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Tina Fey
Winning the “Mark Twain Award for American Humor” sounds like a big deal, even
with “American Humor” in its name. Elizabeth Stamatina Fey scored the accolade in
2010 for a long career in, then making fun of, sketch comedy. Raised to take comedy
seriously, dad even banned her from watching “The Flintstones” because it was a
“Honeymooners” rip-off. A career as a comic actor and writer was always in her sights,
leading her in the early 90s to the famed “Second City”. Five years of developing
material through group improvisation honed her writing skills to a fine point and in
1997, like many before her, she was recruited by “Saturday Night Live”. At first she
worked exclusively as a writer, becoming head writer within three years, then she
stepped up as a performer, most notably presenting the “Weekend Update” segment.
After nine years of acclaim for reviving the quality of the show’s writing, she scored
her own sitcom: “30 Rock” won awards from the start but its ratings in the US were
always a bit sad due to the show’s attention-demanding pace, quick dialogue and, let’s
face it, its intelligence. It was only when she returned to “SNL” in 2008 to impersonate Sarah Palin that Fey herself finally became a household name.
John Cleese
Peter Cook’s one regret in life was saving David Frost from drowning in 1963. But the
recent death of the universally respected interviewer has reminded everyone, at least
me, that his program “The Frost Report” launched the television career of John Cleese.
Born to an insurance salesman in the English town of Weston-Super-Mare, Cleese
escaped to Cambridge University in 1960 where he studied law and joined the “Foot-