Comedian and host Conan O'Brien was named the newest recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for lifetime achievement in comedy on Thursday.

O'Brien, 61, has carved out an improbable decadeslong career arc, moving from goofy television interloper to comedic elder statesman. Along the way, he survived one of the most public failures in the history of television on "The Tonight Show" — only to launch a successful, and sustained, next act.

His travel series "Conan O'Brien Must Go" sparked popular and critical acclaim, with a second season coming. In March, O'Brien will host the Academy Awards three weeks before his own Mark Twain ceremony in Washington.

Deborah Rutter, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in a statement called O'Brien "a master of invention and reinvention, consistently pushing the envelope in search of new comedic heights."

O'Brien offered his own tongue-in-cheek assessment, saying in the Kennedy Center statement that he would be "the first winner of the Mark Twain Prize recognized not for humor, but for my work as a riverboat pilot." He will be honored on March 23 in a special ceremony in which he will receive a bronze bust of Twain, the iconic American writer and satirist whose real name was Samuel Clemens.

Mark Twain recipients are honored with a night of testimonials and video tributes, often featuring previous award winners. The ceremony will stream on Netflix at a later date yet to be announced.

O'Brien leaped into the spotlight from near-total obscurity in 1993, when he was chosen to replace the legendary David Letterman as host of "Late Night" despite no significant on-camera experience. The former Harvard Lampoon editor had spent the previous years as a writer for "Saturday... Read More