Brian Damage
04-01-2009, 11:51 AM
Comedian Bill Cosby has been selected by the Kennedy Center to receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The award and accompanying festivities will be staged Oct. 26 at the center’s Concert Hall, an event slated for later broadcast on PBS.
The award in its 12th year will honor an individual whose “groundbreaking brand of humor” and other accomplishments have made him one of America’s most beloved comedians, said Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman.
Cosby noted in response that his first exposure to humorist Twain came at a tender age, when Annie Pearl Cosby read to him and his brother about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. “I would like to apologize to Mr. Twain for falling asleep hundreds of times, but he should understand that I was only four,” he said.
Cosby is an obvious choice for the Twain prize, which recognizes individuals who have impacted American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist. In addition to his extensive career as an entertainer, Cosby has authored numerous books including “Fatherhood” and “Time Flies.” His contributions of time and money to educational causes are also well known.
Cosby received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1998 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in July 2002.
Previous recipients of the Twain prize include Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin, Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, Neil Simon, Billy Crystal and George Carlin.
http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1118001969.html?nav=news&categoryid=1983&cs=1
The award in its 12th year will honor an individual whose “groundbreaking brand of humor” and other accomplishments have made him one of America’s most beloved comedians, said Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman.
Cosby noted in response that his first exposure to humorist Twain came at a tender age, when Annie Pearl Cosby read to him and his brother about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. “I would like to apologize to Mr. Twain for falling asleep hundreds of times, but he should understand that I was only four,” he said.
Cosby is an obvious choice for the Twain prize, which recognizes individuals who have impacted American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist. In addition to his extensive career as an entertainer, Cosby has authored numerous books including “Fatherhood” and “Time Flies.” His contributions of time and money to educational causes are also well known.
Cosby received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1998 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in July 2002.
Previous recipients of the Twain prize include Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin, Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, Neil Simon, Billy Crystal and George Carlin.
http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1118001969.html?nav=news&categoryid=1983&cs=1