Ellen DeGeneres Honored with Mark Twain Prize

Popular TV host and comedienne Ellen DeGeneres was honored on October 22nd with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

The fete took place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and was attended by many other comics, including Glee's Jane Lynch and Jimmy Kimmel, both of whom spoke about the quirky DeGeneres during the event. In fact, Lynch gave her peer credit for changing the view of many toward performers who are homosexual. DeGeneres came out of the closet while starring in her own TV series, a groundbreaking event that is still discussed today.

Past honoree, Lily Tomlin, was quoted as saying, “She went from stand-up to standing for something.”

According to a spokesperson, for the past 15 years, the bronze bust statue of Twain is given to "people who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to" Twain. The portrait bust is a copy of an 1884 piece that was created by Karl Gerhardt. Other past recipients of the award include Bill Cosby, Billy Crystal, Tina Fey, and Will Ferrell.

Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes were some of the other stars who helped to celebrate the achievement. Also on hand was DeGeneres wife, actress Portia de Rossi.

The event will be televised on PBS at 8 p.m. on October 30.