People: Leno honored with Twain humor prize
The joke was on Jay Leno as comedians saluted the former “Tonight Show” host Sunday when he received the nation’s top humor prize.
Jimmy Fallon, Jerry Seinfeld and Wanda Sykes celebrated Leno’s famous work ethic and poked fun as he received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Garth Brooks, Kevin Eubanks and Chelsea Handler paid tribute.
The show will be broadcast nationally Nov. 23 on PBS.
Fallon, who replaced Leno this year on “The Tonight Show” after Leno stepped down for the second time, said it was a good time to honor Leno, “a man who has done so much for NBC, so much that we had to celebrate his career on PBS.”
On the red carpet before the show, Leno, 64, said “The Tonight Show” years were the best of his life. He said Fallon is bringing “a new dynamic” to the show, and “it’s fun to see it change.”
“The truth is, my time was done,” Leno said later in accepting the prize. “When I left ‘The Tonight Show,’ I didn’t leave dead broke like Bill and Hillary. I was able to save.”
The award honors people who have had an impact on American society in the tradition of Samuel Clemens, the writer, satirist and social commentator better known as Mark Twain. Past honorees include Carol Burnett, Ellen DeGeneres, Will Ferrell and Bill Cosby.
Handler and Sykes, two leading female comedians, thanked Leno for giving them wider exposure on late night TV. But some ribbing also was in store.
Handler said Leno visited the Smithsonian over the weekend and tried to donate a zip drive of all his jokes, but the museum wouldn’t take them.
Seinfeld said he’s been friends with Leno for 38 years and that the longtime NBC funnyman was his idol.
“There’s no one more deserving to get this wonderful award obviously than Jay,” Seinfeld said. “No one – except and I really don’t want to sound bitter here – except maybe me? I mean come on.”
The birthday bunch
Singer Tom Petty is 64. Actress Melanie Mayron is 62. Movie director Danny Boyle is 58. Actor Viggo Mortensen is 56. Rock musician Jim Sonefeld (Hootie & The Blowfish) is 50. Rapper Snoop Lion (formerly Snoop Dogg) is 43. Actor John Krasinski is 35.