Jeff Dunham gets Hollywood Walk of Fame star

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- On the Hollywood Walk of Fame there are hundreds of actors and actresses from film and television, there are plenty of directors and quite a lot of singers. But up until today, just one ventriloquist.

Well, now Edgar Bergen has company. Jeff Dunham claimed star number 2,619.

It's right there on Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Eastown apartment complex.

"I wanted to say a few words and I thought should I move my lips. I'm gonna be moving my lips. But you are you're a great man and not only have you persevered in this industry but you've persevered in comedy and you wouldn't understand this outside of comedy. But as a guy who used props we had to fight our way to get recognized and respected in our own community," said Howie Mandel, who was in attendance at the ceremony.

"Howie and I also winners or awardees of the Walk of Fame. Now they just give it to anybody but back then it really meant something didn't it Howie, it was really unbelievable. Now it's one of these things, well OK, I believe you are the 2,000th. I think Howie and I were what number one and three," added Jay Leno.

Dunham holds the Guinness World Record for most tickets sold for a stand-up comedy tour, nearly 2 million for his "Spark of Insanity" tour which played in 386 venues in three years.

Dunham's sidekicks include the elderly curmudgeon Walter.

The ceremony comes just a few days after his latest special, "Jeff Dunham: Relative Disaster," began streaming on Netflix.