LOS ANGELES (CNS) — A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Thursday honoring Octavia Spencer for a film acting career that has gone from a one-line role to stardom and three Oscar nominations, including winning for best supporting actress in 2012.
Will Farrell and Allison Janney were among those joining Spencer at the ceremony at 6623 Hollywood Blvd., in front of Ballet Hollywood, between Cherokee and Whitley avenues. The ceremony also included an appearance by Aubie the Tiger, the costumed mascot of Spencer’s alma mater, Auburn University.
Spencer co-stars with Farrell in “Spirited,” Apple TV+’s musical comedy re-telling of “A Christmas Carol” which premiered on the streaming service Nov. 18. Janney and Spencer were castmates in the 2011 period comedy- drama “The Help,” for which Spencer won her Oscar for her portrayal of a maid in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963.
The star is the 2,742nd since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the first 1,558 stars.
“To be forever cemented in the mythology of this city and the film industry is an amazing honor,” Spencer said. “It took me a minute to absorb the profundity of this moment, the culmination of my dreams realized, hard work rewarded after a fair but healthy amount of failure and rejection.”
Born May 25, 1970, in Montgomery, Alabama, Spencer had been a casting assistant who made her film debut with a one-line role in the 1996 legal drama, “A Time to Kill,” portraying the nurse treating the law student played by Sandra Bullock. It was the first of at least 16 times Spencer has portrayed a nurse.
Spencer’s first high-profile role was a four-episode arc as an amorous immigration caseworker on the ABC comedy-drama “Ugly Betty” in 2007.
Spencer also received best supporting actress Oscar nominations in 2017 for portrayal of mathematician Dorothy Vaughan in “Hidden Figures” and in 2018 for role as a cleaning woman in a secret government laboratory in “The Shape of Water.”
Spencer was the first Black actress to receive Oscar nominations in back-to-back years. Her three nominations are second-most among Black actresses behind Viola Davis, a castmate of Spencer’s in “The Help.”
Spencer’s other film credits include “Fruitvale Station,” `The Shack, “Luce,” “Ma,” “The Witches,” “Halloween II,” “Smashed,” “Snowpiercer,” “Get on Up,” “Insurgent,” “Allegiant,” “Gifted,” “Instant Family,” “Coach Carter,” “Being John Malkovich,” “Bad Santa” and its sequel “Bad Santa 2” and “Onward.”
Spencer received an outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie Emmy nomination in 2020 for her title role in the 2020 Netflix limited series “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker” about the hair care and cosmetics mogul.
Spencer starred in the short-lived Fox medical drama, “Red Band Society” and had a recurring role in the CBS comedy “Mom.” Her other television credits include “ER,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
Spencer’s current series, “Truth Be Told,” will begin its third season Jan. 20 on Apple TV+.