According to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, it seems comedian George Carlin will add one more award to his collection: the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Carlin is the 11^th recipient of the award, who was previously won by stars such as Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal and Neil Simon. The first comic to receive the award in 1998 was Richard Pryor. The award will be offered to Carlin during a tribute performance that will be televised by PBS.

Stephen A. Schwarzman, the center’s chairman, explained that Carlin’s lengthy career as a comedian, writer and actor, during which he made people laugh as well as think, made him worthy to receive the prize. Also, Schwarzman said, “his [Carlin’s] influence on the next generation of comics has been far-reaching.”

The 71-year-old comedian, especially noted for his political and black humor, as well as for his carefully chosen subjects such as psychology, religion and several others considered taboo by many, was awarded four Grammy awards, spanning 1973 to 2002, while his shows have been nominated for five Emmys.

The Kennedy center said both the comedian’s material and his own special style recommended him as the perfect Twain prize recipient.

Carlin himself characterized his approach as follows: “I think it is the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.”

He surely followed his own advice back in 1978, when the U.S. Supreme Court considered he crossed the line with his routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV.” The comedian was arrested for obscenity when he performed the routine, which was included in his 1972 album “Class Clown,” in Wisconsin. Eventually, the Court decided the routine was not obscene, but indecent, and the words were banned from radio and television broadcasts when children were likely to be in the audience.

Beside his 22 solo albums, Carlin is also the author of three best-selling books. He also had several TV and movie roles.