Bill Cosby will be awarded the top US humor prize for his groundbreaking comedy career. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Wednesday that Cosby, 71, will be honored in the fall with the 12th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Some of the biggest names in American 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. “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 humor,” 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 the everyday life of an upper middle-class black family, 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 had the “Cosby” sitcom on CBS from 1996 to 2000. Last year the Kennedy Center honored the late George Carlin with the prize. Past honorees have also included Billy Crystal, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg.
