Hasty Pudding to Honor Johnny Carson, Liz Taylor

Longtime NBC "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson and sometime "Tonight Show" guest Elizabeth Taylor will travel to Cambridge separately next month to accept the Hasty Pudding's Man and Woman of the Year awards.

The Pudding's 27th Woman of the Year, whose still-active film career dates back to roles in "National Velvet" and "Lassie Come Home," will parade through the streets of Cambridge on February 15.

Feminine Arts

In announcing their choice, officers of the Pudding said last week, "The Woman of the Year award is given to an outstanding woman of the theater who best demonstrates 'great artistic skills and feminine qualities.' In recognition of her extensive film career and role in the entertainment world, Elizabeth Taylor was the unanimous choice for this award."

Although the officers have declined to confirm Carson's appearance, in a statement last week Carson said he is "very thrilled and flattered" to accept the award and that he is "looking forward to coming back to Harvard to spend a day."

No Notoriety

The Man of the Year award will be presented February 25, the opening night of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals annual musical comedy.

Richard Palmer, an officer of the Pudding, said last week that award recipients are selected "more for preeminence over the years and great artistic skill that stretches for a great number of years, than for notoriety in recent years."

Past Hasty Pudding Men and Women of the Year include Warren Beatty, Bette Midler, Valerie Harper, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hep burn, Jane Fonda and Liz Micelle.

In recent years, Carson has divided his time between hosting the "Tonight Show" and appearing in his own nightclub act. Taylor's career has spanned four decades, and includes such memorable cinematic outings as "Butterfield 8," "Cleopatra," and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?".