Jean Smart honored with Hollywood Walk of Fame

The 70-year-old actress was the latest legend to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a ceremony filled with laughter and tears. 

The leggy blonde arrived wearing a demure black and white gingham dress, with a black belt and balloon hem. 

She wore black pumps, simple pearl earrings and a pendant, and kept her makeup looking natural with hint of pink lipstick. 

The four-time Emmy winner was honored for her on-screen accomplishments, but those who spoke at the ceremony told tales of the woman behind the camera.   

According to her friends and co-stars, she is nothing like the tough as nails Deborah Vance character she plays in the award winning series Hacks.  

Designing Women writer and executive producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason was scheduled to speak, but was unable to attend. She sent a message, which was read by Jean's friend, actor Joe Mantegna. 

In her statement, Bloodworth-Thomason referred to  the actress as 'tall, hot fudge sundae of a girl topped with sprinkles of Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall and Lucille Ball, or none of them at all.' 

'This shameless scene-stealer, this genius for hire and five alarm thespian fire, this one in a million chameleon who can make ordinary seem normal and bring greatness down to human size as she soars like a glorious meteorite into the firmament of Hollywood's most legendary stars, shine on, sweet Jean, shine on.'

In speaking for himself, the Criminal Minds star spoke of meeting the 5'9" beauty when she was dating her future husband, Richard Gilliland, whom she met on the set of Designing Women.  Both grew tearful when the Godfather III actor spoke of Richard's death in March 2021 from a heart condition at age 71. 

'Jean has earned this star for her accomplishments as an actress,' Joe explained, 'but the story behind the star is that she is equally to be honored for who she has been as a beloved wife to my dearest friend, a fantastic mother to two wonderful children and loving, generous and compassionate friend to all of us who know and love her.'

With a shaky voice, the Tony award winner added, 'And I won't be ashamed for being Italian and shedding a few tears.' 

It was up to Hack's co-star Hannah Einbinder to replace the tears with some laughter, as she appeared to confused during her speech and discovered she was reading from a wedding vows file and not the Jean star file. 

After the 'mix-up,' she claimed, 'It's a huge day for Jean, of course, I mean, selfishly, it's also a huge day for me, because Jean could have asked any co-star from her illustrious career and well, I won. I won! I am the co-star. You hear that Reese (Witherspoon,) you hear that Kate Winslet, suck it (William) Shatner. It's me!'

The actress also described her co-star as more than her many parts, 'Her humor comes from the light within her soul, not the darkness. It comes not from her ego, but from her desire to make others feel good. I can't tell you how rare that is.'

When speaking of life on the Hacks set, she shared that 'In between takes whenever we're doing scenes where Deborah is doing standup, Jean is riffing, she's doing bits, she's talking to the background actors sitting in the audience because she knows it's tough work and she wants them to have fun. I am blown away by the rarity of a person so talented who is equally as kind.'

The guest of honor kept her remarks short, thanking those who had helped her career along the way and thanking those who had 'jumped through Covid hoops' to attend.

Joining her in the unveiling were Hacks co-stars Kaitlin Olson, Christopher McDonald and Johnny Sibilly, along with her children, Connor, 32 and Forrest, 13.   

The Mare of Easttown actress holds a rare place in television history, joining the late Betty White as  the only actors to win an Emmy award in the comedy lead, supporting and guest categories.

A Designing Women movie is in the works and the former Charlene Frazier has said she would 'kill to play a part like that again.'