Hollywood Today: John Wells to Receive Star on Walk of Fame

John Wells, who wrote and produced such acclaimed television series as ER and The West Wing, will receive the 2,457th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

George Clooney, who spent five seasons on ER before devoting himself full-time to his movie career, and Allison Janney, a cast member on The West Wing throughout its seven-season run, will join Wells in speaking at the ceremony in front of the Hudson Apartments at 6533 Hollywood Blvd.

The honor comes five days before the season premiere of the Wells-produced police drama Southland on TNT. Wells' other current series, the Showtime drama Shameless, began its second season Sunday.

More happenings:

• Director Martin Scorsese's Hugo and the black-and-white silent movie homage The Artist will compete for top honors Thursday night at the 17th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards, with each taking 11 nominations into the ceremony.

The films will compete for best picture honors with The Descendants, Drive, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse.

Comedians Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel will host the ceremony being held at the Palladium.

• Maroon 5, Velvet Revolver, Sheryl Crow, Chantal Kreviazuk, Tom Morello (best known for Rage Against the Machine, now of NightWatchman), Stephen Stills (Crosby Stills Nash & Young), the Forest Rangers with Katey Sagal and Curtis Stiegers are all performing at the  to benefit John O'Brien's family. The late ASCAP composer was found dead in a Chicago hotel room in August at the age of 45, reported Paste Magazine. Tiers of ticket prices vary from $49.50 for general admission to $600 for VIP packages. Doors open at 7 p.m. This special event is for ages 21 and older.

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by D.E.E. Studio Productions Performing Arts Academy opens Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Hudson Backstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. Performances will continue through Sunday. Tickets: $10.

—City News Service was used to compile this report.

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