DeGeneres lands Mark Twain humor prize; Seacrest buys her house

Ellen DeGeneres just landed a major honor in the form of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, while pal Ryan Seacrest landed something pretty cool himself: DeGeneres’ Beverly Hills house.

DeGeneres becomes the 15th comic superstar selected for the honor by the Kennedy Center, including original 1998 honoree Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, Tina Fey and Steve Martin.

Ellen’s “special brand of humor has allowed us to find hilarity in the mundane and has kept us laughing for years,” Kennedy Center chairman David M. Rubenstein said.

“It’s such an honor to receive the Mark Twain Prize,” the talk show host said in a statement. “To get the same award that has been given to people like Bill Cosby, Tina Fey and Will Ferrell, it really makes me wonder ... why didn’t I get this sooner?”

DeGeneres will accept the award Oct. 22 in Washington, D.C. And she’s got housekeeping to occupy her in the meantime.

After she and wife Portia de Rossi locked up Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Malibu home in December, they listed the well-appointed Beverly Hills pad where they wed at $49 million. Seacrest may have gotten a relative bargain: E! Online sources said a deal was struck at $37 million. Good move, because he recently relisted his Hollywood Hills home at a reduced price.

The nearly 3-acre estate, with sweeping views and a pool, should do right by the “American Idol” host and his live-in girlfriend, Julianne Hough.

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Follow Matt Donnelly on Twitter @mattdonnelly.