An Abecedarium of the Hollywood Walk of Fame
(As of today, there are 2,833 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Let’s say you can retain the work of only one of these artists per each letter of the alphabet. Which would you choose?)
A: Louis Armstrong
B: Ray Bradbury
C: Francis Ford Coppola *
D: Willem Dafoe **
E: Thomas A. Edison ***
F: Peter Falk
G: Marvin Gaye
H: Jim Henson
I: Billy Idol
J: Samuel L. Jackson
K: Andy Kaufman
L: Stan Lee ****
M: Burgess Meredith
N: Randy Newman
O: Edward James Olmos
P: Richard Pryor
Q: Queen
R: Gene Roddenberry
S: Charles M. Schulz *****
T: Billy Bob Thornton
U: Robert Urich
V: Sarah Vaughan
W: Stevie Wonder ******
X: [none available]
Y: Michael York
Z: Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
* Though it’s very hard to say goodbye to Sam Cooke
** This was actually the tightest contest for me because I like Duran Duran so much.
*** My initial instinct here was to say Roger Ebert, but the inclusion of Edison kind of forced my hand.
**** With apologies to Burt Lancaster and John Lennon
***** With Martin Scorsese at #2 and Rick Springfield at #3
****** It’s heartbreaking not to choose Billy Wilder. If only he had been named Billy Xilder!
— January 24, 2026