LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Saying “thank you from the bottom of my heart,” legendary director Francis Ford Coppola received a long-overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday, 50 years after he made movie history and redefined the industry with the first of his three “Godfather” films.

“I think … it’s best that my comments be brief and sincere,” said the 82-year-old Coppola, wearing a black suit, yellow shirt and patterned tie on a sun-splashed Hollywood Boulevard, where he was joined by numerous “Godfather” collaborators, along with family members including sister Talia Shire and his wife of almost 60 years, Eleanor.

“Certainly, who would not be pleased to have your name amid these wonderful people, many of whom are gone,” Coppola added, gesturing toward his Walk of Fame neighbors, one of whom is Douglas Fairbanks Sr.

“Many people are here who collaborated on the film, but I have to thank Paramount Studios, because without them there’d be no star on this street,” Coppola said. “It was thanks to Paramount Pictures, to Brian Robbins, head of production … the whole Paramount group, they are why I am having this star on the sidewalk, and so I’m very grateful..”

Coppola — who also directed “Apocalypse Now” and numerous other film classics — became the 2,715th person to be honored with a star on the Walk of Fame.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame, announced the honor for the six-time Oscar winner last year. It was unveiled Monday at 6667 Hollywood Blvd., in front of the Musso & Frank Grill.

Besides Shire — who played Connie Corleone in the “Godfather” films — Coppola was also joined by actress Elle Fanning, whom Coppola directed in the 2011 horror film “Twixt.”

Ellen K, the nationally syndicated radio host of “The Ellen K Morning Show,” served as emcee for the ceremony.

Fanning recalled that when she shot “Twixt” at Coppola’s vineyard in the Napa Valley, she would have dinner every night with the Coppola family — an experience, she said, that gave her insight into his creative process and his humanity.

“It was there that I quite literally learned how the sauce was made,” Fanning said. “The ingredients seemed to include a pinch of a very loud voice, a dash of unwavering passion and a big cup of the not-so-secret secret ingredient, family.”

“You taught me that love is the reason that somebody becomes great at something, and your love for movies is the reason you’re a great filmmaker, and your love for family is the reason you’re a great dad,” Fanning said.

“You inspire all of us … to make our own films. We all have to be realistic, though, they probably, definitely, won’t be as good as yours — nothing will come close. But we can at least try. There’s no one in the world more deserving than you.”

Shire recalled that, growing up, with Coppola battling childhood polio, “My brother was my great protector and my playmate in make-believe, and the wonders of pretending and storytelling, and he took that great talent of his right to college. … His dream was to make movies, and he came here, and that is what he does and continues to do.”

She also recalled re-watching “The Godfather” recently and being struck by its “depth of ideas, and bits and pieces of visions that I think still thrill us.”

There is, she said, “a richness of humanity in this movie, and I know that comes from my brother.”

Shire quoted Sir Isaac Newton, saying, “If I see further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

“Francis is a giant and he sees what is ahead,” Shire said. “He’s a visionary, and he has the courage to take what he sees ahead and turn it into a movie.”

Remarkably, Coppola was nominated for the Walk of Fame honor for the first time last year — and was, unsurprisingly, a unanimous choice by the Walk of Fame’s six-member committee, said Ana Martinez, the Walk of Fame’s producer.

Paramount, which produced “The Godfather” films, submitted the nomination, and Coppola was “a shoo-in,” Martinez said.

LA City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, who was also on hand at Monday’s ceremony, presented Coppola with a resolution marking his star.

“There is cinema before Francis Ford Coppola, and cinema after Francis Ford Coppola, and what do you say about a giant of film?” O’Farrell said.

He called Coppola “someone who changed the entire industry with a series of world-renowned films” and added, “today we honor this great man who ushered in a new era of filmmaking and created stories that reverberate to this day.

“For decades, Mr. Coppola has captivated us with his storytelling and directorial skills,” O’Farrell said. “His works have defined film and are cultural touchstones that have been enjoyed by audiences … all over the world. In short, sir, your work has and will continue to have a lasting impact that will span generations. And that is why you belong here on the historic Walk of Fame.”

Coppola graduated with a degree in drama from Hofstra University in New York, and did graduate work at the UCLA Film School.

Besides “The Godfather” movies and “Apocalypse Now,” Coppola has been a director, writer or producer of such classics as “Patton,” “American Graffiti,” “The Conversation,” “The Outsiders” and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”

He is currently in pre-production on “Megalopolis,” a Roman epic set in modern times that begins production in the fall.