LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedic actor Tracy Morgan, who rose to prominence on sketch comedy series "Saturday Night Live" after growing up in one of New York City's toughest housing projects, said he felt right at home receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.
With his trademark wide, mischievous grin, Morgan, 49, bent over and kissed the emblematic terrazzo and brass star along Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, now one of the city's most-visited sites but for decades was a home to L.A.'s underbelly.
"When I was a poor kid growing up in the projects in Brooklyn, I would never dream of having a star on the Walk of Fame," the comic known for his cringe-inducing style said.
"But now that I'm here, I have to tell you I feel pretty comfortable," the "30 Rock" star added. "I'll tell you why! Because of the smell of weed and stale urine - it's just like being in the projects. What would really make me feel at home, if somebody spray painted graffiti on my star."
Morgan, who stars in the new Time Warner Inc-owned TBS comedy "The Last O.G." with Tiffany Haddish, was introduced by Oscar winner Jordan Peele and comedian Martin Lawrence, who gave Morgan his first break in 1994 on his TV comedy series "Martin"
"The Last O.G." is Morgan's first big step back into Hollywood after he was seriously injured in 2014 when a Wal-Mart truck crashed into his limousine on the New Jersey Turnpike killing his friend, the comedian James McNair.
"He's been through so many things and he's come out with an outlook on life that is absolutely beautiful," Peele told the assembled crowd.
"He'll take you all over the map in a conversation with him," Peele added. "You'll be laughing one second, you'll be crying the next second. He'll have you thinking one second and then he'll say something so stupid it's just funny the next second."
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
(Reporting by Alan Devall; writing by Eric Kelsey; editing by Diane Craft)
