Conan O’Brien wins 26th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor: NPR

Mark Twain might be pleased to learn that Conan O’Brien, another redhead, won the prestigious honor that bears his name.

“Well, man, red is the natural color of beauty!” he wrote In “Oh, she has a redhead!”

As the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, O’Brien joins a who’s who of American comedy that includes Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg and Kevin Hart.

The Mark Twain Prize honors people who have impacted American society in a way similar to the prize’s namesake, the satirist and social commentator born Samuel Clemens. “Conan is a master of invention and reinvention,” says Deborah Rutter, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, “constantly pushing the boundaries in search of new comedic heights.”

A five-time Emmy Award winner, O’Brien served as president of The Harvard pamphlet as an undergraduate student. He has written and produced numerous television shows, including Saturday evening live And The Simpsons. He is ready to host the 97th Academy Awards.

In 2021, O’Brien ended his 11-year career with CONAN on TBS.

The veteran talk show host was at the center of a messy episode when, in 2010, NBC released him from his brief stint as host of Tonight’s show. O’Brien received a hefty compensation package but was not allowed to appear on television for several months. In characteristic O’Brien fashion, he spear a national comedy tour called “Legally Against Being Funny on Television.”

O’Brien grew up one of six children in a large Irish family in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father was a doctor. His mother was a lawyer. Both his parents deceased last December.

“I am honored to be the first recipient of the Mark Twain Prize recognized not for his humor, but for my work as a riverboat pilot,” O’Brien said in a Kennedy Center statement.

O’Brien will receive the Mark Twain Prize at a gala at the Kennedy Center in March. The show will be released later on Netflix.