Orlando Bloom Gets His Star

Orlando Bloom will receive the 2,521st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Wednesday, honoring a career highlighted by starring roles in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and three "Pirates of the Caribbean" films.

Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, who starred with Bloom in the 2013 crime drama "Zulu," and David Leveaux, who directed Bloom on Broadway last year in "Romeo and Juliet," will join Bloom in speaking in the 11:30 a.m. ceremony at 6927 Hollywood Boulevard, between the TCL Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds Hollywood.

The ceremony comes six days before the DVD release of the second film in "The Hobbit" trilogy, "The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug." The third film in the series, "The Hobbit: There and Back Again," is due out Dec. 17.

Born Jan. 13, 1977, in Canterbury, England, Bloom trained at the National Youth Theatre in London and earned a scholarship to study with the British American Drama Academy.     Bloom made his feature film debut in the 1997 biography of the Irish writer Oscar Wilde, "Wilde." He was then accepted to London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he performed in many stage productions.

Upon graduation, the then-unknown Bloom was cast in the first installment of the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," which was released in 2001. The second film, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," was released the following year.

Bloom appeared in three films released in 2003, the Australian historical drama "Ned Kelly," "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and the Oscar-winning final installment of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."

Bloom's other films include "Troy," "Haven," "Kingdom of Heaven," "Elizabethtown," "Love and Other Disasters" and "The Three Musketeers."

--City News Service