5-time Oscar Nominee Paul Mazursky Receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

By City News Service

Five-time Oscar nominee Paul Mazursky received the 2,515th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Friday, drawing praise for writing and directing a string of memorable films from the late 1960s to early 1990s.

Fellow writer-director Mel Brooks said at the late morning ceremony in front of Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard that Mazursky was a writer and director who "could see the human heart in all its glory and give it to us on the screen."

Jeff Kanew, another writer-director said that "for 80-some odd years, he's made all his friends and millions of strangers around the world laugh and cry and even think because Paul Mazursky can observe people and create films that comment on the human condition in a way that makes us see ourselves and realize how silly we are, how vulnerable and how, even though our lives and families and circumstances may all be very different, we're all connected."

Councilman Mitch O'Farrell said "the intimate, transformative, imaginative, original, unique point of view from this great filmmaker has helped define an era of America cinema that has helped shape our view of the world."

Following stints as an actor and writer, Mazursky began his directing career with the 1969 wife-swapping comedy-drama "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice." He received a best original screenplay Oscar nomination for his script.

Mazursky directed Art Carney to a best actor Oscar for the 1974 road movie "Harry and Tonto" and received a best original screenplay Oscar nomination.

Mazursky also directed "Alex in Wonderland," "Blume in Love," "Next Stop, Greenwich Village," "An Unmarried Woman," "Willie & Phil," "Tempest," "Moscow on the Hudson," "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," "Moon Over Parador," "Enemies, a Love Story" and "Scenes from a Mall."

Mazursky's other writing Oscar nominations were for "An Unmarried Woman" and "Enemies, a Love Story." He was among the producers of "An Unmarried Woman," which received a best picture Oscar nomination.

Born Irwin Mazursky in Brooklyn on April 25, 1930, Mazursky made his film debut as an actor in director Stanley Kubrick's first feature, the 1953 military action and adventure film, "Fear and Desire," in which he changed his first name to Paul.

Mazursky also appeared in the films "The Blackboard Jungle," "A Star is Born," "The History of the World Part I," which was directed by Brooks, "Punchline," "Carlito's Way," "Love Affair," "Miami Rhapsody" and "Crazy in Alabama."

He also supplied the voice of the psychiatrist of an individualistic but meek worker ant (Woody Allen) in the 1998 animated comedy "Antz."

Mazursky's television acting credits include three episodes of the original version of "The Twilight Zone," the Chuck Connors-starring Western, "The Rifleman," "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm."