RICHARD PRYOR

Over the years, The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor has gone to such luminaries as Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal, George Carlin and Ellen DeGeneres. Next year, it's going to the guy who made us crack up as Happy Gilmour. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said Tuesday that Adam Sandler would receive the prestigious award at a gala on March 19. “Adam Sandler has entertained audiences for over three decades with his films, music, and his tenure as a fan favorite cast member on ‘SNL,’” said Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter in a statement. “Adam has created characters that have made us laugh, cry, and cry from laughing."

The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor has gone to such luminaries as Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal, George Carlin and Ellen DeGeneres.

A new production of “The Wiz” is heading out on a national tour next year before following the yellow brick road to Broadway.

Comedian Jon Stewart says speculation about the future of comedy amid increased audience cultural sensitivity is ignoring a true and enduring threat: authoritarian governments around the world.

Sidney Poitier made history — on the screen and off.

This year’s inductees into the National Film Registry include an epic Star Wars and Lord of the Ring films, projects starring Jennifer Lopez and the late Cicely Tyson along with films that took on racially motivated violence against people of color.

They both carved out sterling reputations as military and political leaders over years of public service.

Leave it to Mel Brooks to blurb his own memoir.

Melvin Van Peebles, a Broadway playwright, musician and movie director whose work ushered in the “blaxploitation” films of the 1970s, has died.

The filmmaker who turned Christopher Reeve into “Superman” and Mel Gibson and Danny Glover into cop buddies in “Lethal Weapon” has died, his family said Monday through a spokesperson.

Emmy-nominated comedian Paul Mooney has died according to this agent Helene Shaw. "Brilliant, talented, one of a kind," Shaw shared.

Cassandra Williams, Mooney's publicist, said he died Wednesday morning at his home in Oakland, California, from a heart attack. Mooney's friendship and collaboration with Pryor began in 1968 and lasted until Pryor's death in 2005. Mooney chronicled their partnership in his 2007 memoir “Black Is the New White.”Mooney wasn't as widely known as Pryor, but his influence on comedy was ubiquitous. As head writer on “In Living Color,” Mooney helped create and inspire the Homey D. Clown character. Mooney was also an actor who played Sam Cooke in 1978's “The Buddy Holly Story” and Junebug in Spike Lee's 2000 film “Bamboozled.”

Paul Mooney, a boundary-pushing comedian who was Richard Pryor’s longtime writing partner and whose bold, incisive musings on racism and American life made him a revered figure in stand-up, has died.

FILE - Actor Yaphet Kotto appears on his wedding day in Baltimore, Md. Kotto, the commanding actor of the James Bond film Live and Let Die and as Lt. Al Giardello on the 90's NBC police drama "Homicide: Life on the Street, died Monday, March 15, 2021 at age 81. Kottos wife, Tessie Sinahon, announced his death Monday in a Facebook post. (AP Photo/John Gillis, File)NEW YORK – Yaphet Kotto, the commanding actor who brought tough magnetism and stately gravitas to films including the James Bond movie “Live and Let Die” and “Alien," has died. Kotto’s wife, Tessie Sinahon, announced his death Monday in a Facebook post.

NEW YORK Walter Mosley is receiving an honorary National Book Award, cited for dozens of books which range from science fiction and erotica to the acclaimed mystery series that has followed the life of Los Angeles private detective Ezekiel Easy Rawlins. The National Book Awards are presented by the non-profit National Book Foundation. But like such previous medal winners as Ray Bradbury and Elmore Leonard, he has never been nominated for a National Book Award in a competitive category. Mosley knows well the reason: Crime fiction is usually bypassed when lists for a years best books are considered. In a statement Thursday, National Book Foundation Executive Director Lisa Lucas noted the quantity, and quality, of Mosley's work.