‘Saturday Night Live’ and ’30 Rock’ star Tina Fey is to be awarded with the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humour – one of the United States’ highest honours in the comic world, the Kennedy Centre said Tuesday.
The honour is primarily in recognition of her work as a comedian and writer.
Fey, who shot to fame in 2008 when she impersonated former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, will receive the award on 13 November on a night of humour that features other comedy stars.
The 40-year-old actress is only the third woman to become the recipient of the award in 13 years, after Whoopi Goldberg and Lily Tomlin.
Fey has already won six Emmy awards and two Golden Globes for her television comedy series ’30 Rock’, which she produces, writes and also stars in.
Before that, she had spent a total of nine seasons on the television satirical sketch programme ‘Saturday Night Live’. She later branched into films with ‘Date Night’, ‘Baby Mama’, and ‘Mean Girls’.
Founded in 1998, the Mark Twain Prize is an annual award that recognises individuals who have had an influence on society worthy of comparison to Mark Twain, the 19th century satirist and writer of renowned novels ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’.
Among previous recipients of the award include playwright Neil Simon, stand-up comic George Carlin, and actors Steve Martin and Bill Cosby, according to the Kennedy Centre.
