Kenan Thompson receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Thursday honoring Kenan Thompson for a television career that includes a record run as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member, six Emmy nominations and one Emmy award.

“Saturday Night Live” castmate Leslie Jones, “All That” and “Good Burger” castmate Josh Server and former “Saturday Night Live” writer and performer J. B. Smoove were among those joining Thompson at the ceremony at 6627 Hollywood Blvd., between Cherokee and Whitley avenues.

The star is next to the star of longtime “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels. It is the 2,728th star since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the first 1,558 stars.

“This is very surreal. It’s amazing,” Thompson said. “My whole family is here. My little one is here. … I can’t thank everybody that’s here enough. I never thought any of this would be possible. I just wanted to act and entertain and have a good time and put smiles on my family members’ faces, and that grew into the world now, apparently. I don’t know man, it’s just an honor and a privilege.

“Going in next to the GOAT, Lorne Michaels, that’s really cool,” he added.

The ceremony came two days after NBC and the Television Academy announced that Thompson will host the 74th Emmy Awards. It also comes ahead of the start of his 20th season on “Saturday Night Live” this fall.

Born May 10, 1978, in Atlanta, Thompson’s first television project was being part of the TBS children’s show “Movies for Kids,” where he reviewed “The Mighty Ducks,” and met some of its cast members, which led to his movie debut in its 1994 sequel, “D2: The Mighty Ducks.” He also appeared in the third film in the franchise, “D3: The Mighty Ducks,” released in 1996.

Thompson was a cast member of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series “All That” from 1994-2000 and starred in the Nickelodeon comedy “Kenan & Kel” which ran from 1996-2000.

Thompson joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in 2003, its first cast member to be born after its premiere in 1975.

Thompson received outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series Emmy nominations in 2018, 2020 and 2021 for his work on “Saturday Night Live,” which has included providing impressions of Rev. Al Sharpton, Charles Barkley, Steve Harvey and David Ortiz, and playing such characters as DJ Dynasty Handbag, the scathingly fierce co-host of the “Deep House Dish” sketch, “Weekend Update” correspondent Jean K. Jean, “Black Jeopardy” host Darnell Hayes and Diondre Cole, the disruptive singing talk show host on the recurring sketch, “What Up With That.”

Thompson also received two Emmy nominations for outstanding original music and lyrics, winning in 2018 for being among the three writers of the lyrics for “Come Back, Barack.”

Thompson starred in the 2021-22 NBC comedy “Kenan,” receiving an outstanding lead actor in a comedy series Emmy nomination in 2021 for his portrayal of a host of an Atlanta morning television program and the widowed father of two daughters.

Thompson’s other movie credits include starring roles in the 1997 film comedy, “Good Burger,” based on an “All That” sketch, and “Fat Albert”; “Heavyweights”; “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle”; “Snakes on a Plane”; “Brother Nature”; “My Boss’s Daughter,” “Barbershop 2,” “Going in Style” and “They Came Together.”

Thompson has also supplied voices for such animated films and television series as “The Grinch”; “Trolls World Tour”; “Wonder Park,” “The Smurfs” and its sequel “The Smurfs 2”; “Space Chimps”; “The Awesomes”; and “Rock Dog.”

Thompson’s other television credits include “Felicity” and “The Steve Harvey Show.”

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