Major US award

Prestigious annual award handed out by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

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
2009: Bill Cosby (rescinded in 2018)
2010: Tina Fey
2011: Will Ferrell
2012: Ellen DeGeneres
2013: Carol Burnett
2014: Jay Leno
2015: Eddie Murphy
2016: Bill Murray
2017: David Letterman
2018: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
2019: Dave Chappelle
2022: Jon Stewart
2023: Adam Sandler
2024: Kevin Hart
2025: Conan O'Brien

The award is  a copy of an 1884 bronze bust of Mark Twain sculpted by Karl Gerhardt.

Published: 16 Jan 2025