Kerry Washington has been chosen to receive the 2016 Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Award, honoring a “talented and socially engaged film, TV, and stage actress who keeps breaking barriers in Hollywood,” the Harvard student group announced on January 6. She joins an elite list of actresses honored by the nation’s oldest undergraduate drama troupe, among them Katharine Hepburn, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Helen Mirren, Elizabeth Taylor, Anne Hathaway, Claire Danes, and, most recently, Amy Poehler.
“We are so excited to honor Kerry Washington as the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year and welcome her to Cambridge to celebrate her many achievements,” said Kennedy Edmonds ’17, producer of the group’s forthcoming show. “Kerry is an amazing actress with many fans in the company, and the perfect choice for this honor…But we also feel a bit nervous as we set out to coordinate a perfect event for legendary PR whiz Olivia Pope!”
Known best for her portrayal of crisis manager Olivia Pope on ABC’s Scandal, Washington has earned multiple Golden Globe, Emmy, and SAG Best Actress nominations, as well as an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress. In addition to many film credits—including Lift and Django Unchained—she has produced, and will star as Anita Hill in, a new HBO movie, Confirmation, depicting Clarence Thomas’s 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
"Uh-oh. Here we go… #HastyPudding #Honored So excited!!!!" the actress tweeted Wednesday.
The Woman of the Year festivities will begin at 2:45 p.m. on January 28, when Washington will lead a short parade through Harvard Square. Following the parade, Hasty Pudding Theatricals will host a celebratory roast for the actress at Farkas Hall. At 4 p.m., Washington will be presented with her Pudding Pot, before Hasty Pudding cast members perform musical numbers from the group’s 168th production, That 1770s Show.
