Bill Cosby Gets Top Comedy Prize

Bill Cosby will be honored with the nation's top comedy prize from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The 71-year-old will be honored with the 12th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor this fall. Some of the biggest names in comedy will come together in Washington for the festivities on Monday, October 26th.

In a statement accepting the award, Cosby said that his mother read Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to him as a child. However, he added, "I would like to apologize to Mr. Twain for falling asleep hundreds of times, but he should understand that I was only four."

The Philadelphia native -- who's probably best known for The Cosby Show in the 1980s -- was honored with the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the nation's highest civilian honor -- in 2002. Past Mark Twain honorees include George Carlin, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg.