Javier Bardem Receives Walk of Fame Star

Academy Award-winning actor Javier Bardem received the 2,484th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Thursday, one day before the release of the James Bond film Skyfall, in which he plays the villain.

Skyfall director Sam Mendes joined Bardem at the ceremony in front of the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

Bardem was born on March 1, 1969, in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands to a family filled with actors and filmmakers. His mother and older sister are actresses, as was a grandmother. A grandfather was also an actor, as is his older brother. A late uncle was a screenwriter and director.

"All I wanted to do was work professionally as an actor," Bardem told the crowd. "And now, to be here, to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is an honor I never thought I would ever receive."

Bardem made his film debut when he was 6 years old in El Picaro. He acted in several television series as a teenager and toured Spain with an independent theatrical group.

Bardem was propelled to fame in 1992 for his role as a potential underwear model and would-be bullfighter in Jamon, jamon, which also starred his future wife, Penelope Cruz.

Bardem won a best supporting actor Oscar in 2008 for his portrayal of the sociopathic killer Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, which also brought him Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards.

Bardem received a best actor Academy Award nomination in 2001 for his portrayal of Cuban poet and dissident Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls, which also brought him a Golden Globe award nomination. Bardem received a best supporting actor Oscar nomination in 2011 for Biutiful.

Bardem is the first Spaniard to be nominated for an Academy Award and the first to win one.

Bardem also received Golden Globe nominations for his performances in The Sea Inside and Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Bardem's other memorable films include Eat, Pray Love, The Dancer Upstairs, Mondays in the Sun, Collateral, Love in The Time of Cholera and Goya's Ghosts.

Following Skyfall, Bardem will appear in the Terrence Malick- directed romantic drama To the Wonder, due to be released in April, and the legal thriller The Counselor, directed by Ridley Scott, set to be released next November.