Michael Wallis, author of the best-selling “Route 66: The Mother Road” and the voice of the Sheriff of Radiator Springs in the Disney-Pixar “Cars” movies, recently was inducted into the Walk of Fame at the Circle Cinema in Tulsa.
Wallis received a medallion embedded on the sidewalk in front of the historic theater, which opened in 1928 on Lewis Avenue on an early alignment of Route 66.
The original “Cars” movie in 2006 set off a new revival of interest in Route 66, much like Wallis’ popular book did during the early 1990s.
The Circle Cinema Walk of Fame honors “notable film legends” with ties to Oklahoma. Wallis was born in Missouri, but he has resided in Tulsa for decades. Past inductees include Alfre Woodard, Gene Autry, James Garner, Joan Crawford, Ron Howard, S.E. Hinton, Tony Randall and Will Rogers.
Wallis has written 18 books, many of them about the American West.
Wallis also served as the primary Route 66 consultant in the first “Cars” film. He’s also done plenty of speeches — especially at big Route 66 gatherings — and voiceover work using his big, baritone pipes.
Tulsa photographer Rhys Martin has more images from the Circle Cinema Walk of Fame here.
(Image from the Circle Cinema Walk of Fame ceremony courtesy of Michael Wallis)
Congratulations Michael!!
Nobody has done more for our highway. Well deserved.