Article: Comedian Tomlin wins Mark Twain Prize

WASHINGTON - Lily Tomlin, who came to fame as the humorously unpleasant telephone operator Ernestine, has won the Mark Twain Prize for 2003, awarded by the Kennedy Center.

"Lily Tomlin, like Mark Twain, offers her genius wholeheartedly, as she levels the playing field all across society and evokes the most healing of all responses: laughter," said Michael Kaiser, the Kennedy Center president.

The announcement said her comedy, like Twain's, expresses truths we already recognize unconsciously, and she allows us to embrace frailties without shame or embarrassment.

Over 40 years ago Tomlin, now 64, won popularity in "Rowan and

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