Tomlin scoops US humour prize

Lily Tomlin has won this year's Mark Twain Prize for American humour.

The annual prize, handed out by New York's Kennedy Center, has previously honoured the likes of Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg and Bob Newhart.

Kennedy Center president Michael Kaiser said: "Lily Tomlin, like Mark Twain, offers her genius wholeheartedly,as she levels the playing field all across society and evokes the most healing of all responses - laughter."

Tomlin, 64, shot to fame on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In in the Sixties, then launched a successful career of one-woman shows and stage and screen roles, most recently joining The West Wing.

Her award may be controversial, as she has publicly declared her opposition to America's military strike on Iraq.

Tomlin will collect her accolade - a bronze bust of Twain - at a ceremony in October.

Published: 21 May 2003