George Romero Officially Inducted Into the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Earlier this year, George Romero, whose breakout feature film Night of the Living Dead has gone on to define the modern interpretation of the zombie, passed away following a brief and intense bout with cancer. Prior to passing away, Romero was informed that he’d be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with the ceremony taking place earlier today to make it official.

The ceremony was attended by fans, zombies, collaborators Greg Nicotero and Tom Savini, and also a filmmaker whose debut film, Shaun of the Dead, was a tribute to Romero, Edgar Wright.

“It all started when I became friends with Simon Pegg and we became friends because we were both obsessed with Dawn of the Dead and George’s work,” Wright told the crowd. “I’ve been infatuated with George’s work before I had even seen any of his movies, because I was too young to see them, but I would still read all the horror magazines like Fangoria and I would see the gory pictures of Tom’s work and Greg’s work.”

“Later, on late night TV and VHS, I saw Night of the Living Dead, Martin, Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow, Day of the Dead, and then I was a real devotee,” Wright continued when noting the filmmaker’s vast career. “Way later, me and Simon Pegg had this idea of making a film that took place in Geroge’s universe. It would be a North London response to his Pittsburgh epics. When we completed the film in 2004, we had this idea, we said, ‘We should show the film to George Romero.’ It didn’t really matter what any critics thought or what any other directors thought, it really was important to us that George Romero liked the movie.

Romero did watch the film, thanks to special accommodations made by Universal, as he watched the film by himself while on vacation in Florida.

“Later that night, we were in London, George called us, and I remember vividly standing in my flat, getting a call from George Romero, and he couldn’t have been warmer or kinder,” the filmmaker recalled. “He said, ‘Aw man, I had a blast,’ and that was the only poster quote on the Shaun of the Dead poster, is a quote from George. It just says, ‘An absolute blast,’ George A Romero.”

Romero wasn’t beholden to one subgenre, going on to make the vampire film Martin, the Stephen King adaptation The Dark Half and his tribute to horror and EC Comics, Creepshow, which he developed with King.