What Artist Should Receive a Kennedy Center Honor? | Playbill

Polls What Artist Should Receive a Kennedy Center Honor? The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts recently announced the recipients of the 2014 Kennedy Center Honors: singer Al Green, actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks, ballerina Patricia McBride, singer-songwriter Sting and comedienne Lily Tomlin. We asked our readers what other performing artists are deserving of this honor.

"The 37th Annual Kennedy Center Honors" will air Dec. 30 on CBS at 9 PM ET.

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Carol Channing

Jen Lau Carol Channing

Nathan Clift Betty White and Carol Channing

Dan Carney Carol Channing.

Dan Carney Carol Channing


Marty Ike Carol Channing

Ron Zank Carol Channing and Betty White.

Jeff Walker Carol Channing - legend of the stage, longevity and her fearless and passionate work to promote the arts in schools. And before time catches up with her!

Steve Blue Carol Channing! Broadway legend! No other reason needed!


Carol Channing made her Broadway debut in the 1941 Cole Porter musical Let's Face It! She later won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the title role of Hello, Dolly! Channing has since returned to Broadway in two revivals of that Jerry Herman musical.

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Betty White

Paul Copland Betty White - one of the funniest women ever. Period.

Lois Rubin Gross Betty White. She is the embodiment of the history of TV, an award winning actress, and a activist for animals and other worthy causes. The fact that they've ignored her is ridiculous. It may seem like she is going to live forever, but they are losing their chance day by day.


Kim Carter Betty White.

In 2013 Betty White entered The Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest television career of any female entertainer. The multiple Emmy winner, well-known for her roles on "The Golden Girls" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," can currently be seen as Elka Ostrovsky in the TV Land sitcom "Hot in Cleveland." 

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Debbie Reynolds

Molly Farrell-Savage Debbie R


Roger Rifkin Debbie Reynolds. Brilliantly talented woman.


Danette Stroud Davis Debbie Reynolds and Doris Day! They both deserve one.

Stage and screen star Debbie Reynolds made her Broadway debut in the title role of the 1973 revival of Irene, a performance that garnered her a Tony nomination. She was nominated for a Best Actress in a Leading Role Academy Award for her performance in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," and she has also received five Golden Globe nominations.

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Bette Midler

Nathan Bottorff Bette Midler! She's been entertaining us for over 40 years now. The woman is a legend--actor, singer, comedienne, author, activist. She's done it all, the woman is a legend. She deserves recognition for all she's done for us.


Robin Lebeaux Bette Midler.


Grammy winner and Academy Award nominee Bette Midler was most recently seen on Broadway in the one-woman show I'll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers, for which she received Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. She also received a 1974 Special Tony Award for "adding lustre to the Broadway season."

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Arlo Guthrie

Alexandra Bryant I agree with Loretta A. Murphy... Arlo Guthrie ... Loretta says it all...


Linda Lee Bickford Arlo Guthrie, a true American hero

Lynn Bartolotta Arlo of course!!!


Pattie Partridge Arlo Guthrie my hero!


Geralynne Goguen-Winget Arlo Guthrie for keeping American History and Culture, the light and dark of it alive, so many of his contemporaries and his Dad's music would be lost forever, and it is our heritage, parts of which we must never forget, less we repeat it ....

The son of Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie is a celebrated American folk singer.   Known for protesting social injustices, he was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award in 1992.

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Doris Day

Jeff Lynn Doris Day

Sam Blair Doris Day. But because she refuses to travel, Johnny Mathis

Jill Roberts If Doris Day doesn't deserve it, then no one does.


Doris Day, a star of stage and screen, made her Broadway debut in 1936 in the Clare Boothe comedy The Women. She  was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in "Pillow Talk" and is the recipient of four Golden Globe Awards.

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Carole King

Shannon Piper Carole King. Songwriter of a generation and influence for so many current singers. She is long overdue.


Carole King has produced 25 solo albums, won four Grammy Awards and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She was also the first woman to be awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Check out this video of King performing at the Tony Awards with the cast of Beautiful, the musical based on her life and career.

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Liza Minnelli Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

Bobby Bennett LIZA MINNELLI

Mike Gillispie Liza Minnelli She's an American Treasure. A triple threat An Oscar winner, a Tony winner, A Grammy winner.


Liza Minnelli made her Broadway debut in the title role of the 1965 production of Flora, The Red Menance, a performance that earned her a Tony Award. She has also been seen on Broadway in The Act, Chicago and Victor/Victoria. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Sally Bowles in the film adaptation of Cabaret.

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Patti LuPone Photo by Ethan Hill

Louise Ashley Ryan Patti Lupone

Patti LuPone is a Tony Award winner for her performances in Evita and Gypsy and an Olivier winner for her work in Les Miserables and The Cradle Will Rock. Her recent screen credits include "Girls" and "American Horror Story: Coven."

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Bernadette Peters

Mary Seboldt Bernadette Peters

Three-time Tony winner Bernadette Peters was most recently seen on Broadway in the revival of Follies, and her numerous other credits include Mack and Mabel, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods and The Goodbye Girl. She starred as Rose in the 2003 Broadway revival of Gypsy and was seen in the NBC television series “Smash,” where she played Ivy Lynn’s (Megan Hilty) mother. Peters won Tony Awards for her performances in Song and Dance and Annie Get Your Gun.

 
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