THE HASTY PUDDING THEATRICALS ANNOUNCES
CAMBRIDGE, MA (January 24, 2023) – The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest theatrical organization in the United States, announces actor JENNIFER COOLIDGE as the recipient of its 2023 Woman of the Year Award. From her iconic performances in The White Lotus, The Watcher, Legally Blonde, and American Pie among countless others, the Pudding is proud to celebrate a truly unique and impactful presence in the world of entertainment.
The Woman of the Year Award is the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ oldest honor, bestowed annually on performers who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment. Established in 1951, the Woman of the Year Award has been given to many notable and talented entertainers including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, Kerry Washington, and most recently Jennifer Garner, the 72nd Woman of the Year.
The Woman of the Year festivities will begin at 1:45pm on February 4th, 2023, when Ms. Coolidge will lead a parade through the streets of Harvard Square. Following the parade, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals will host a celebratory roast for Ms. Coolidge at 7:00pm, after which she will be presented with her Pudding Pot at Farkas Hall, the Hasty Pudding’s historic home in Harvard Square since 1888. A press conference will follow the presentation at 7:30pm. Afterwards, Ms. Coolidge will attend the opening night of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 174th production Cosmic Relief.
“We are so excited to welcome Jennifer Coolidge back to her hometown and to Harvard, the iconic setting of Legally Blonde. Her glittering personality and comedic presence are so Pudding,” said Man & Woman of the Year Coordinator Maya Dubin. “We know she’ll fit right into the Pudding’s musical spectacular, though she’ll still have to earn her Pudding Pot on stage.”
Producer Sarah Mann shared, “It is an absolute dream for us to honor Jennifer Coolidge as our Woman of the Year on the heels of her recent accolades for The White Lotus. We know our Pudding Pot will look phenomenal alongside her new Golden Globe, and we swear we won’t whisk her away to a palazzo in Palermo!”
Jennifer Coolidge has been a Hollywood mainstay ever since playing Stifler’s mom in the 1999 comedy classic American Pie.
Coolidge recently garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of the wealthy, unstable, and oblivious fan favorite character ‘Tanya McQuoid’ in HBO’s “The White Lotus.” Her portrayal earned her a 2022 Emmy Award, two Critics Choice Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a Gotham Award nomination and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Coolidge will next be seen starring in Amazon Prime Video’s romantic comedy Shotgun Wedding opposite Jennifer Lopez.
Coolidge was most recently seen reprising her award-winning role in Season 2 of HBO’s The White Lotus, the Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series The Watcher opposite Naomi Watts, the Netflix’s hit holiday Film Single All The Way and Magnolia’s Film drama Swan Song opposite Udo Kier.
Beloved for her role as ‘Paulette’ in the iconic Legally Blonde franchise, opposite Reese Witherspoon, and well-known for her frequent collaborations with director Christopher Guest in films such as Best In Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003) and For Your Consideration (2006), the actress and comedienne has also made scene-stealing appearances in A Cinderella Story, Pootie Tang, Sex and the City, Friends, Seinfeld, Nip/Tuck, Party Down, Inside Amy Schumer, Gentlemen Broncos, 2 Broke Girls, Down to Earth, and more.
In addition to her memorable roles in television and film, she has also voiced animated characters, performed on Broadway, and toured her own standup act in front of live audiences. Recently, Coolidge was seen in Like A Boss, co-starring Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne, and Promising Young Woman opposite Carey Mulligan.
Originally from Boston, Coolidge studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and was a nine-year veteran of The Groundlings comedy troupe in Los Angeles.
Coolidge splits her time between Los Angeles and New Orleans.
THE HASTY PUDDING THEATRICALS ANNOUNCES
BOB ODENKIRK
AS 2023 MAN OF THE YEAR
CAMBRIDGE, MA (January 19, 2023) – The Hasty Pudding Theatricals announces Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, actor, and New York Times bestselling author BOB ODENKIRK as the recipient of its 2023 Man of the Year Award. The Pudding is thrilled to present this honor to a 5-time Primetime Emmy nominee for Best Actor in a Drama Series and, most recently, the winner of the 2023 Critics Choice for Best Actor in a Drama Series for his leading role in Better Call Saul. From his performances in Breaking Bad and Nobody to his comedic brilliance with Mr. Show with Bob and David, Mr. Odenkirk has truly made an indelible mark on the world as an actor, comedian, and filmmaker.
Odenkirk next stars and executive produces the upcoming mid-life crisis tale Lucky Hank, premiering on AMC and AMC+ on Sunday, March 19. Adapted from the novel Straight Man by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo, Lucky Hank is told in the first person by William Henry Devereaux, Jr. (Odenkirk), the unlikely chairman of the English department in a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt.
The Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Man and Woman of the Year Awards are presented annually to performers who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment. The Man of the Year award was established in 1967, with past recipients including Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds, and last year’s recipient Jason Bateman, the 55th Man of the Year.
The Man of the Year festivities will take place on Thursday, February 2nd, 2023. The Hasty Pudding Theatricals will host a celebratory roast for Mr. Odenkirk at 6:00pm and present him with his Pudding Pot at Farkas Hall, the Pudding’s historic home in the heart of Harvard Square since 1888. A press conference will follow the roast at 6:20pm. Afterwards, Mr. Odenkirk will attend a preview of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 174th production Cosmic Relief.
“When choosing our 2023 Man of the Year, I immediately knew we better call Bob Odenkirk,” said Producer Aidan Golub. “We’re cooking up a lot of surprises to celebrate Mr. Odenkirk’s contributions to the world of comedy both in front of and behind the camera.”
“When I heard that Bob Odenkirk would be Man of the Year, I thought, ‘Lucky Hank? More like lucky us!’ It’s funny, get it? Because Bob Odenkirk will be our Man of the Year. Wait, this isn’t actually going in the press release, right?” said President Lyndsey Mugford.
Bob Odenkirk is an Emmy Award-winning comedy writer, producer, actor, and New York Times bestselling author.
In 2015, Bob Odenkirk reprised the character he originated on the hit drama Breaking Bad, playing the title role in AMC’s Better Call Saul, which has earned him three Critics Choice TV Awards and Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Award nominations. The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul premiered in 2022. Odenkirk also serves as a producer.
Most recently, Odenkirk produced and starred in the action thriller Nobody with writer Derek Kolstad (John Wick film series) and director Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry), which opened at #1 in the US box office. In March 2022, Bob’s released his third book, a memoir entitled “Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama” which instantly landed #2 on the NY Times bestseller list. That same month, he launched the Audible podcast series “Summer in Argyle,” which he co-wrote with his son Nate Odenkirk.
For his work on Saturday Night Live, Odenkirk garnered an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program” in 1989. The “Motivational Speaker” sketch Odenkirk wrote for his friend Chris Farley, which originated at Second City in Chicago, was named by Rolling Stone magazine as the best SNL sketch of all time. In 1993, Odenkirk earned another Emmy Award for writing on The Ben Stiller Show.
Odenkirk co-created and starred in Mr. Show with Bob and David, which ran on HBO for four years (1985-1989) and has been called “the American Monty Python.” As an actor he has brought many film and television characters to life, including “Stevie Grant” in The Larry Sanders Show, ex-porn star “Gil Bang” in Curb Your Enthusiasm, “Ross Grant” in Alexander Payne’s acclaimed feature Nebraska, and “Bill Oswalt” on the FX series Fargo.
Over the years Odenkirk has been instrumental in helping emerging comedy writer/performers get their work on the air. He was an executive producer of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim’s first Adult Swim series Tom Goes to the Mayor and was a consultant on their subsequent shows Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule. In 2013, Odenkirk teamed up with the young comedy group The Birthday Boys to executive produce their sketch show on IFC, which ran for two seasons.
In 2016, Odenkirk was seen in the 4-part sketch show With Bob and David, which he starred in and executive produced with David Cross. Recent credits include Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen’s Long Shot; Girlfriend’s Day for Netflix, which he also wrote; No Activity for CBS All Access; Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated The Post alongside Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks; and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, opposite a stellar cast including Laura Dern, Saoirse Ronan, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalamet, and Emma Watson. Odenkirk also lent his voice to Disney Pixar’s Incredibles 2, as ‘Winston Deavor’ a telecommunications mogul who brings the Supers out of retirement.
In 2013, Odenkirk co-wrote, along with David Cross and Brian Posehn, the New York Times bestseller “Hollywood Said No!” a collection of their unproduced screenplays. In October 2014, McSweeney’s published a book of Odenkirk’s comedy writing titled “A Load of Hooey.”
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The Hasty Pudding Theatricals gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our corporate sponsor, The Harvard Cooperative Society (https://store.thecoop.com/).
