Jay Leno’s career came full circle when he accepted the Hasty Pudding Theatricals 2011 Man of the Year Award, an honor he said he coveted as a kid, on Friday night.
“I was a roundabout here 35 years ago, but it never occurred to me that I would be here,” Leno said after receiving the Pudding Pot.
The Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Pudding Pot is “presented annually to performers who have made a lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment,” according to the Harvard News Office.
About 300 students and Boston residents gathered in the New College Theatre to watch the producers of Hasty Pudding’s spring show, “Kashmir If You Can,” perform a roast of Leno.
“He’s inspired millions, millions of viewers to turn to TBS,” one of the producers said during the roast in reference to Harvard alumnus Conan O’Brien’s move to the station.
“I don’t think they have any more late night hosts coming from Harvard,” Leno said, after some of the jokes failed to produce much laughter.
Before he was able to accept his award, Leno had to complete three tasks to prove his worth. Each of the tasks involved actors in drag from the Hasty Pudding Theatre Company portraying celebrities and famous figures.
First, Leno had to make the audience laugh more than Hamlet, who was reading some of Leno’s opening monologues while Leno read some of Hamlet’s famous lines.
Next, he gave three celebrities something they covet: Al Gore his presidency, Natalie Portman her Oscar and Carrot Top a job.
Finally, Leno outperformed three female icons: being more offensive than Joan Rivers, dancing better than Ellen Degeneres and yelling celebrities’ names louder than Oprah Winfrey.
The night turned more serious when Leno accepted the pudding pot, his appreciation of the award apparent.
“When I was a kid, I would always come here, realizing this was as close to Harvard as I’d ever get,” Leno said. “But I came because Hasty Pudding was show business, and I was always the kid with his nose to the window looking and following this organization.”
“Until tonight, I had never stood on the stage…where I wanted to be,” he said.
Leno also gave homage to other performers who had helped him through the years, thanking Johnny Carson and Steve Martin among others.
“I wouldn’t be here without Steve Martin and in fact, I got more work from the help of other performers than I ever got from an agent,” he said.
Leno said it was actor Jack Lemmon who served as his biggest motivation throughout his career.
As a teenager, Leno said he would drive Lemmon and other celebrities to Logan Airport. When Leno eventually moved to Los Angeles, Lemmon would ask, “Hey, you got that award yet?”
He finally did, and dedicated the award to “Jack Lemmon, my good friend.”
In a press conference following the award ceremony, Leno stressed the importance of giving back and encouraging aspiring performers to seek out the guidance of current celebrities.
“Find a performer and write to them. Most people like to help others,” he said. “For example, except for one, none of the writers on my show had written before, but they wrote to me with a few jokes and showed a desire. So I gave them a chance.”
Leno also showed great appreciation for the award’s tradition and Hasty Pudding’s history.
“It is first just great fun. There is no other theater group with this history,” he said. “Raised around here, you grow up in the shadow of Harvard.”
Students who attended said they believed that Leno was very deserving of the award, which has in the past gone to Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and last year to Justin Timberlake.
“He is truly an icon,” said Stephen Burke, a freshman at Harvard University. “Throughout his career on ‘The Tonight Show,’ he has always remained very professional and very current.”
He is completely deserving of the award, said Matt Condakes, a Harvard freshman.
“All the years Jay Leno has spent on The Tonight Show have been for our entertainment,” Condakes said. “He has not succumbed to scandal or gotten caught up in controversy. I think he’s a good role model for young performers.”
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