DeGeneres receives Twain humor prize, and kudos for her courage

Ellen DeGeneres received the Mark Twain Prize for humor Monday night at the Kennedy Center, but the all-star tribute was as much about the joyful comedian’s landmark personal revelation as about her comedic talents.

Ellen — and who doesn’t know her by her first name, like Oprah or Hillary? — came out as a lesbian in 1997. That, as much as her substantial body of work as a comedian, actress and talk-show host, elicited praise and gratitude from some of her comic colleagues and contemporaries.