00:00 [BELL RINGING]
00:02 The moment has arrived.
00:04 Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage
00:07 Mr. James Hong.
00:09 [APPLAUSE]
00:12 [CHEERING]
00:30 I am here.
00:34 Tell you the truth, when I first came here in 19--
00:40 I think it was 1953.
00:42 I lived on-- found a little studio apartment
00:44 on Gower Street.
00:46 And the first thing I did was come here
00:49 and try all the footprints.
00:52 I put mine on top of John Wayne.
00:56 Wow, too big for me.
00:59 Too large.
01:00 Jimmy Stewart, too large.
01:02 But now today, I have my own size.
01:06 [APPLAUSE]
01:11 And I want to tell you that when I planted there--
01:14 and I hope they secure it, because they stole Jackie
01:17 Chan's footprints twice, they said.
01:20 So whomever owns the theater now--
01:24 and it's kind of in question, but I
01:25 hope they own it forever--
01:28 I hope they bolt mine down so that it won't get stolen.
01:32 And that gentleman over there is going to write my memoir,
01:35 so look for that.
01:36 I can't tell you everything today,
01:38 because I was told to make it short, my speech short,
01:44 no more than 2 and 1/2 minutes or three,
01:48 or you will get stiff.
01:50 I didn't know if she was mentioning
01:52 me or the footprints.
01:55 But it'll be planted today, and I hope all the young people--
01:58 I don't have a speech.
02:00 I hope all the young people, Asian-Americans,
02:02 will come here, put their footprints on--
02:05 put their shoe on mine.
02:07 And remember what that means, that I came here on this day,
02:11 on my 95th birthday, because I struggled over 70 years here
02:18 in my city, Hollywood.
02:20 This is my town.
02:22 I was here when I was--
02:24 first movie was with Clark Gable as a soldier, of course,
02:29 on the telephone.
02:30 But that's the way it was--
02:32 a soldier, an evil guy.
02:35 But I do it my best, like David Lopin in Big Trouble,
02:38 Little China.
02:40 I make him a human being.
02:43 David Lopin, have you seen that movie, sir?
02:46 Oh, you haven't seen it.
02:47 Go on, get out.
02:50 Anyway, I only have 3 and 1/2 minutes.
02:53 I think I've spoken for two minutes already.
02:55 So there's really not too much I can say,
02:58 other than what I've just said.
03:00 I like to-- and I have to have a card,
03:03 because I am 95 years old.
03:05 Ellen Kay, the TC Chinese Theater ambassador.
03:15 I got to tell you that I come from the village of Toisan.
03:19 And when they tell that a council member, Martinez,
03:24 has given me a James Holland Day,
03:27 Toisan will be very, very happy.
03:30 [APPLAUSE]
03:34 But I'm sure the villagers will wonder, Chinese theater.
03:37 Where in China is this Chinese theater?
03:40 So it's kind of funny, you know.
03:42 But I'm glad they made this place.
03:45 Unbelievable, this guy had this great idea.
03:48 And of course, my dear friend, the two Daniels,
03:53 who gave me this wonderful speech.
03:56 In a way, I kind of ruined their movie by ad-libbing too much.
04:01 But that's the kind of directors they are.
04:03 They are the best directors I've worked with.
04:05 Why?
04:06 They let me contribute my talent.
04:09 Old time directors, like in Gene Wilder, good director.
04:14 But if I said just something, he would say,
04:16 oh, we've done this before.
04:18 So you're nothing but a sideline actor.
04:21 But here, they contribute what they want to,
04:25 and they augment it by letting me speak my piece.
04:29 So and Lucy Liu, it's unbelievable.
04:34 I've been in two vehicles with Lucy,
04:37 and she looks more beautiful today than the first time.
04:40 I think it was on X-Files.
04:43 Right, X-Files?
04:45 And she handles Mandarin like nobody can.
04:50 And I just cease to amaze at how intelligent she is.
04:54 Because on elementary, when I work with her,
04:58 there she is in front of the camera,
05:00 and they're changing the dialogue,
05:02 and she can remember every change right on the spot.
05:06 There's not many actors that can do that.
05:09 She's intelligent, beautiful, and she has--
05:13 not only that, but the main thing
05:14 is that she flew all the way from New York today
05:19 and came to just to speak in my ceremony here
05:23 that I owe you everything, Lucy.
05:27 Gorgeous woman, isn't she?
05:28 And she can do that kung fu like crazy in that movie.
05:32 Watch out.
05:32 You don't say anything wrong.
05:35 And the immortals, Jeff Chan is the leader of the immortals.
05:39 Are the immortals here?
05:41 Oh, there you are, right?
05:42 The ambassador is Jeff Chan, and his son has taken over Vince.
05:48 Can you raise your hand for Vince?
05:50 He's over there somewhere else hiding, I think.
05:53 Vince, they've been buddies for a long time,
05:56 and they came today to do that wonderful lion dance.
05:59 Let's give them one more hand, the lion dancers.
06:02 [APPLAUSE]
06:04 And let's see, and of course, what can I say?
06:09 DreamWorks made this possible.
06:12 That's the kind of studio they are.
06:14 With Kung Fu Panda 4 coming out, they
06:16 want to celebrate James Hong's birthday on top of it.
06:20 And Margie Cohn, the president of DreamWorks,
06:23 has made this a DreamWork day for me.
06:27 And Christine Lo, I have to read some of these names off.
06:31 And if I forgot something, you can
06:35 say it's a 94-year-old man forgetting everything.
06:40 And Rebecca Huntley, the producer, and of course,
06:44 my director is Mike Mitchell, and co-director Stephen--
06:53 no, Stephanie-- or Ma Stein.
06:57 Can you stand up?
06:58 Are you here?
06:59 Oh, yeah.
07:00 She's going to be a great director for DreamWorks
07:03 and many other companies.
07:04 Thank you for coming.
07:06 You're the Chinese side of the DreamWorks.
07:10 And Christie Loper, the talent coordinator.
07:14 And if I forgot anybody else, please forgive me,
07:17 because I can always use my age as an excuse, right?
07:22 Today, besides today, is my day, the James Hong day.
07:27 When my village in Toisan hears that they have a James Hong
07:30 day in Los Angeles, wow.
07:33 They'll just go crazy in Toisan.
07:36 I can hear the Chinese dialogue probably.
07:39 [SPEAKING CHINESE]
07:41 A day in Los Angeles, California?
07:54 Wow, that's something.
07:55 It is something.
07:57 For this theater, TCL, thank you for honoring me and lending
08:02 me a little square.
08:04 Please don't put me way in the back.
08:07 So aside from that, you know what I mean, right?
08:13 There's little squares way in back.
08:14 You can't even see it.
08:16 But hunt for it when you come into Hollywood.
08:19 OK?
08:19 [APPLAUSE]
08:22 And my daughter, April Hong, she's
08:30 responsible for both of this, coordinating
08:34 with all the people.
08:35 And she's wonderful.
08:37 And my wife, Susan, why don't you come up here, Susan?
08:41 Oh.
08:41 Pictures.
08:42 What?
08:42 We're going down now.
08:43 We're going down now.
08:45 Who says we have to come down?
08:46 I like it here.
08:49 OK, where are we going?
08:51 Oh, we're going to bring up--
08:52 We're going to do pictures afterwards.
08:54 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
08:58 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
09:01, OK?
09:29 [APPLAUSE]
09:32 [APPLAUSE]
09:36 (whooshing)
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