Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
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| Mark Twain Prize | |
| Awarded for | American humor |
| Presented by | The Kennedy Center |
| Country |  United States |
| First awarded | 1998 |
| Official website | |
|---|---|
The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is awarded by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts annually since 1998. It is named after the 19th century novelist, essayist and humorist Mark Twain. The Mark Twain Prize is America’s foremost award for humor, presented annually by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to an individual who has made a significant contribution to American humor. The Prize is presented at a live taping at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington DC, during which the honoree is celebrated by his peers.
The first annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor was held on October, 20, 1998 and was presented to legendary comedian, Richard Pryor. The first two years of The Mark Twain Prize (Richard Pryor and Jonathan Winters) were taped and broadcast on Comedy Central. Since then, the award presentations have been taped for broadcast on PBS.
In 2007, the Mark Twain Prize celebrated its 10th anniversary and presented The Prize to Billy Crystal. For the first time in 10 years, the show was held in the Opera House of The Kennedy Center on October 11, 2007 and was broadcast on November 12, 2007 on PBS. The evening's presenters included Bob Costas, Robert De Niro, Danny DeVito, Jimmy Fallon, Whoopi Goldberg, John Goodman, David Letterman, Jon Lovitz, Rob Reiner, Paul Shaffer, Martin Short, Joe Torre, Barbara Walters and Robin Williams.
It was not known at first what kind of ceremony will occur for 2008 honoree George Carlin, who died on June 22, 2008, just four days after the Kennedy Center announced he would be that year's recipient of the honor [1]. It has now been decided, after consulting with both Carlin's family and PBS, that the ceremony will take place as scheduled, with no major changes in the presentation format[2].
In the 10 year history of the Mark Twain Prize, numerous artists have participated in celebrating its past honorees including: Celia Cruz, Morgan Freeman, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Steve Martin, Mary Tyler Moore, Rob Reiner, Jerry Seinfeld, Dick Van Dyke, Cedric The Entertainer, David Hyde Pierce, Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, Dave Chappelle, George Lopez, Dan Aykroyd, Candice Bergen, Tina Fey, Darrell Hammond, Tracy Morgan, Conan O'Brien, Paul Simon, David Spade, Christopher Walken, Claire Danes, Larry David, Tom Hanks, Eric Idle, Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Lorne Michaels, Randy Newman, Mike Nichols, Carl Reiner, Martin Short, Lily Tomlin, Jason Alexander, Christina Applegate, Matthew Broderick, Richard Dreyfuss, Nathan Lane and Robert Redford.
[edit] Recipients of The Mark Twain Prize
- 1998 - Richard Pryor
- 1999 - Jonathan Winters
- 2000 - Carl Reiner
- 2001 - Whoopi Goldberg
- 2002 - Bob Newhart
- 2003 - Lily Tomlin
- 2004 - Lorne Michaels
- 2005 - Steve Martin
- 2006 - Neil Simon
- 2007 - Billy Crystal
- 2008 - George Carlin (to be presented posthumously)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Mark Twain Prize from the Kennedy Center website
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