Will Ferrell joins Cosby, Carlin, Pryor in the Mark Twain humor prize ranks

Will Ferrell has won the 14th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, it was announced Thursday, which puts him in in some seriously funny company.

Previous Mark Twain humor prize winners, in reverse order, are Tina Fey, Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Billy Crystal, Neil Simon, Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, Lily Tomlin, Bob Newhart, Whoopi Goldberg, Carl Reiner, Jonathan Winters and Richard Pryor, who took the inaugural award in 1998.

This Kennedy Center honor recognizes performers and writers who have influenced American society in the same spirit as novelist and essayist Twain, a.k.a. Samuel Clemens. "He revealed the great truth of humor when he said, 'Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand,'" the center said.

Sounds on the mark for the guy who made a name for himself on "Saturday Night Live" with a  spot-on impersonation of President George W. Bush, has starred in films including "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and "Elf," and co-founded the comedy website Funny or Die. More serious takes -- though with Ferrell, "serious" is always relative -- include "Stranger Than Fiction" and "Everything Must Go," which opens in limited release Friday.

Not bad for a USC grad from Irvine who, as Jacket Copy notes, hasn't even written a book, and as the Ministry has noted, is a nice guy despite being the most overpaid actor in Hollywood.

The award will be presented in October in Washington, D.C.

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-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Will Ferrell in New York in April 2011. Credit: Victoria Will / Associated Press.

 

 

Oscar in hand, Colin Firth works on tracking down that pesky royal wedding invitation

Colin Firth earned an Oscar for playing a king, but nonetheless the hotshot actor doesn't have an invitation to the royal wedding of Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton. Not yet, at least.

"As I understand it the invitations have already gone out," Firth quipped to The Times' Jessica Gelt backstage at the Academy Awards on Sunday night. "Mine is definitely lost in the post somewhere. I'm working on tracing it."

And what about letting loose those dancing-feet impulses he'd talked about having to control onstage while he made his acceptance speech? Could they finally be freed, backstage?

"I don't think this is the right environment for that type of behavior," he said, "and anybody who has seen 'Mamma Mia' will know what I mean."

Aw, c'mon — now "feet" is an F-word too? That's no fun, Mr. Firth!

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— Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Colin Firth and a little gold pal place a call during the Governors Ball immediately after the Oscars on Feb. 27 — perhaps calling to check where that royal wedding invite has gotten to? Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times.

Robert Redford, Colin Firth, Phylicia Rashad act grown up at AARP movie awards

The 50-and-older crowd needs to cut loose too -- as evidenced by one of the Ministry's favorite ceremonies of award season: the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, held Monday night in Beverly Hills.

The annual celebration of movies acknowledges those for whom young Hollywood's foibles are more "been there, done that." It also happens to be a decorated but casual romp featuring living legends indulging in an open bar.

So gracefully illustrating this was Helen Mirren, honored for her awesomeness  in "RED." Though the actress sent an acceptance speech via prerecorded message, she accurately conveyed the tone of the evening by saying, "There's nothing I love more than getting drunk and getting an award."

Cocktail hour at Los Angeles' Beverly Wilshire hotel saw hosts Dana Delany and Peter Gallagher chatting with the likes of Robert Redford (the Lifetime Achievement honoree), Jaclyn Smith, Kimberly Elise, Andy Garcia, Tony Bennett, Lori Laughlin, Geoffrey Rush, Rob Reiner, Angela Lansbury, Maria Bello and Amber Tamblyn.

Inside the ballroom, best actor winner Colin Firth might as well have been "Twilight" heartthrob Robert Pattinson -- women of all ages clamored for photos with "The King's Speech" star. (Click the pic of Jaclyn Smith, below, to see photos of Firth and many more from the gala.)

Hanging out with the AARP gang, no one is safe from an ultra-fan moment. Mimi Rogers, winner for co-producing the Denzel Washington action flick "Unstoppable," took her moments on stage to confess her adoration for Redford.

"I think I was 13 when 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' came out. ... I love you Robert Redford," she gushed.

A little more cryptic but still adoring was winner Phylicia Rashad, giving praise to Tyler Perry, the man behind her turn in "For Colored Girls."

"To Tyler Perry, who everyone thinks they know ... good luck with that one," she said, adding that Perry had walked away from adapting the famous play five times.

Bringing some levity was Carl Reiner, presenting his son Rob Reiner with the best intergenerational film award for "Flipped."

Rob's first thank you was to his dad: "I want to thank my father for making love to my mother 64 years ago," he said.

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-- Matt Donnelly
twitter.com/MattDonnelly

Photo: Sally Field and Robert Redford at AARP Magazine's 10th Annual Movies for Grownups Awards Gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Feb. 7, 2011. Credit: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

Donald Sutherland gets a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Donald Sutherland is taking up residence next to his star son Kiefer Sutherland -- on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, that is.

The elder Sutherland hit Hollywood Boulevard in the wake of Colin Firth, recipient of the previous star.

The 75-year-old actor, who got the walk's 2,430th star Wednesday and can be seen in the upcoming "The Mechanic," has been in almost more movies and TV shows than we can count, including "MASH" and "Pride and Prejudice." He was joined at the ceremony by Hollywood bad boy and "Horrible Bosses" costar Colin Farrell.

Sutherland has played spies and astronauts, peasants and  aristocrats, notably kicking off his film career in the 1960s with "The Dirty Dozen."

Need more of an idea of the Canadian actor's range? He starred in "Fellini's Casanova" and "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

Sutherland won an Emmy and Golden Globe in 1995 for his role as a Soviet colonel in "Citizen X."  He later earned another Golden Globe in 2002 for "Path to War" playing a presidential advisor to Michael Gambon's Lyndon B. Johnson.

He loves his job and has no plans to retire. "It's lovely," he said of the honor, joking that at his age it was a better "stone" to get than a headstone on a cemetery plot.

"This marker I can actually come and visit."

Keifer's dad also joined Oscar nominee Firth, whose name was emblazoned on the Hollywood pavement on Jan. 14.

Firth was nominated for his role as stuttering King George VI in "The King's Speech," which received the most nods (12!) this year.

"Sometimes one feels like that particular king in moments like these," Firth said told reporters at his ceremony earlier this month.

"I am very happy with my little spot in Hollywood, which I will call my little corner of England, next to my partner Emma Thompson."

Hollywood just loves those actors with accents.

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-- Nardine Saad

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photos, from top: Colin Farrell, top left, and Donald Sutherland at the latter's Walk of Fame ceremony on Jan. 26, 2011. Colin Firth kneels at his star on Jan. 14, 2011. Credits: Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images

James Franco has a sex tape, Colin Firth rules on the throne

James Franco has a sex tape, or at least at one point had a sex tape, or has, you know, made a sex tape, he let slip recently during a panel discussion with other Oscar hopefuls ahead of Tuesday's nominations.

"I think if anybody who has made a home sex tape knows, what feels best doesn't always look best," he said. "I remember when I was 19 doing that, and then watching it back and thinking, oh, that looks horrible.

"So ... you have a lot of respect for those actors in pornography, because they are really not just doing it, they're really selling it."

Wait, what kind of panel discussion was this, anyway?! MTV's "Skins," anyone? Never fear, Franco, up for lead actor for his performance in "127 Hours," was just shooting the breeze for Newsweek, discussing with Annette Bening, Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams what it takes to pull off a good screen kiss, among other things.

"It's not just the kiss that feels best, it's an image," he said. "Something different is happening if it's a good kiss."

Fellow lead actor nominee Firth, however, addressed a bit of the underlying preposterousness of an acting career.