CAROL BURNETT Honored with Mark Twain Prize for Humor

TV Guide reports Carol Burnett was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. It is the country's top humor Honor.

"This is very encouraging." Burnett said in her acceptance speech, according to the Associated Press. "It was a long time in coming, but I understand because there are so many people funnier than I am, especially here in Washington. With any luck, they'll soon get voted out, and I'll still have the Mark Twain prize."

The Carol Burnett show ran from 1967 to 1978. Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett, Martin Short, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler performed at the ceremony on Sunday in Burnett's honor, according to the Associated Press. "You mean so much to me," Fey, a past recipient of the prize, told her. "I love you in a way that is just shy of creepy."

Other previous honorees include Bill Cosby, Ellen Degeneres and Steve Martin.

The event will be broadcast on PBS on Nov. 24.

During and after her variety show, Burnett appeared in many television and film projects. Her film roles include Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), The Four Seasons(1981), Annie (1982), Noises Off (1992), and Horton Hears a Who! (2008). On television, she has appeared in other sketch shows; in dramatic roles in6 Rms Riv Vu (1974) and Friendly Fire (1979); in various well-regarded guest roles, such as in Mad About You, for which she won an Emmy Award; and in specials with Julie Andrews, Dolly Parton, Beverly Sills, and others. She was also back on Broadway in 1995 in Moon Over Buffalo, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. She is best known for her long-running TV variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, for CBS. She has achieved success on stage, television, and film in varying genres including dramatic and comedy roles.

To post a comment, you must register and login.