CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Sarah Jessica Parker brought her "Sex and the City" charms Thursday to Harvard University where she was honored by the Hasty Pudding Theatricals as its Woman of the Year.
The oldest undergraduate drama group in the nation awarded its traditional Pudding Pot to Parker, citing her "lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment" on stage, screen and television.
"This is as close as I'll get to any college degree," said Parker, who spent most of her life working on the stage, screen and television since the age of eight.
Parker, flanked and nearby obscured from street-level view by more than a dozen Hasty Pudding members garishly dressed in drag, was feted with a parade through Harvard Square leading to the award presentation at the Hasty Pudding Theater.
"I can't see her," said more than one disappointed onlooker among the hundreds who lined Massachusetts Avenue.
"Hey look up here," yelled a group of people with a better view from a second floor balcony.
In the theater, following tradition, Parker had to "earn" her Pudding pot by improvising scenes from her past performances. She got down on her knees for "It's a Hard Knock Life" from her starring role in the Broadway musical "Annie," did some dancing from the movie "Footloose," and sang "Tomorrow," also from "Annie."
She was also required to "seduce" a green dragon.
"I like your scales," she purred in her best "Sex and the City" voice.
The dragon, as best he could, being green, blushed.
Obviously enjoying her time at Harvard, Parker frequently used a disposable camera to snap pictures of the Hasty Pudding cast members during what she called "just a delightful day."
Later, at a news conference, Parker told reporters in mock seriousness that, "I really believe this is the highest honor in the land. I feel like there's nothing else I have to do in life."
Turning serious, though, she said of the Pudding Pot honor, "This is in a league all by itself."
She said she was "honored to be among those who have won it in the past," a list that includes the first honoree in 1951, Gertrude Lawrence, and other entertainers including Lucille Ball, Elizabeth Taylor, Julie Andrews, Cher, Meg Ryan, Sigourney Weaver, Whoopi Goldberg, Kathleen Turner and last year's winner, Drew Barrymore.
As for the Pudding Pot, Parker, 37, who is married to actor Matthew Broderick, said she plans to "find a place that's deserving of it, but modest."
Parker is in the fifth season filming the HBO series "Sex and the City," for which she has won three Best Actress Golden Globe awards
Hasty Pudding Theatricals next Thursday will honor its Man of the Year, Bruce Willis.
