SPOKANE – Lynn Walker of Ritzville got her wish this week, when actor Brian Keith finally was approved for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Walker had worked for the past year to convince the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce that the late star of “Family Affair” deserved the accolade.
“It really does restore our faith in the whole Hollywood Walk of Fame,” Walker said in an e-mail.
Walker’s work is not done. Her group still needs to raise about $14,000 of the $25,000 that a star actually costs. They have raised $11,000 in the 14 months of their quest.
The fee must be paid in full before the star is installed, she said.
“It’s Brian’s fans worldwide who’ve gotten us this far, and I’m confident they’ll get us the rest of the way,” she said.
Walker and three other women formed the Society To Advance Recognition for Brian Keith last year, after a fan went looking for Keith’s star and was stunned to learn he did not have one. The fan posted the news on an Internet discussion group. Walker; Amy Morgan of Norman, Okla.; L.M. Lewis of Chicago; and Cheri deFonteny of Los Angeles were moved to action.
With the required blessing of Keith’s widow, the group made the formal nomination to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and filed the supporting documents, said Ana Martinez-Holler, head of media relations for the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“They were instrumental in procuring the nomination,” she said Friday.
On Thursday, the Hollywood chamber announced that Keith would be among 20 celebrities, including Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett and the late George Harrison, to receive the honor.
They were chosen by the chamber’s Walk of Fame Committee from hundreds of nominations.
Walker and her group are gathering movie memorabilia and other items to auction off to raise money for the star and hope to raise enough by the middle of next year, Walker said.
Ideally, they would like to install the star next June 21, the date in 1961 that “The Parent Trap,” one of Keith’s top movies, premiered, Walker said.
Walker never met Keith, but fell for him during his performance as the father in “The Parent Trap” with Hayley Mills.
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