Los Angeles News

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― Whether people know him as Blackie, Uncle Jesse, Dr. Tony Gates or as a singing Broadway star, audiences call actor John Stamos a star, and Monday he officially became one as the 2,393rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"I can't believe I'm standing here," Stamos said at the late-morning ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard.

Stamos recalled a time in the early 1980s when he walked along the Walk of Fame, working on his lines from "General Hospital."

"I thought I was trying to be a street guy and I looked down at these stars, unlike most people, and I said, `I'm never going to get one of these,"' Stamos said. "I never thought it a million years I would."

Stamos thanked his fans, "who have been so supportive over the years." "I'm still amazed every time someone comes up to me and they say they've grown up with me or they've followed me since they were a kid," Stamos said.

"I sort of hate to call them fans. They're more like friends and family," he said. "(You've) invited me into your homes for 27 years and allowed me to perform for you. I'm honored and I'm humbled for that." Stamos dedicated the star to his late father, Bill Stamos.

"He was the greatest. He taught me how to love by example," the actor said. "My mother and my sisters and I were his life. He taught me discipline. He used to say to me, `If you're five minutes early, you're 10 minutes late.'

"He taught me to treat the janitor with the same respect as the producer. He taught me to learn my lines, hit the marks. He'd say, `If they call you a pro, you've done you job."'

Stamos' star is next to the one honoring Dick Van Dyke, who played Albert Peterson in the original Broadway production of "Bye Bye Birdie," a role Stamos now plays on Broadway.

Among those at the ceremony were Stamos' "Full House" co-stars Candace Cameron Bure and Lori Loughlin; "General Hospital" castmate Anthony Geary, "ER" castmates Scott Grimes and Parminder Nagra; and singer Mike Love of The Beach Boys, with whom Stamos has occasionally played drums for more than 20 years.

Stamos also drew praise from Jack Klugman, his co-star on the NBC comedy "You Again?" which aired during portions of the 1985-86 and 1986-87
seasons; "Full House" castmate Bob Saget; and producer-director Garry
Marshall.

Speaking from a wheelchair, Klugman described Stamos as "pure sweetness. I love this guy."

"John has truly become my family," Saget said. "You've always been there for me in ways I can't describe."

Marshall, who had been a mentor to Stamos and recommended him for his role on "Full House," called the actor "a gentlemen for all fans and all
seasons."

Born Aug. 19, 1963, in the Orange County community of Cypress, Stamos began his career on the ABC daytime drama "General Hospital" in 1982. He
received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 1984, the year he left the series to star in the short-lived CBS prime-time comedy "Dreams."

After playing Uncle Jesse on the ABC comedy "Full House" during its entire 1987-95 run, Stamos later appeared on two short-lived ABC series "Thieves" and "Jake in Progress."
 
He portrayed Dr. Tony Gates on NBC's "ER" from 2005 until it ended its
run in April.

Stamos made his Broadway debut in 1995 in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," portrayed the master of ceremonies in "Cabaret" in 2002 and was in "Nine" in 2003.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)