Kennedy Center Honors

Kennedy Center Honors

Logotype symbolizing "a spectrum of many skills within the performing arts"
Awarded for Lifetime Contributions to American Culture through the Performing Arts.
Country USA
Presented by Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center
First awarded 1978
Official website Kennedy Center Honors
The 2006 honorees at the Kennedy Center on December 6, 2006, with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. From left, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Steven Spielberg, Dolly Parton, Zubin Mehta, Smokey Robinson, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Lynne Cheney.

The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture (though recipients do not need to be U.S. citizens). The Honors have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in a star-studded gala celebrating the Honorees in the Kennedy Center Opera House.[1]

History

George Stevens, Jr. created the Kennedy Center Honors with the late Nick Vanoff, and produced the first gala in 1978. He was the producer and co-writer through the 2014 awards,[2] after which he sold the production rights to the Kennedy Center.

The Kennedy Center Honors started in 1977, after that year's 10th-anniversary White House reception and Kennedy Center program for the American Film Institute (AFI). Roger L. Stevens, the founding chairman of the Kennedy Center, asked George Stevens, Jr., (no relation), the founding director of the AFI, to hold an event for the Center. George Stevens asked Isaac Stern to become involved, and then "pitched" the idea to the television network CBS, who "bought it." With the announcement of the first honors event and honorees, CBS vice president for specials Bernie Sofronski stated:

"George [Stevens] came to us with this. What turned us on is that this is the only show of its kind. In Europe and most countries, they have ways of honoring their actors and their athletes. England has its command performances for the queen. We see this as a national honoring of people who have contributed to society, not someone who happens to have a pop record hit at the moment...Our intention is not to do just another award show. We're going to make an effort in terms of a real special."[3][4]

The first host was Leonard Bernstein in 1978, followed by Eric Sevareid in 1979 and Beverly Sills in 1980. Walter Cronkite hosted from 1981 to 2002 and Caroline Kennedy hosted from 2003 until 2012. Glenn Close was host in 2013 and Stephen Colbert hosted in 2014 and 2015.[5]

Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment were selected as Executive Producers of the 38th annual Kennedy Center Honors (2015) after George Stevens, Jr. stepped down.[6]

This is one of the few awards shows that does not air live (with the exception of closed-circuit venues), but a re-edited 92-minute version generally airs on CBS after the Christmas holiday.

Selection process

Honoree recommendations are accepted from the general public,[7] and the Kennedy Center initiated a Special Honors Advisory Committee, which comprises two members of the Board of Trustees as well as past Honorees and distinguished artists. The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees selects the Honoree recipients based on excellence in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures or television.[8]

The events

The invitation-only weekend-long ceremony includes the Chairman's Luncheon, State Department dinner, White House reception and the Honors gala performances and supper.

Surrounded by the Honorees, the luncheon is held on Saturday at the Kennedy Center, with a welcoming speech by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. At that evening's reception and dinner at the State Department, presided over by the Secretary of State, the Honorees are introduced and the Honors medallions are presented by the Chairman of the Board.[8] The wide rainbow-colored ribbon then hung around the necks of the recipients, and prominently noticeable when the events are televised, symbolizes "a spectrum of many skills within the performing arts" according to creator Ivan Chermayeff.[9]

On Sunday, there is an early-evening White House reception[10] hosted by the President of the United States and the First Lady, followed by the Honors gala performance at the Kennedy Center and supper.

For the 2015 gala performance, President Barack Obama did attend, after addressing the nation in a live telecast.[11] There have been three occasions where the President did not attend the gala performances: President Jimmy Carter did not attend the December 1979 gala performance during the hostage crisis,[12] President George Bush did not attend in December 1989 and President Bill Clinton did not attend in 1994.[13][14]

Recipients

2005 Kennedy Center Honorees Julie Harris, Robert Redford, Tina Turner, Suzanne Farrell, and Tony Bennett, with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, in the Blue Room at the White House, December 4, 2005.
The surviving members of Led Zeppelin were honored and are pictured here with President Barack Obama.

There have been 200 recipients to date of the Kennedy Center Honors Awards during the Honor's 38 years. The vast majority have been bestowed on individuals. On ten occasions since 1985, awards have been presented to duos or groups, including three married couples: lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, actors Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, musical-comedy duo Betty Comden and Adolph Green, dancers Fayard Nicholas and Harold Nicholas, actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb, actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, musicians Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who and the members of Led Zeppelin and The Eagles.

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Kennedy Center honorees 2009 Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro, and Bruce Springsteen, with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in the Blue Room, White House, Dec. 6, 2009.

2010s

Prospective honorees who declined, canceled or postponed

Pianist Vladimir Horowitz was to be an honoree, but the selection committee withdrew the offer when Horowitz conditioned his acceptance on being honored alone and at 4 in the afternoon.[23] Actress Katharine Hepburn declined the committee's first offer, though she relented in 1990.[23]

When considering Irving Berlin for the 1987 awards because of criticism for overlooking him, the Center was informed that Berlin wanted to be honored only if he surpassed his 100th birthday (which would not be until May 1988). Also, he was in failing health, being confined to a wheelchair following a series of strokes, and could not attend a public event. The Center instead chose to pay special tribute to him at the 1987 Gala. He died in 1989.[24]

Paul McCartney was selected as an honoree in 2002, but was unable to attend because of an "inescapable personal obligation," his cousin's previously planned wedding. After initially saying that McCartney's award would be postponed until the following year, the Kennedy Center announced in August 2003 that "Paul McCartney will not be receiving a Kennedy Center Honor."[25] McCartney later became a 2010 honoree.[26]

In November 2015, one month before the actual ceremony, the Eagles postponed their honors until the following year because Glenn Frey had intestinal problems that required major surgery and a long recovery period.[21] Despite their absence, they were still honored in 2015 via a performance of "Desperado" by country singer Miranda Lambert. Glenn Frey died on January 18, 2016,[27] though the Center made him and the three surviving members a 2016 honoree.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About the Honors" Kennedy Center, accessed October 4, 2015
  2. ↑ Harris, Paul. "George Stevens Jr. to End 37-Year Run as Kennedy Center Honors Producer" Variety, December 7, 2014
  3. ↑ Crews, Chip. "The Honors, Take 2" Washington Post, December 27, 2005
  4. ↑ Shales, Tom. "Crowning America's Culture Superstars", The Washington Post, September 28, 1978, p. B1
  5. ↑ McGlone, Peggy. "Stephen Colbert will host 37th annual Kennedy Center Honors" Washington Post, November 19, 2014
  6. ↑ "Tony Awards Team Chosen" Washington Post, May 5, 2015
  7. ↑ Honors kennedy-center.org
  8. 1 2 Press Release" kennedy-center.org
  9. ↑ Interview in The Washington Post 2008-12-07
  10. ↑ "A Vision in Blue". Mrs. O. 2011-12-04. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
  11. ↑ McGlone, Peggy. "President Obama will be late to Kennedy Center Honors performance" Washington Post, December 6, 2015
  12. ↑ Gamarekian, Barbara. "Kennedy Center Honors Five For Life Achievements in Arts: Audience of Over 2,000 'She Led a Revolt' White House Reception", The New York Times, December 3, 1979, p.C14. "Mrs. Carter: 'As you know President Carter has had to cancel his public appearances.'"
  13. ↑ McGlone, Peggy. "President Obama to skip Kennedy Center Honors performance" Washington Post, December 6, 2015
  14. ↑ Pareles, John. "Performers Receive Kennedy Center Awards" Sun Sentinel, December 25, 1994
  15. ↑ "Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Yo-Yo Ma, Sonny Rollins & Meryl Streep to Receive 34th Annual Kennedy Center Honors" kennedy-center.org, accessed September 6, 2011
  16. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, Natalia Makarova, Buddy Guy, Led Zeppelin Are Kennedy Center Honorees" playbill.com, September 12, 2012
  17. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Martina Arroyo, Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel, Shirley MacLaine and Carlos Santana Are 2013 Kennedy Center Honorees" playbill.com, September 12, 2013
  18. ↑ Harris, Paul (2014-09-04). "Tom Hanks, Lily Tomlin, Sting to Receive Kennedy Center Honors". Variety. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  19. ↑ Viagas, Robert. "Carole King, Cicely Tyson, Rita Moreno and More Named 2015 Kennedy Center Honorees" playbill.com, July 15, 2015
  20. 1 2 "Martha Argerich, Eagles, Al Pacino, Mavis Staples, James Taylor To Receive 39th Annual Kennedy Center Honors" (PDF) (Press release). Kennedy Center Honors. June 23, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  21. 1 2 Clark, Cindy. "Kennedy Center postpones Honors to Eagles" USAToday, November 4, 2015
  22. ↑ Hipes, Patrick. "Kennedy Center Honors: Al Pacino, Eagles, James Taylor & More" Deadline, June 23, 2016
  23. 1 2 Crews, Chip. "The Honors, Take 2" The Washington Post, December 27, 2005
  24. ↑ Molotsky, Irvin."Five Receive Kennedy Center Honors for Artistic Contributions" The New York Times , December 7, 1987
  25. ↑ "The Kennedy Center Honors: This Year's Bid for Glamour" The New York Times, August 6, 2003
  26. ↑ Trescott, Jacqueline."Oprah Winfrey among five recipients of 2010 Kennedy Center Honors" The Washington Post, September 7, 2010
  27. ↑ Morton, Victor (January 18, 2016). "Glenn Frey, Eagles guitarist, dies at 67". The Washington Times. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
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