Funny lady and Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus will be awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Louis-Dreyfus joins a long line of distinguished comedians that were selected as the recipient of the honor including Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, Neil Simon, George Carlin, Jay Leno, Billy Crystal, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Pryor, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Ellen DeGeneres, Carol Burnett, Bill Murray, and David Letterman.
“Like Mark Twain, Julia has enriched American culture with her iconic, unforgettable, and outright hilarious brand of humor,” Kennedy Center president Deborah F. Rutter said. “Over four decades, her wildly original characters and her gift for physical comedy have left us in stitches.”
Quite appropriately, Louis-Dreyfus accepted the honor with a side of humor.
“Merely to join the list of distinguished recipients of this award would be honor enough, but, as a student of both American history and literature, the fact that Mr. Twain himself will be presenting the award to me in person is particularly gratifying.”
The 11-time Emmy winner will receive the award at the Kennedy Center on October 21.
Veep, currently on hiatus, is scheduled to return in 2019.
