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Sumner Redstone, the 88-year-old chairman of CBS Corporation and Viacom, received the 2,467th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday (March 30). He received the honor in connection with the 100th anniversary of the founding of Paramount Pictures, which is now owned by Viacom.
Born May 27, 1923, in Boston, the Harvard-educated Redstone was initially a lawyer, including serving as a special assistant to the attorney general. In 1954, Redstone joined the movie theater company founded by his father Michael, National Amusements, Inc., becoming its chief executive officer and president in 1967 and chairman of the board in 1986, a position he continues to hold.
Redstone won voting control of Viacom, the owner of the MTV and Nickelodeon cable channels, and a leading television syndicator, in 1987 following a hostile takeover.
"I must tell you that the trip, the journey from my living at that time, to this miraculous event was tortuous, it was long," said Redstone. "Sometimes it was hard for me, sometimes it was difficult. But it was always exciting, it was always a happy thing for me."
Viacom acquired Paramount Communications in 1993 and merged with CBS in 2000. CBS and Viacom were separated into two publicly traded companies in 2006, with Redstone remaining chairman of both. Among the other properties under the twinned banners are MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and Dreamworks.
Other media moguls who have stars on the Walk of Fame include Ted Turner, the late Walt Disney and the late Lew Wasserman.
