Carol Burnett Wins Mark Twain Prize
When Carol Burnett launched her namesake variety show in the 1960s, one TV executive told her the genre was “a man’s game.†She proved him wrong with an 11-year run that averaged 30 million viewers each week. On Sunday, the trailblazing comedienne received the nation’s top humor prize at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Top entertainers including Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett, and Tina Fey performed in Burnett’s honor as she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. “This is very encouraging,†Burnett deadpanned in accepting the prize. “I mean 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 show will be broadcast Nov. 24 on PBS stations.
