WASHINGTON — Bill Cosby will be awarded the top humour prize in the U.S. from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for his groundbreaking career.
The centre announced Wednesday that Cosby, 71, will be honoured in the fall with the 12th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Some of the biggest names in comedy will salute Cosby on stage in Washington on Oct. 26.
Cosby said in a statement accepting the award that his mother read Twain’s famous stories to him as a child, including “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
“I would like to apologize to Mr. Twain for falling asleep hundreds of times, but he should understand that I was only four,” Cosby said.
Still, he said several of Twain’s stories inspired his work, including “How to Tell a Story” and “The Mysterious Stranger.”
The award honours people who have had an impact on society in ways similar to Twain, a satirist, commentator and storyteller.
“Over the course of his extensive career as a standup comedian, writer, actor, and social activist, Bill Cosby has earned countless accolades for his groundbreaking brand of humour,” said Kennedy Center chairman Stephen Schwarzman.
Perhaps best known as the star and producer of the popular sitcom “The Cosby Show” during the 1980s, the Philadelphia native started his career as a standup comedian in nightclubs. He caught the eye of TV producers and landed a role in the “I Spy” series in the 1960s, which broke new ground by casting a black man and a white man as equals.
“The Cosby Show,” portraying an upper middle-class black family and everyday life, ran from 1984 to 1992 as a Thursday night hit for its NBC network. Cosby also produced a second hit sitcom, “A Different World,” from 1987 to 1993. He brought “Cosby” back as a sitcom for CBS from 1996 to 2000.
Cosby dropped out of high school to join the U.S. navy. He earned his diploma while in the service and later enrolled at Temple University with the goal of becoming a physical education teacher. Cosby went on to earn master’s and doctorate degrees in education and has been a leading voice on race.
He’s proven to be one of the most popular and enduring entertainers in the U.S. Nine of Cosby’s comedy albums have been certified gold, and six went platinum on recording industry charts. He has authored several books, including “Fatherhood” and “Time Flies,” that became best sellers.
“Of course we really like that he’s a real author of words on paper,” which rounds out his profile in the Twain tradition, said Peter Kaminsky, co-executive producer of the Twain prize.
“You don’t need to have been a boy who grew up in a small town in Mississippi to understand Mark Twain. That’s the particular genius of Bill and the African-American experience,” Kaminsky said. “He universalized the African-American experience. Anybody could understand the themes of family, loyalty and obligation — and the human comedy.”