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Lily Tomlin (b. Mary Jean Tomlin, September 1, 1939) is an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. Tomlin's body of work, which has spanned over 40 years, has garnered her several Tony Awards and Emmy Awards, as well as a Grammy Award.
BiographyEarly life
Tomlin attended Wayne State University, where her interest in the theater and performing arts began. After college, Tomlin began doing stand-up comedy in nightclubs in Detroit and later, in New York City. Her first television appearance was on The Merv Griffin Show in 1965. CareerIn 1969, Tomlin joined the sketch comedy show Laugh-In. Her characters from the show have been associated with her throughout her career, including the gum-chewing, wisecracking, snorting telephone operator Ernestine and the bratty five-year-old Edith Ann, rocking in her oversized rocking chair and making rude noises. AT&T offered Tomlin US$500,000 to film a commercial using her character Ernestine, but Tomlin declined because she thought it would compromise her artistic integrity. About that same time, however, she did star as Ernestine in a parody of a commercial on a Saturday Night Live in 1976, in which she proclaimed, "We don't care, we don't have to...we're the phone company." In 2003 she made two commercials as Ernestine for the WebEx.
She and Bette Midler played two pairs of identical twins who were switched at birth in the 1989 comedy Big Business, set at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Tomlin also played chain-smoking waitress Doreen Piggott in Altman's 1993 ensemble film Short Cuts, and, in two films by director David O. Russell, she appeared as a peacenik and Raku artist in Flirting with Disaster and later, as an existential detective in I ♥ Huckabees. Tomlin voiced the Ms. Frizzle character on the animated television series The Magic School Bus from 1994 to 1998. Also, in the 1990s Tomlin appeared on the popular sitcom Murphy Brown as the title character's boss. In 2005 and 2006, she had a recurring role as Will Truman's boss Margot on Will & Grace. She starred on The West Wing TV series for four years, between 2002 and the series' end in 2006, Tomlin played Presidential secretary Deborah Fiderer. Tomlin starred in the hit 1985 one-woman Broadway show The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, written by her long-time life partner, Jane Wagner. The show won Tomlin a Tony Award, and was made into a feature film in 1991. Tomlin revived the show for a brief run in 2000. In 1989 she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre. Tomlin recently collaborated again with director Robert Altman starring in A Prairie Home Companion, in which she plays half of a middle-aged Midwestern singing duo with Meryl Streep. Personal lifeThough Tomlin has now confirmed her sexual orientation in the press, it was, for many years, an open secret among many, including the gay press. Before she officially 'came out', she was known for her involvement in feminist and gay-friendly film productions, and would often refer to her girlfriend Wagner. On her 1975 album Modern Scream she mocked straight actors who make a point of distancing themselves from their gay characters; answering the pseudo-interview question, How did it feel to play a heterosexual? she replied, I've seen these women all my life, I know how they walk, I know how they talk ... . Her narration of the documentary The Celluloid Closet in 1995 was also largely considered a nod to the open secret of her orientation. However, in the 1990s she refused to discuss her private life with the press, until 2000 when she came out on the New York City cable-access TV program Gay USA. As with many successful gay performers, some of her fans are still oblivious to her "private life". AwardsTomlin has received numerous awards, including: six Emmys; a Tony for her one woman Broadway show, Appearing Nitely; a second Tony as Best Actress, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for her one woman performance in Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe; a CableACE Award for Executive Producing the film adaptation of The Search; a Grammy Award for her comedy album, This is a Recording as well as nominations for her subsequent albums Modern Scream, And That's the Truth, and On Stage; and two Peabody Awards—the first for the ABC television special, Edith Ann’s Christmas: Just Say Noël and the second for narrating and executive producing the HBO film, The Celluloid Closet. Tomlin was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2003 she was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Special Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album Filmography
QuotesErnestine (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In)
Edith Ann:(Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In)
Trivia
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