Julia Louis-Dreyfus Receives the Mark Twain Prize for Humor

An outstanding lineup of entertainers gathered in the KENNEDY Center Concert Hall to salute Julia Louis-Dreyfus, recipient of the 21st annual MARK TWAIN PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HUMOR on October 21, 2018. The Prize, which is named to honor one of the world's greatest humorists, was presented at a gala performance featuring some of the biggest names in comedy. The event was taped by WETA Washington, D.C. and will air nationally on PBS on November 19, 2018 at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Under the direction of the creative team from Done + Dusted, the KENNEDY Center's new producing partner for the Twain Prize, the cast features many of Louis-Dreyfus's admirers, friends, and collaborators, including Stephen Colbert, Bryan Cranston, Tina Fey, Ilana Glazer, Tony Hale, Abbi Jacobson, Jack Johnson, Keegan-Michael Key, Lisa Kudrow, Kumail Nanjiani, and Jerry Seinfeld.

In addition to honoring this country's greatest comedians, the Mark Twain Prize also serves as a major fundraising event-all contributions help support the Center's year-round educational and artistic initiatives that reach millions of students, educators, and families throughout the nation. The event is chaired by Amra and Damir Fazlic.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus earned worldwide acclaim for her portrayal of Elaine Benes in the hit NBC series "Seinfeld," and as Christine Campbell in the CBS hit comedy "The New Adventures of Old Christine." She currently stars in, and executive produces, the HBO series "Veep," which will soon begin its seventh season.

Between all shows combined, she has received eleven Emmy awards (six consecutively for "Veep") with twenty-four nominations, a Golden Globe award, nine SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS which makes her the most decorated actor in the history of the SAG awards, three Television Critics Association awards, five American Comedy Awards, a Peabody Award, and the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy. She has broken the record for the most Emmy's won by a single performer, as well as the most consecutive wins for a single role ("Veep").

The Mark Twain Prize recognizes people who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist best known as Mark Twain. As a social commentator, satirist and creator of memorable characters, Samuel Clemens was a fearless observer of society, who startled and outraged many while delighting and informing many more with his UNCOMPROMISING perspective of social injustice and personal folly. He revealed the great truth of humor when he said "against THE ASSAULT of laughter nothing can stand."

The inaugural Mark Twain Prize was presented to Richard Pryor during the first annual KENNEDY Center Celebration of American Humor, October 20, 1998. The event was created by the John F. KENNEDY Center for the Performing Arts, Bob Kaminsky, Peter Kaminsky, Mark Krantz, and John Schreiber and is televised annually. The KENNEDY Center is grateful to Cappy McGarr for his steadfast support of the MARK TWAIN PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HUMOR since its inception. Previous recipients of the Mark Twain include Richard Pryor (1998), Jonathan Winters (1999), Carl Reiner (2000), Whoopi Goldberg (2001), Bob Newhart (2002), Lily Tomlin (2003), Lorne Michaels (2004), Steve Martin (2005), Neil Simon (2006), Billy Crystal (2007), George Carlin (2008), Bill Cosby (2009, rescinded in 2018) Tina Fey (2010), Will Ferrell (2011), Ellen DeGeneres (2012), Carol Burnett (2013) Jay Leno (2014), Eddie Murphy (2015), Bill Murray (2016), and David Letterman (2017).

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