LOS ANGELES, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Veteran television host Joseph A. Wapner's career achievement was marked Thursday with a new star embedded in the Hollywood Walk of fame, making him the 2,392nd star on the famous strip of pavement.

    A late-morning ceremony was held on Hollywood Boulevard. Wapner, who will celebrate his 90th birthday this Sunday, is a former American judge and TV personality of the real-life courtroom-style show "The People's Court" from 1981-1993 for 2,484 episodes. He was the first in the court-themed genre to preside over real-life cases, and has become America's best-known judge.

    He will return to "The People's Court'' Friday to preside over what was described as "a special case" in honor of his 90th birthday.

    On "The People's Court", Wapner mediated a binding arbitration which was set up to resemble a small claims court by pitting parties, without lawyers, against each other. The legacy of the show's high popularity has led to myriad other similar syndicated shows.

    A Los Angeles native, he served as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge when a fellow jurist recommended him to "The People's Court" producer Ralph Edwards to preside over the small claims cases heard on the syndicated series.

    Born Nov. 15, 1919, Wapner was appointed by Californian Govenor Edmund G. (Pat) Brown to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1961 and the Los Angeles County Superior Court two years later.

    After "The People's Court" ended its initial run in 1993, Wapner went on to host "Judge Wapner's Animal Court" on Animal Planet, presiding over real cases involving or about animals.

    A poll conducted in 1989 found that 54 percent of the 1,005 randomly selected adults could identify Wapner as the judge on "The People's Court," while 9 percent knew that William H. Rehnquist was then the chief justice of the United States.