Hawking could joke about it. From one of his guest appearances on "The Big Bang Theory", where Sheldon is having some issues when a rival has outclassed him, and Leonard brings in Hawking to have a talk with Sheldon:
Stephen Hawking : I understand you're struggling with professional jealousy.
Sheldon Cooper : Thanks, Leonard, now he's not going to think I'm cool.
Stephen Hawking : Don't worry. I know how you feel. I have never won a Nobel prize.
Penny : Oh, wow, that doesn't seem fair.
Stephen Hawking : It's fine. I've been on The Simpsons.
Sheldon Cooper : How do you deal with the success of your colleagues?
Stephen Hawking : I remind myself every scientific advancement is a victory. Also, I was on Star Trek.
The first meeting between Hawking and Cooper was pretty funny. Hawking couldn't make very much in the way of facial expressions, but you could tell he was having a good time [1].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlrOKpQ6UBI