US comedian Ellen DeGeneres is to receive America’s top comedy prize later this month.The award-winning chat show host will be presented with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, at the John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.Jimmy Kimmel, Kristin Chenoweth and Jason Mraz are among those who will perform tributes to the star.Past winners of the accolade include Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal and Will Ferrell who was last year’s recipient.DeGeneres made history on her sitcom Ellen in 1997, when she became the first lead character on a prime-time US TV show to reveal she was gay.Her chat show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, has won 38 Emmy awards over its 10 seasons and she has appeared on the Forbes list of the 100 Most Powerful Women.A former host of the Academy Awards and Primetime Emmys, she has also featured in several films including Ron Howard’s EDtv and The Love Letter starring Bill Pullman.This year’s ceremony will be broadcast in the US on PBS on 22 October, 2012. BBC