Douglas Urbanski's speech at Gary Oldman's handprint and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre

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https://www.maximotv.com  Douglas Urbanski's speech at Gary Oldman's handprint and footprint ceremony on Friday, August 22, 2025, at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California, USA.  This video is available for editorial use in all media and worldwide. To ensure compliance and proper licensing of this video, please contact us at https://www.maximotv.com. ©MaximoTV #maximotv  🇺🇸

Transcript

00:00Doug Urbanski is coming to the stage.

00:16So Gary is sitting right above Clark Gable and Jack Benny.

00:21That's how I think of you, Gary.

00:23A mixture.

00:24Both of them.

00:25But somewhere along the line, Gary and I had a talk way back in like 1989 or 88.

00:31And we met and had lunch and the topic was longevity.

00:35About careers and such a strange word, career.

00:39Where you are now, in 1909, Francis X. Bushman was one of the three biggest stars in the world.

00:47He had starred in Ben-Hur.

00:50By 1924, his career was ending.

00:53And in 1926 or 7, when they were building this theater, he donated this land, where his mansion was, so they could build the Chinese theater.

01:04He eventually lost everything in the stock market crash and he survived on cameo appearances and television shows for the rest of his life.

01:10So you think about careers, you think about longevity, and you think of someone like Jack Benny, who conquered films and television, or Bob Hope.

01:18Bob Hope.

01:18Films, radio, vaudeville, television.

01:21Very few get to do all this stuff, but Gary has done it.

01:25I was reading Gloria Swanson's book, weirdly enough, the other day.

01:33And she quoted something she called corny.

01:36Because the ads all said Gloria Swanson is Norma Desmond.

01:41Just as we would say John Barrymore is Hamlet.

01:45Or Greta Garbo is Camille.

01:48Well, I'm looking at the list of Gary.

01:50Gary, what do we say?

01:52He is Winston Churchill.

01:54And he is Sid Vicious.

01:55And he is Joe Orton.

01:57He is Dracula.

02:00It's a corny thing, but he is all of these people.

02:03Alan Horn, the brilliant head of Warner Brothers, wanted Gary to be in their franchises.

02:10He wanted Gary to be in the Batman franchises.

02:12He wanted Gary to be in the Potter.

02:14He called Gary Oldman the talisman of good luck for franchise movies.

02:19And I think they made several billion dollars because he believed in this.

02:24So Gary Oldman has played famously real people and also literary figures.

02:32Who has a career where you get to do both of that and often?

02:37So he also is Jim Gordon.

02:40He is Sirius Black.

02:41He is the greatest spy of all time, George Smiley.

02:46He's also currently Jackson Land because Gary has now not only conquered film, but he's conquered television as well.

02:55Now he's lately trying to, and succeeding at conquering theater.

02:59And very soon Gary will have, his knighthood will be official.

03:04He's had box office success, television success, awards, British Academy Awards.

03:08I think with the Churchill film, he won about 60 or 70 of every award on the planet that was available to be won.

03:16So longevity.

03:1840 years is a very long time to have a career that sustains.

03:25And right now, it doesn't stop.

03:27The show is a success.

03:28And we even talk about other shows and other projects.

03:3140 years.

03:33In one month, Gary will go to Windsor Castle.

03:37And the king will put the sword on his shoulder and give him the knighthood.

03:42Which is already gone.

03:43It just makes it official.

03:46Today, in a theater that has been here for a hundred years, almost.

03:51By the way, this theater was built to show silent films.

03:53And now it has IMAX movies.

03:56So careers may come and go, but the Chinese theater is like the knighthood.

03:59It is still here, and it is forever.

04:03So, today is to honor the career.

04:07I've been blessed with knowing the person.

04:11And I will say it as corny as it sounds.

04:14You are here today because Gary Oldman is Gary Oldman.

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