Coolidge honored as Woman of the Year

The Norwell native joins Bob Odenkirk for the year's honors

Jennifer Coolidge, who first gained fame as the sultry “Stifler’s Mom” in the “American Pie” series of sex comedies and has garnered critical acclaim in HBO’s current series “The White Lotus,” is Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Woman of the Year.

Coolidge, who grew up in Norwell, wound her way back to Greater Boston to participate in a parade in single-digit temperatures to honor her new award. The 73rd Woman of the Year joins the likes of Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson and, most recently, Jennifer Garner to be honored by the premier Harvard performing arts organization.

“We are so excited to welcome Jennifer Coolidge back to her hometown and to Harvard, the iconic setting of Legally Blonde,” said Man & Woman of the Year Coordinator Maya Dubin. “Her glittering personality and comedic presence are so Pudding.

“We know she’ll fit right into the Pudding’s musical spectacular, though she’ll still have to earn her Pudding Pot on stage,” Dubin continued.

Coolidge, whose “American Pie” character became a household name starting with the first movie in 1999 became a mainstay in the mockumentaries directed by Christopher Guest, beginning with “Best in Show” the following year.

“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,” said producer Sarah Mann. “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!”

Coolidge’s male counterpart, Bob Odenkirk was awarded Man of the Year on Thursday. The award-winning actor started off on the absurdist HBO sketch comedy show “Mr. Show” before really breaking out as the sleazy lawyer to meth kingpins Saul Goodman on “Breaking Bad” and refining the role in his own show “Better Call Saul.”

PAUL CONNORS — BOSTON HERALD Actor Jennifer Coolidge, center, the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year, flanked by cast members Lyndsey Mumford, left, and Nikita Hair, right, waves a stuffed pig that was tossed down to her from a second-story window during a parade in her honor Saturday in Cambridge.

PAUL CONNORS — BOSTON HERALD Actor Jennifer Coolidge, center, the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year, is kissed by cast members Lyndsey Mumford, left, and Nikita Hair, right, during a parade in her honor Saturday in Cambridge.