Simon to Receive Twain Award for American Humor, 10/15

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Neil Simon--whose The Odd Couple and Barefoot in the Park were recently revived on Broadway--has been announced as this year's recipient of the Kennedy Center's ninth annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Simon will be presented with the award in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Sunday, October 15 at 8pm.  The ceremony, which will be taped by D.C.'s WETA, will be telecast on nationwide PBS stations in the fall.

"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," stated Kennedy Center chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman. Simon joins a list of previous award recipients that includes Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin, Lorne Michaels, and, most recently, Steve Martin.

Simon, who was born in the Bronx on July 4, 1927, is known for his distinctly New York humor as well as for his varied and prolifit output. Having started as a comedy writer on "Calvalcade of Stars" and "Your Show of Shows" in the late '40s and early '50s, Simon went on to write plays such as The Star-Spangled Girl, Plaza Suite, The Sunshine Boys, The Good Doctor, California Suite, Chapter Two, the autobiographical trilogy comprised of Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound, Rumors, the Pulitzer-winning Lost in Yonkers and The Dinner Party.

He has penned books for several musicals, including Sweet Charity, Promises, Promises, They're Playing Our Song, and The Goodbye Girl, based on his Oscar-nominated screenplay. The Pulitzer and three Tonys are among his previous awards.

"The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor was created to honor the brilliant minds that elbow American culture to see if it's still alive—and make us laugh about it," states the Kennedy Center's website. The award is, of course, named after the legendary writer and humorist (born Samuel Clemens) who penned The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Proceeds of the evening will benefit the center's education programs.

Ticketswill go on sale to Kennedy Center members on August 1 and to the general public on August 11; visit the Kennedy Center box office or call 202-467-4600 (local number) or 800-444-1324 (toll free for those calling from outside the Washington area). Visit www.kennedy-center.org for more information.