Will Ferrell to be Awarded Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

Will Ferrell is in Washington tonight: the funnyman is at The Kennedy Center in D.C. accepting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

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The former SNL castmate and "Funny or Die" co-creator will not be the only comedian in the house: Ed Asner (Mary Tyler Moore Show, Lou Grant, Up), Jack Black, Matthew Broderick, Adam McKay (co-founder of "Funny or Die" with Ferrell and Chris Henchy), Conan O’Brien, John C. Reilly, Paul Rudd, and former SNL costar Molly Shannon will all be speaking at the event. 

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The pop-punk band Green Day is also scheduled to perform. 

The evening will pay tribute to the actor, writer, and producer, 44, who rose to the top of the comedy totem pole when he first joined Saturday Night Live in 1995. During his 7-year regular stint on NBC, Ferrell created such memorable roles as President George W. Bush, Alex Trebek, Harray Caray, Inside the Actors Studio host James Lipton, Janet Reno, Spartan cheerleader Craig Buchanan, and the night club-going Steve Butabi, who went to the big screen in 1998’s A Night at the Roxbury. He also appeared in several films during this period, including Austin Powers, Superstar, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Zoolander. 

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After departing SNL in 2002, Ferrell proved he could stand alone on the silver screen with Old School in 2003, followed by Elf the same year. He continued to be a box office success with Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy, Starsky & Hutch, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and voiced the title character in DreamWorks Animation’s Megamind. 

This is the 14th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Previous winners 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), and Tina Fey (2010).

The show will be taped for a 90-minute special airing Halloween night next Monday, October 31, at 9 p.m. EST on PBS.