Ed O'Neill, 'Modern Family' Actor Gets Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Ed O’Neill, the star of “Modern Family” will be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today even if he used to think it was “kind of weird.”
“I almost turned it down,” said O’Neill, in an interview with his hometown newspaper, The Youngstown News. “I never liked the idea of it. It’s bizarre - names on a sidewalk. People can spit on it. I thought it was kind of weird. But I mentioned it to my daughter, who is 11, and she said, ‘Daddy, you have to get your star. If you don’t, that means you’re crazy.’ That did it.”
O’Neill eventually realized that having a star on the same sidewalk as screen legends like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Humphrey Bogart was quite an honor.
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“I was actually very humbled, once I got over the initial shock and realized it’s something to be proud of,” he said.
O’Neill, who was nominated for an Emmy last month for his role on “Modern Family”, initially planned on playing professional football. He was signed out of college by the Pittsburgh Steelers, but got cut during training camp.
He then turned to acting and had a string of bit parts in movies and television shows during the 1980s before landing a starring role as the title character in “Popeye Doyle” – pilot about an NYPD detective based on the “French Connection” character. However, the show did not get picked up by networks.
O’Neil has starred in several television shows and films, including “Dutch,” “Prefontaine,” and “Little Monsters.”
He also had a cameo in “Wayne’s World,” where he played “Glen,” the Vietnam flashback-prone manager of Mikita’s Donut Shop.
But O’Neill will probably be best known as “Al Bundy” in the hit show “Married with Children.” His comedic portrayal as a down-and-out shoe salesman patriarch of an eccentric, ungrateful family quickly became one of the most memorable TV dads in history.
O'Neill's Walk of Fame star will be placed in front of a shoe store.
