Walk of Fame Star honoring Zac Efron unveiled

HOLLYWOOD – A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled today honoring Zac Efron for an acting career best known for his starring role in the “High School Musical” trilogy.

Jeremy Allen White, Sean Durkin and Miles Teller were among those joining Efron at the ceremony at 6426 Hollywood Blvd.

Efron and White are castmates in “The Iron Claw,” a biography of professional wrestling’s Von Erich family that Durkin directed and wrote the screenplay for and is set to be released Dec. 22. Teller and Efron co-starred in the 2014 romantic comedy, “That Awkward Moment.”

Zac Efron at the premiere of “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 13, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

The star is the 2,767th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.

“I just want to thank everyone for coming out today,” Efron said during the event.

“You have no idea how much this means to me. I do this all for you. Every day. This really is the biggest honor. This day means so much to me and to share it with all of you is just a dream come true.”

Efron also paid tribute to the late Matthew Perry, with whom he appeared in the film “17 Again.”

He said working with Perry “was so much fun and it really did propel me and motivate me in so many ways.”

“Thinking about you a lot today,” Efron said.

Born Oct. 18, 1987, in San Luis Obispo and raised in Arroyo Grande, Efron took his first step toward acting when he was 11 years old and his parents noticed his singing ability.

Singing and acting lessons soon led to an appearance in a production of “Gypsy” that ran 90 performances. Other early stage credits included “Peter Pan,” “Auntie Mame,” “Little Shop of Horrors” and “The Music Man.”

Efron’s first television credit was for a 2002 episode of the Fox space Western “Firefly.” Efron had a recurring role in the first season of 2004-05 CW drama “Summerland” and became a cast member its second season.

Efron rose to fame in 2006 with his portrayal of basketball player Troy Bolton in the Disney Channel movie “High School Musical.”

He reprised the role in “High School Musical 2,” which aired on Disney Channel in 2007 and

“High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” which was released theatrically in 2008.

His other film credits include “Hairspray,” “17 Again,” “New Year’s Eve,” “The Lucky One,” “The Paperboy,” “Neighbors,” “Dirty Grandpa,” “Baywatch,” “The Greatest Showman,” “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” and “Firestarter.”

Efron starred in two films set for release in 2024 — the romantic comedy “A Family Affair” and the Peter Farrelly-directed fantasy comedy “Ricky Stanicky,” about three friends who create an imaginary character to blame for their misbehavior over the past two decades, then are forced to bring him to life after their partners become suspicious and demand to meet him.

Farrelly also directed Efron in the 2022 Apple TV+ biographical war comedy drama “The Greatest Beer Run Ever,” based on the true story of a man who leaves New York in 1967 to bring beer to his childhood buddies who are in the Army fighting in the Vietnam War.

Efron received a Daytime Emmy Award in 2021 as outstanding daytime program host for the Netflix travel series, “Down to Earth with Zac Efron.” (CNS)