
Conan O’Brien: From Massachusetts to Mark Twain Prize Winner
America's favorite redhead has a new honor.
Comedian, actor, podcaster, writer and producer Conan O'Brien can now add Mark Twain Prize Winner to his resume. The Brookline, Massachusetts native will be the 26th recipient of the coveted honor.
The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor has been awarded annually (with the exception of 2020 and 2021) since 1998 from the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. It recognizes those who have "had an impact on American society in ways similar to" Mark Twain.

Conan O'Brien showed great promise even at a young age, attending Harvard and serving as President of The Harvard Lampoon while there.
He went on to become a writer for hits like The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live and eventually got what many consider his big break: taking over for David Letterman as host of Late Night in 1993. His hosting continued with his own show Conan from 2010-2021.
Entertaining audiences for decades, O'Brien doesn't seem to have any plans of slowing down. In fact, his 2025 is off to a strong start. Before accepting the Mark Twain Prize, he'll be take center stage as host of the Academy Awards.
READ MORE: Conan O'Brien Says 'Worst Accent in the World' Is in Rhode Island
The annual gala for the Mark Twain Prize will be held Sunday, March 23 with a Netflix stream of the event becoming available later in the year.
Conan O'Brien joins an elite group of honorees. See the complete list here:
1998 - Richard Pryor
1999 - Jonathan Winters
2000 - Carl Reiner
2001 - Whoopi Goldberg
2002 - Bob Newhart
2003 - Lily Tomlin
2004 - Lorne Michaels
2005 - Steve Martin
2006 - Neil Simon
2007 - Billy Crystal
2008 - George Carlin
2009 - Bill Cosby
2010 - Tina Fey
2011 - Will Ferrell
2012 - Ellen DeGeneres
2013 - Carol Burnett
2014 - Jay Leno
2015 - Eddie Murphy
2016 - Bill Murray
2017 - Davis Letterman
2018 - Julia Louis-Dreyfus
2019 - Dave Chappelle
2022 - Jon Stewart
2023 - Adam Sandler
2024 - Kevin Hart
2025 - Conan O'Brien
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