANCO AMONG NEW HOLLYWOOD HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

And now the search begins for sponsors and financing

Actors Javier Bardem, Helen Mirren, James Franco, Viola Davis (pictured) and Olympia Dukakis, as well as the singer Janis Joplin, have been selected by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to get their star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2013.

Several hundred candidates had applied to join the long list of artists whose stars are trampled daily by thousands of tourists on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles.

The list of the 2013 inductees was issued this past Friday by the Chamber of Commerce. The winners now have up to five years to find sponsors (film studios, production companies or record labels, usually) who will finance the purchase of the star, at a cost of $ 30,000, as well as the induction ceremony.

Among the distinguished artists this year in the film category are Spain’s Javier Bardem, Britain’s Helen Mirren (she earned the 2006 Oscar for Best Actress for The Queen), Ron Howard, Viola Davis and James Franco.

Also selected were the boy bands Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block. Pop singers Usher and Thalia, a Mexican songstress, have also been selected.

The theater world will be represented by actress Olympia Dukakis. Ellen DeGeneres, Jane Lynch and Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing in the series Friends, will also be honored as this year’s television talents.

Hall of Fame