Comic wins prize for US humour

Bob Newhart has been awarded a prestigious award for comedy.

He has been named as the fifth winner of the Mark Twain prize for American humour, given by the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

Previous winners of the accolade include Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner and Whoopi Goldberg.

Newhart, 72, responded to the honour with a quote from Twain: "'It is strange the way the ignorant and inexperienced so often and so undeservedly succeed when the informed and the experienced fail."

He added: "It is certainly true in this case."

In its citation for the award, the Kennedy Center said: "Like Twain, Newhart looked at the great and the small of American life and found the befuddling lunacy that lurks beneath the surface of deceptive calm."

Newhart sprang to fame in the Fifties, and his stand-up albums became best-sellers. He is still performing live.

Published: 4 Apr 2002