Home grown Lemon Grovian TV-radio personality “Shotgun” Tom Kelly recently got his claim to fame—a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kelly spent more than 30 years broadcasting in San Diego before moving to Los Angeles in 1997.
“Mine was the 2,496 star,” said Kelly a former San Diego TV weather forecaster and radio host about his name that was indelibly etched in concrete April 30 near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.
Home grown Lemon Grovian TV-radio personality “Shotgun” Tom Kelly recently got his claim to fame—a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kelly spent more than 30 years broadcasting in San Diego before moving to Los Angeles in 1997.
“Mine was the 2,496 star,” said Kelly a former San Diego TV weather forecaster and radio host about his name that was indelibly etched in concrete April 30 near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.
Singer Stevie Wonder, a longtime friend, and KRTH program director Jhani Kaye joined Kelly at the his star dedication ceremony.
“I›m honored and humbled,” said Kelly, who recently celebrated his 40th anniversary in radio, of receiving his star on the Walk of Fame.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of terrazzo and brass stars embedded in sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street. Stars are permanent public monuments to achievement in entertainment including names of actors, musicians, directors, broadcasters, producers, musical and theatrical groups, fictional characters and others.
The Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. It is a popular tourist destination with millions of visitors annually.
“My mom was the one who started me on this road,” said Kelly of his broadcasting career that began at age 10 when his mother told him a disc jockey was broadcasting from a shopping center and he went there and was put on the air. Inspired by the experience, Kelly went home to build a mock radio station in his bedroom with two record players and a microphone.
Asked about his future, Kelly said he just signed a new three-year contract with CBS radio.
And after that?
“I’ll still keep my hand in the voice-over world for commercials on TV and radio,” he said. “They call us voice-over actors. You don’t see our faces, but you hear our voices. I also do the Jumbotron at San Diego Stadium for the Chargers.”
Kelly who lives in Fletcher Hills in El Cajon and commutes to work in L.A weekdays noted, “I’m really based out of San Diego.”
For more information visit www.shotguntomkelly.com.
