Freeman, Streisand, Tharp & Townshend to Receive Kennedy Center Honors

Recipients of the 31st annual Kennedy Center Honors will include four individuals with ties to the theater: Morgan Freeman, Barbra Streisand, Twyla Tharp and Pete Townshend, plus Roger Daltrey Townshend's bandmate in The Who and country superstar George Jones. After receiving their awards at a State Department dinner on December 6, the honorees will gather at the Kennedy Center with President and Mrs. Bush on December 7 for star-studded gala, which will be recorded by CBS for a two-hour primetime special.

In addition to his numerous film roles, Oscar winner Freeman starred in the recent Broadway revival of The Country Girl and the original off-Broadway production of Driving Miss Daisy. Streisand's glittering career began on Broadway in the musicals I Can Get it for You Wholesale and Funny Girl. Tharp's career as a director and choreographer includes the Broadway musicals Movin' Out, Singin' in the Rain and The Times They Are A-Changin'. Townshend received a 1993 Tony Award for Best Original Score and a nomination for Best Book for The Who's Tommy.

The Kennedy Center Honors are designed to recognize lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts—whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures or television—and are selected by the Center's Board of Trustees.

"With their extraordinary genius and tenacity, the 2008 Honorees have redefined the way we see, hear and feel the performing arts," Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman said in a statement. "Morgan Freeman's name is synonymous with great screen acting and is one of the most respected performers in American cinema. With his unique voice and extraordinary career endurance, singer George Jones has been instrumental in making country music a vital force in American life. Barbra Streisand's trailblazing career in music, theater, films, and television is one of the most thrilling spectacles of our culture. Choreographer Twyla Tharp is an American original, whose work has indelibly enriched the vocabulary of modern dance, contemporary ballet, and the Broadway musical. As the heart and soul of the seminal band The Who, songwriters and singers Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey transformed the sights and sounds of rock and roll."