Neil Simon to Receive Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

Playwright Neil Simon will receive the Kennedy Center’s ninth annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at a ceremony to be held on Sunday, October 15 at 8pm in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The ceremony will be taped and telecast on nationwide PBS stations this fall as The Kennedy Center Presents: The 2006 Mark Twain Prize.

Simon was born in the Bronx on July 4, 1927. He has written more than 40 plays that have been produced on Broadway since 1961, including Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Chapter Two, Lost in Yonkers, and the acclaimed “Eugene trilogy” that consists of Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and Broadway Bound. Additionally, he crafted the libretti for such musicals as Sweet Charity, Promises, Promises, and They’re Playing Our Song. Simon also has numerous credits as a screenwriter. During his career, he has won three Tony Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a Drama Desk Award, an American Comedy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors

Said Kennedy Center chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman: “Neil Simon, like Mark Twain, has a unique way of exposing the American spirit by drawing on experiences in his own life and creating insightful and touching portraits of the world around him.” Simon joked that winning the Mark Twain Prize “makes up for my losing the Samuel Clemens Prize.”

Named in honor of one of America’s (and the world’s) greatest humorists, the Mark Twain Prize recognizes people who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, who wrote under the pen name Mark Twain. In previous years, the prize has gone to Richard Pryor (1998), Jonathan Winters (1999), Carl Reiner (2000), Whoopi Goldberg (2001), Bob Newhart (2002), Lily Tomlin (2003), Lorne Michaels (2004), and Steve Martin (2005).

Tickets to the October 25 ceremony will go on sale to Kennedy Center members on August 1 and to the general public on August 11; they can be purchased in person at the Kennedy Center box office or charged by phone at 202-467-4600 (local number) or 800-444-1324 (toll free for those calling from outside the Washington area). Proceeds of the evening will benefit the center’s education programs.