LOS ANGELES – Billie Jean King became the first woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the new sports entertainment category on Monday and she was joined by friends Magic Johnson and Oscar-winning actor Jamie Lee Curtis.
“The important things is, I don’t want to be the last one,” the Hall of Fame tennis player told the crowd.
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King received the 2,807th star, located near the famed intersection of Hollywood and Vine across from the historic Pantages Theater. Its electronic marque read, “A star for a star. Congratulations Billie Jean King.”
Fans gathered on the sidewalk outside a dumpling shop while horns honked and celebrity tour buses cruised past on busy Hollywood Boulevard. King's wife, Ilana Kloss, joined the clutch of photographers to shoot her own pictures.
“You always fight for what’s right,” Johnson told King above the din. “You lend your platform and your voice and your time and your money to bring about change.”
Johnson, like King, is a part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were honored at the White House earlier Monday for winning the 2024 World Series.
“We're just alike,” he said. “We're super competitive as hell, we're control freaks because we know that if you put it in our hands we're going to win. You've been a winner your whole life, you love to help people and last but not least, you always will stand for what's right.”
The ceremony reunited King with players Rosie Casals and Julie Anthony from the earliest days of the WTA Tour, as well as the tour’s retired athletic trainer Connie Spooner. Also attending were five-time major champion Maria Sharapova and Stacey Allaster, former WTA CEO and current U.S. Open tournament director.
“Billie Jean King's contribution is power,” Curtis said. “She's power on the courts, she's power in the courts, she's power in the press, power in her public advocacy, power in her fight for freedom, power to be who she is now.”
King grew up in Long Beach, 34 miles south of Hollywood. She played at the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills tennis clubs, where she’d spot stars like Lucille Ball and Doris Day.
“My family loved music and movies,” she said. “A trip to Hollywood, a movie at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, was a special treat for our family. My mother would have loved this.”
King attended Oscar-winning actor Holly Hunter's star ceremony in 2008.
“I remember thinking back then, ‘Oh man, this is really cool. This is unbelievable,’” she said. “'Oh, I'm never going to get this.' Here I am.”
King was the first to step on her bronze star after it was uncovered several blocks east of where her longtime friend Elton John's is located.
“Remember," she said, “my star is your star.”
Also on hand was Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, her husband Jay Mohr, rapper Flavor Flav, race-car driver Katherine Legge and Emmy-winning screenwriter Jane Anderson.
In January, King served as grand marshal of the 136th Rose Parade and last year she received the Congressional Gold Medal.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis