Lin-Manuel Miranda, the composer and playwright best known for his wildly popular broadway musical “Hamilton,” received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Friday, just outside the theater where he performed after landing his first job in Los Angeles.
The 38-year-old New York City native adds the honor to an ever-growing list of awards and accolades, including three Tonys, three Grammys, an Emmy and a Pulitzer Prize.
His star sits at 6243 Hollywood Blvd., outside the Pantages Theater. Miranda recalled his early days performing there in “In the Heights” — a musical he wrote about his native Washington Heights — and singing the line, “Reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated.”
“Reports of my fame are still probably greatly exaggerated, but the fact that there is a star marking where I got to say these lines — I can not tell you what a dream come true that is for me,” he said.
Along with writing and performing in multiple award-winning musicals, Miranda has written a best-selling book, starred in TV shows and films including the forthcoming “Mary Poppins Returns” co-wrote songs for the soundtrack to Disney’s “Moana.”
He’s also known for his activism, primarily focusing on immigration, education and disaster relief in Puerto Rico, where his family is from.
Speaking at Friday’s ceremony, “West Side Story” actress Rita Moreno said Miranda’s honor was especially deserved “because you made the choice to focus the brilliance of your star power for the goodness of others.”
“Your energy is boundless, hombre,” she told him. “Your heart is bigger than the west side — well, OK, your heart is in the Heights.”
Miranda also received a tribute from Weird Al Yankovic, who received his own star three months ago.
“Out of all the awards and honors Lin-Manuel has won in the last few years, this is easily in the top thousand or so,” he joked. “This is somewhere between winning the MacArthur Genius Grant and being No. 33 across in the Des Moines Register Sunday crossword puzzle.”
The pair met a “number of years ago” and toyed around with writing musical together, though none has come to fruition — yet, Yankovic said.
The satirist described Miranda as “gifted beyond words,” “absolutely fearless” and “the best human I know,” and lauded “Hamilton” as not only the greatest Broadway musical ever but “greatest thing of all time.”
“It’s an impossibly perfect jewel of a show crafted by a genius whose every strand of DNA prepared him for that specific moment in time,” he said.
Miranda invoked a few lines from the hit while musing on the surreal experience of being inducted into the Walk of Fame.
” ‘What is a legacy? / It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see’ — Well, we get to see this star every day on the corner of Hollywood and Argyle,” he said.