The Austin Film Society honored some of Hollywood’s biggest stars with Texas ties on Friday night.  Director Richard Linklater, actress Ann-Margret and actor Bill Paxton were inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

Raised in Fort Worth, Paxton is best known for his roles in “Twister” and “Aliens”.

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Ann Margaret is interviewed before Friday night's Texas Film Hall of Fame awards ceremony. Margaret was one of three honored, along with actor Bill Paxton and director Richard Linklater.

“This is where my dreams of going to Hollywood started as a boy and to come back... it's special,” said Paxton of the honor.

Linklater is known for his films “Slacker” and “Dazed & Confused”.

Linklater says the local film industry is hitting its stride.

“The way it's become so much bigger, so much going on, so many films being made and so much talent in town.  It's just overwhelming ... I can't even keep up with it,” he said.

Ann-Margret was honored for her role in the classic film, “State Fair”, filmed in Dallas in 1962.

She has fond memories of the Lone Star State, especially of the tour of Texas she made to promote “State Fair.”

“I still have a pair of white cowboys and they still fit that I got either in Lubbock or Waco,” she remembered.  “I love Texas.”

Special guests of Friday night’s ceremony and benefit for the Austin Film Society also included Carla Gugino, a star of the Texas-based film, “Sin City”.

Austin is such a fun place,” she said.  “It still has a sense of being far enough away from everything.  You don't have a bunch of people breathing down your back.  You really get to be able to be true to the movie you want to make.”

Others in attendance included actress and comedienne Lily Tomlin and director Robert Rodriguez.

Part of Friday’s program included a special tribute to the former late governor Ann Richards, herself a big film fan and friend to a number of Hollywood stars.