Renowned voice and screen actor Keith David shared his heartwarming reaction to the news that he will be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year.
The three-time Emmy-winning actor, 69, known for voicing many famous characters, such as The Princess and the Frog’s Dr. Facilier, has been announced as part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame’s 2026 class.
“What a surprise! Being blessed to get to do this for a living is enough for me; to be recognized for my contribution to the arts is the cherry on top,” David wrote of the honor on X.
“Thank you, Hollywood Walk of Fame & Hollywood Chamber for this honor. This will be a wonderful birthday present next year.”
Alongside the post, he shared a video of himself watching as the list of inductees was read aloud. In the clip, he appears in complete shock when he hears his name, putting his hand over his mouth and then his heart. A voice off-screen then tells him, “Happy 70th birthday.”
“Oh my god,” David responds before crying tears of joy, while his wife, Dionne Lea Williams, kisses him and embraces him in a big hug.
To land a coveted Hollywood star, an artist must be nominated by another individual and agree to the nomination when applying.
According to the website, the criteria for receiving a star consists of the following: professional achievement, longevity in the category of five years or more, contributions to the community and the guarantee that the celebrity will attend the dedication ceremony if selected. A committee must then approve the nomination before selecting 24-30 names they deem to be the most qualified. Finally, every star must be approved by the Hollywood Chamber’s Board of Directors and the City of Los Angeles’ Board of Public Works Department.
What a surprise! Being blessed to get to do this for a living is enough for me; to be recognized for my contribution to the arts is the cherry on top.🙏🏿
— Keith David (@ImKeithDavid) July 2, 2025
Thank you, Hollywood Walk of Fame & Hollywood Chamber for this honor. This will be a wonderful birthday present next year. pic.twitter.com/dnSmObJezT
The prolific actor, who will celebrate his 70th birthday next year, has appeared in nearly 400 movies and TV shows. His voice acting credits include Family Guy, American Dad, and Rick and Morty, while his on-screen appearances include cult classics like The Thing (1982), They Live (1988), Armageddon (1998), and Crash (2004).
In 2005, David earned his first Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in PBS’s Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise And Fall Of Jack Johnson.
He won the award twice more, first for narrating a 2008 episode of PBS’s The War docuseries and again for its 2016 Jackie Robinson docuseries.
David is one of 35 stars to be inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame class of 2026. Timothée Chalamet, Miley Cyrus, Chris Columbus, Marion Cotillard, Keith David, Rachel McAdams, Demi Moore, Franco Nero, Deepika Padukone, Molly Ringwald, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci are among the others whose names will be emblazoned onto an embedded plaque along the Hollywood Boulevard sidewalk.
