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Kennedy Center Honor

HONOR

Awarded annually "for exemplary lifetime achievement in the performing arts."

Official Website:
http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/honors/

NameOccupationBirthDeathKnown for
George Abbott
Playwright
25-Jun-1887 31-Jan-1995 Damn Yankees
Roy Acuff
Country Musician
15-Sep-1903 23-Nov-1992 Country music pioneer
Edward Albee
Playwright
12-Mar-1928   Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Jacques d'Amboise
Dancer
28-Jul-1934   Founder of the National Dance Institute
Marian Anderson
Singer
27-Feb-1897 8-Apr-1993 Operatic contralto
Julie Andrews
Singer
1-Oct-1935   Mary Poppins
Fred Astaire
Dancer
10-May-1899 22-Jun-1987 Broadway ballroom dancer
Lauren Bacall
Actor
16-Sep-1924   Key Largo
Lucille Ball
Actor
6-Aug-1911 26-Apr-1989 I Love Lucy
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Dancer
27-Jan-1948   Kirov ballet dancer defected to USA
Count Basie
Pianist
21-Aug-1904 26-Apr-1984 Big band pianist
Warren Beatty
Actor
30-Mar-1937   Dick Tracy
Harry Belafonte
Singer/Songwriter
1-Mar-1927   Calypso singer
Leonard Bernstein
Conductor
25-Aug-1918 14-Oct-1990 Conductor, New York Philharmonic
Chuck Berry
Singer
18-Oct-1926   My Ding-A-Ling
Victor Borge
Pianist
3-Jan-1909 23-Dec-2000 Comedic pianist
Mel Brooks
Film Director
28-Jun-1926   Blazing Saddles
James Brown
Singer
3-May-1933 25-Dec-2006 Godfather of Soul
Dave Brubeck
Jazz Musician
6-Dec-1920   Take Five
Grace Bumbry
Singer
4-Jan-1937   Operatic mezzo-soprano, then soprano
Carol Burnett
Actor
26-Apr-1933   The Carol Burnett Show
George Burns
Comic
20-Jan-1896 9-Mar-1996 Oh, God!
James Cagney
Actor
17-Jul-1899 30-Mar-1986 New York tough guy
Johnny Carson
Talk Show Host
23-Oct-1925 23-Jan-2005 Longtime host of Tonight Show
Benny Carter
Jazz Musician
8-Aug-1907 12-Jul-2003 Jazz and big bandleader
Johnny Cash
Country Musician
26-Feb-1932 12-Sep-2003 The Man in Black
Ray Charles
Musician
23-Sep-1930 10-Jun-2004 Georgia On My Mind
Van Cliburn
Pianist
12-Jul-1934   Piano prodigy
Claudette Colbert
Actor
13-Sep-1903 30-Jul-1996 It Happened One Night
Betty Comden
Songwriter
3-May-1915 23-Nov-2006 Singin' in the Rain
Perry Como
Singer
18-May-1912 12-May-2001 It's Impossible
Sean Connery
Actor
25-Aug-1930   James Bond
Bill Cosby
Comic
12-Jul-1937   Comedy fixture, pudding industry shill
Hume Cronyn
Actor
18-Jul-1911 15-Jun-2003 Cocoon
Merce Cunningham
Dancer
16-Apr-1919 26-Jul-2009 Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Roger Daltrey
Singer
1-Mar-1944   Vocalist for The Who
Bette Davis
Actor
5-Apr-1908 6-Oct-1989 All About Eve
Ossie Davis
Actor
18-Dec-1917 4-Feb-2005 Do The Right Thing
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Singer
8-Dec-1925 16-May-1990 Coolest hepcat in the Rat Pack
Robert De Niro
Actor
17-Aug-1943   The Godfather: Part II
Ruby Dee
Actor
27-Oct-1924   The Jackie Robinson Story
Placido Domingo
Singer
21-Jan-1941   Tenorissimo!
Kirk Douglas
Actor
9-Dec-1916   Spartacus
Katherine Dunham
Dancer
22-Jun-1910 21-May-2006 Dunham School of Dance
Irene Dunne
Actor
20-Dec-1898 4-Sep-1990 Penny Serenade
Bob Dylan
Musician
24-May-1941   The Times They Are A-Changin'
Clint Eastwood
Actor
31-May-1930   The Man With No Name
Fred Ebb
Musician
8-Apr-1935 11-Sep-2004 Top Broadway lyricist, Cabaret
Suzanne Farrell
Dancer
16-Aug-1945   Ballerina, NYC Ballet
Ella Fitzgerald
Singer
25-Apr-1917 15-Jun-1996 The First Lady of Jazz
Leon Fleisher
Pianist
23-Jul-1928   Piano virtuoso
Henry Fonda
Actor
16-May-1905 12-Aug-1982 12 Angry Men
Aretha Franklin
Singer
25-Mar-1942   R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Morgan Freeman
Actor
1-Jun-1937   Unforgiven
Dizzy Gillespie
Jazz Musician
21-Oct-1917 7-Jan-1993 Be-bop jazz trumpeter
Lillian Gish
Actor
14-Oct-1893 27-Feb-1993 Silent film actress, director
Benny Goodman
Jazz Musician
30-May-1909 13-Jun-1986 Bespectacled jazz clarinetist
Cary Grant
Actor
18-Jan-1904 29-Nov-1986 North by Northwest
Adolph Green
Songwriter
2-Dec-1914 23-Oct-2002 Singin' in the Rain
Merle Haggard
Country Musician
6-Apr-1937   Okie From Muskogee
Lionel Hampton
Jazz Musician
20-Apr-1908 31-Aug-2002 Jazz vibrophonist and bandleader
Julie Harris
Actor
2-Dec-1925   East of Eden
Helen Hayes
Actor
10-Oct-1900 17-Mar-1993 First Lady of the Theater
Katharine Hepburn
Actor
12-May-1907 29-Jun-2003 The Philadelphia Story
Jerry Herman
Composer
10-Jul-1931   Hello Dolly!
Charlton Heston
Actor
4-Oct-1923 5-Apr-2008 The Ten Commandments
Bob Hope
Comic
29-May-1903 27-Jul-2003 Centenarian comic
Lena Horne
Singer
30-Jun-1917 9-May-2010 Stormy Weather
Marilyn Horne
Singer
16-Jan-1934   Operatic mezzo soprano
Judith Jamison
Dancer
10-May-1943   Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
Elton John
Singer/Songwriter
25-Mar-1947   Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
George Jones
Country Musician
12-Sep-1931   Country singer, White Lightning
James Earl Jones
Actor
17-Jan-1931   Voice of Darth Vader and CNN
Quincy Jones
Music Producer
14-Mar-1933   Musician, Composer, Producer
John Kander
Composer
18-Mar-1927   Top Broadway composer
Danny Kaye
Actor
18-Jan-1913 3-Mar-1987 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Elia Kazan
Film Director
7-Sep-1909 28-Sep-2003 A Streetcar Named Desire
Gene Kelly
Actor
23-Aug-1912 2-Feb-1996 Singin' in the Rain
B. B. King
Musician
16-Sep-1925   King of the Blues
Angela Lansbury
Actor
16-Oct-1925   Murder She Wrote
Jack Lemmon
Actor
8-Feb-1925 27-Jun-2001 The Odd Couple
Alan Jay Lerner
Playwright
31-Aug-1918 14-Jun-1986 An American in Paris
James Levine
Conductor
23-Jun-1943   Music Director, NY Metropolitan Opera
Frederick Loewe
Composer
10-Jun-1901 14-Feb-1988 My Fair Lady
Myrna Loy
Actor
2-Aug-1905 14-Dec-1993 The Thin Man
Loretta Lynn
Country Musician
14-Apr-1932   Coal Miner's Daughter
Mary Martin
Actor
1-Dec-1913 3-Nov-1990 Peter Pan
Steve Martin
Comic
14-Aug-1945   The Jerk
Paul McCartney
Musician
18-Jun-1942   Beatle
Gian-Carlo Menotti
Composer
7-Jul-1911 1-Feb-2007 The Saint of Bleecker Street
Yehudi Menuhin
Violinist
22-Apr-1916 12-Mar-1999 Child prodigy violinist, conductor
Arthur Miller
Playwright
17-Oct-1915 10-Feb-2005 Death of a Salesman
Arthur Mitchell
Dancer
27-Mar-1934   Dance Theatre of Harlem
Willie Nelson
Country Musician
30-Apr-1933   The red-headed stranger
Paul Newman
Actor
26-Jan-1925 26-Sep-2008 Salad dressing magnate
Mike Nichols
Film Director
6-Nov-1931   Primary Colors
Jack Nicholson
Actor
22-Apr-1937   Chinatown
Jessye Norman
Singer
15-Sep-1945   Operatic soprano
Odetta
Singer
31-Dec-1930 2-Dec-2008 Queen of American Folk Music
Luciano Pavarotti
Singer
12-Oct-1935 6-Sep-2007 Operatic tenor
Gregory Peck
Actor
5-Apr-1916 12-Jun-2003 To Kill A Mockingbird
Itzhak Perlman
Violinist
31-Aug-1945   Israeli violinist
Sidney Poitier
Actor
20-Feb-1927   In The Heat Of The Night
André Previn
Pianist
6-Apr-1929   Concert pianist and orchestral conductor
Leontyne Price
Singer
10-Feb-1927   Operatic soprano
Chita Rivera
Dancer
23-Jan-1933   Anita in West Side Story on Broadway
Jason Robards
Actor
26-Jul-1922 26-Dec-2000 All The President's Men
Richard Rodgers
Composer
28-Jun-1902 30-Dec-1979 Rodgers and Hammerstein
Diana Ross
Singer
26-Mar-1944   Dominion over The Supremes
Mstislav Rostropovich
Cellist
27-Mar-1927 27-Apr-2007 Cellist and conductor
Martin Scorsese
Film Director
17-Nov-1942   Taxi Driver
Pete Seeger
Singer/Songwriter
3-May-1919   We Shall Overcome
Beverly Sills
Singer
25-May-1929 2-Jul-2007 Soprano at the New York City Opera
Neil Simon
Playwright
4-Jul-1927   The Odd Couple
Paul Simon
Singer/Songwriter
13-Oct-1941   Simon and Garfunkel
Frank Sinatra
Singer
12-Dec-1915 14-May-1998 It's Frank's world, we just live in it
Georg Solti
Conductor
21-Oct-1912 5-Sep-1997 Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Stephen Sondheim
Composer
22-Mar-1930   West Side Story
Bruce Springsteen
Musician
23-Sep-1949   The Boss
Isaac Stern
Violinist
21-Jul-1920 22-Sep-2001 Violin virtuoso
Jimmy Stewart
Actor
20-May-1908 2-Jul-1997 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Barbra Streisand
Singer
24-Apr-1942   You Don't Bring Me Flowers
Jule Styne
Songwriter
31-Dec-1905 20-Sep-1994 Three Coins in the Fountain
Joan Sutherland
Singer
7-Nov-1926 10-Oct-2010 "La Stupenda" opera soprano
Maria Tallchief
Dancer
24-Jan-1925   New York City Ballet
Jessica Tandy
Actor
7-Jun-1909 11-Sep-1994 Driving Miss Daisy
Elizabeth Taylor
Actor
27-Feb-1932 23-Mar-2011 Cleopatra
Shirley Temple
Actor
23-Apr-1928   Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Twyla Tharp
Dancer
1-Jul-1941   Choreographer
Virgil Thomson
Composer
25-Nov-1896 30-Sep-1989 Four Saints in Three Acts
Pete Townshend
Guitarist
19-May-1945   Lead guitarist for The Who
Edward Villella
Dancer
1-Oct-1936   New York City Ballet
Billy Wilder
Film Director
22-Jun-1906 27-Mar-2002 Sunset Blvd.
John Williams
Composer
8-Feb-1932   Composer for Jaws, E.T.
Tennessee Williams
Playwright
26-Mar-1911 25-Feb-1983 The Glass Menagerie
Brian Wilson
Singer/Songwriter
20-Jun-1942   Troubled Beach Boy
Oprah Winfrey
Talk Show Host
29-Jan-1954   The Oprah Winfrey Show
Stevie Wonder
Singer/Songwriter
13-May-1950   Signed, Sealed, and Delivered
Joanne Woodward
Actor
27-Feb-1930   The Three Faces of Eve


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