Carol Burnett has been honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts on Sunday.
Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett and Tina Fey were among those who performed in her honor at the Kennedy Center.
Carol Burnett’s variety show began in the 1960s and ran for 11 years, averaging 30 million viewers a week.
“This is very encouraging… it was a long time in coming,” Carol Burnett, 80, joked as she accepted the prize.
She added: “I understand because there are so many people funnier than I am, especially here in Washington.
“With any luck, they’ll soon get voted out, and I’ll still have the Mark Twain Prize.”
Tina Fey – creator and star of 30 Rock – applauded Carol Burnett for opening doors for other female comedians. When Carol Burnett first launched her own show, a TV executive told her the genre was “a man’s game”.
Carol Burnett has been honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
“You mean so much to me,” Tina Fey said.
“I love you in a way that is just shy of creepy,” she joked.
Carol Burnett got her first break when she was talent-spotted by bookers for the Ed Sullivan Show.
She then landed a role on Broadway and began to appear on The Garry Moore Show.
This led to Carol Burnett signing a 10-year contract with CBS to do guest slots on sitcoms and perform in one TV special a year.
The comedian launched the Carol Burnett Show in 1967, with guest stars including Lucille Ball, Jimmy Stewart and Ronald Reagan.
Carol Burnett Show won 22 Emmy awards. The comedian was best known for her “Tarzan” yell and for ending each show by tugging her ear, which was a personal message to her grandmother.
Tim Conway, one of Carol Burnett’s co-stars on her show, joked that he now spends his time travelling around the US for Burnett to receive awards.
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Kate Middleton has been pictured on the front page of U.S. magazine The New Republic with a set of yellow, decaying teeth.
Duchess of Cambridge was PhotoShopped like the American stereotype of a Brit with bad gnashers for a special issue of the politics and arts publication The New Republic about the future of Britain.
Kate Middleton appears in front of a tattered Union Jack alongside the words, Something’s Rotten. The Last Days of Britain.
Inside are several articles about the state of the United Kingdom ahead of this summer’s Olympics which have sparked outrage online.
Last year the pearly white Duchess spent thousands of pounds having her teeth polished and turned to give her the perfect smile.
Duchess of Cambridge was PhotoShopped like the American stereotype of a Brit with bad gnashers for a special issue of the politics and arts publication The New Republic about the future of Britain
French dentist Didier Fillion used a hidden brace to make Kate Middleton’s teeth appear a little out of line, un-American and therefore beautifully natural.
“He did some little micro-rotations on Kate,” dentist Bernard Touati revealed.
“That’s why they look so good – because they are not perfectly aligned.
“The problem in the United States is they have very artificial vision. But what we like is a natural healthy smile, but not artificial.”
Dr. Didier Fillion, also an expert in polishing and whitening teeth, has a clinic in London’s Wimpole Street as well as in Paris and Geneva.
Creating the perfect smile can take the Frenchman anything from six months to two years and costs from $6,500 to $17,500.
Brits having bad teeth is a staple of American humor about the UK. For example, in one episode of the hot comedy The Simpsons Lisa was shown The Big Book of British Teeth by her orthodontist.
One commenter said: “Not cool. I am not an imperialist (not even close!), but she seems to be a genuine person. She is young, beautiful, and privileged. Apparently grave sins to many people.
“Yet I wonder if these are the same critics who keep up on the Kardashians, or whatever flavor of the month Hollywood squirts out.
“She is a person who did not deserve this low blow. Shame on them. I will wouldn´t even think to read anything from them ever again.”
One poster said it was “absolutely ridiculous” and another said, “the magazine should be sued for libel”.
The New Republic is on news stands now in the US.
