Filmmaker Ridley Scott received the 2,564th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today, honoring a career that has included directing such memorable films as “Alien,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Blade Runner” and “Thelma & Louise.”
Russell Crowe, who was directed by Scott in “Gladiator,” “Robin Hood” and “American Gangster,” and Kristen Wiig, a star of Scott’s most- recent release, “The Martian,” were among those attending the ceremony in front of the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.
“Good films and strong storytelling, which is what we try to do, come out of the teamwork and synergy of people who have their passion on their shoulders, and they’ve got to bring it to the table, I don’t care who it is,” Scott said.
Crowe hailed Scott’s career of bring stunning imagery to the screen.
“The alien birth scene in ‘Alien,’ the streetscapes of ‘Blade Runner,’ Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon going off the cliff in the car — I mean, the images that he’s created over the course of his career, the adventures he’s taken the cinema audience on have just been amazing,” Crowe said.
Born Nov. 30, 1937, in the English coastal town of South Shields, Scott graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1963, then was hired by the British Broadcasting Corp. as a trainee set designer. He began directing episodes of television series for the BBC in 1965.
Scott and his brother, Tony, founded the film and commercial production company Ridley Scott Associates in 1968. Scott directed many commercials in the 1970s, including one in 1974 for the British flour and bread maker Hovis that was selected in a 2006 poll as the United Kingdom’s favorite television commercial.
Scott returned to commercial production in 1983 with the groundbreaking commercial that introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer, “1984.”
The first feature film Scott directed, “The Duellists,” was released in 1977. It starred Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel as French cavalry officers during the Napoleonic Wars whose quarrel over an initially minor incident turns into a bitter feud spanning 15 years. It brought Scott the best first film award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Scott received best director Oscar nominations for “Black Hawk Down,” “Gladiator” and “Thelma & Louise.” His other memorable films include “Hannibal,” “Prometheus,” Exodus: Goods and Kings” and “The Counselor.”
Scott received a knighthood in 2003.
Scott is also an executive producer of the critically acclaimed CBS legal drama “The Good Wife” and an executive producer of the made-for- television movies “Killing Lincoln,” “Killing Kennedy” and “Killing Jesus.”
Scott’s most recent television project, the alternate history drama about the Axis powers winning World War II, “The Man in the High Castle,” begins streaming on Amazon on Nov. 20.
