Northwest Louisiana Walk of Stars

Introduction

The Walk of Stars award was created to recognize individuals from northwest Louisiana who are distinguished in their professional and/or civic endeavors or who have brought recognition and attention to the area, and who have been involved in those activities for at least five years. The honorees may come from any profession or industry including, but not limited to, athletics, music, acting, business, politics, education and community service.

Find the Northwest Louisiana Walk of Stars under the Texas
Street Bridge, east of Commerce Street in the Red River District, downtown Shreveport.

Save the Date and Participate in the Upcoming Walk of Stars Induction Ceremony

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 - 3:00pm - Red River Revel Depot Stage - Shreveport Festival Plaza
Recognition and Posthumous inductions of Five Outstanding Honorees:

Geoffrey Beene
2022 Posthumous Inductee

Acclaimed New York fashion designer Geoffrey Beene was born in Haynesville in 1924 to a family of doctors. He pursued a medical career, himself, at Tulane University but dropped out after three years and moved to Los Angeles where he began studying fashion design. He then moved to New York and Paris to further his studies before returning to New York in 1949. There, he worked for a couple of Seventh Avenue design houses before founding his own in 1963.

Beene was widely recognized for his artistic and technical skills and for creating simple, comfortable, and dressy women’s wear. But he also lent his name to eyewear, jewelry, luggage, and his well-known men’s cologne, Grey Flannel.

Over the course of his lengthy design career, Beene received countless awards including 8 Coty Awards – the most ever awarded to any one designer. In honor of his fashion legacy, the Council of Fashion Designers of America created the annual Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984.

Geoffrey Beene passed away in 2004.

Van Cliburn
2022 Posthumous Inductee

Born in Shreveport in 1934, Van Cliburn began studying the piano when he was just 3 years old – under the tutelage of his pianist mother. He made his orchestral debut at age 12 and, two years later, he appeared at Carnegie Hall. In 1951, he enrolled in the Juilliard School. It was there that his teacher encouraged him to enter the first-ever Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1958, at the height of the Cold War, and he emerged victorious. Returning to the United States, he was honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York City. It was the only time that honor has ever been bestowed on a musician.

Van Cliburn’s career spanned more than five decades. During that time, he played for every U.S. President from Harry Truman to Barack Obama and received countless accolades. He received the first Grammy for classical music, had the first classical album to go triple-platinum, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Arts, and Russia’s Order of Friendship.

In 1962, a group of volunteers organized the first Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth. It is now recognized as one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world.

Van Cliburn passed away in 2013 at the age of 78.

William B. & Samuel G. Wiener
2022 Posthumous Inductees

Shreveport-born half-brothers Samuel G. and William B. Wiener set the architectural world on its ear in the 1930s, following a trip to Europe. There, they learned about a style of architecture known as “modernism” – a style they brought back to the United States and began implementing around Shreveport. For a time, this made Shreveport the showcase of Modernist architecture for the entire country.

More than a dozen examples of the Wiener Brothers’ design work still stand today around the Shreveport/Bossier area. Among them are houses in the South Highland neighborhood and Woodlawn High School.

Although they were widely known in the architectural community for their ground-breaking achievements, their work was little-known by the general public until the Louisiana Architecture Foundation commissioned a documentary film about them. Shreveport-based Rational Middle Media Group and its owner, Gregory Kallenberg, wrote, directed, and produced the film – Unexpected Modernism: The Wiener Brothers’ Story -- which made its debut in 2019. That documentary was based on a book by Karen Kinglsey and Guy Carwile called The Modernist Architecture of Samuel G. and William B. Wiener.

Samuel Wiener passed away in 1977. William Wiener died 4 years later in 1981.

Nat Stuckey
2022 Posthumous Inductee

Although he grew up in Atlanta, TX,
it was the time he spent in Shreveport
that really catapulted Nat Stuckey to stardom. After working for a small Atlanta radio station, he landed a job
as a staff announcer at Shreveport’s KWKH. When it was learned that he could also sing and play guitar, he became a regular on the Louisiana Hayride.

Nat recorded a dozen songs for Shreveport-based Paula Records before signing with RCA and, later, with MCA. He was also a song-writer who wrote hit songs for a number of other artists. Among those was “Waitin’ in your Welfare Line,” which became a number-one hit for Buck Owens and “Pop a Top,” which was a huge hit for Jim Ed Brown.

Nat also voiced and sang many national commercials for companies like Coca Cola, McDonald’s, and Budweiser. He had his own talent-booking agency in Nashville, a land development company, and a woodworking business. He even dabbled in veterinary work.

Nat Stuckey’s life was cut short by cancer in 1988, at the young age of 54.

Walk of Stars Honorees

Learn more about the
Northwest Louisiana
Walk of Stars Honorees

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Photo Gallery

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fun times on the Walk,
and we will post to our site.

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