Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin
(born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. She has won multiple awards from many quarters, including Tony Awards, Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award and has also been nominated for an Academy Award.
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LILY TOMLIN TICKETS
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Early life
Tomlin was born in
Detroit,
Michigan, and raised in the
Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects, the daughter of Lillie Mae (née Ford), a housewife and nurse's aide, and Guy Tomlin, a factory worker.
[1] Tomlin's parents were
Southern Baptists who moved to Detroit from
Paducah, Kentucky during the
Great Depression.
[2] [3] [4] She is a 1957 graduate of
Cass Technical High School. 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.
Career
In 1969, Tomlin joined the
sketch comedy show
Laugh-In.
Some characters from the show have been associated with her throughout her career, including the wisecracking, snorting
telephone operator, Ernestine; the bratty five-year-old Edith Ann, seated in an over-sized
rocking chair making rude noises while telling stories about her baby brother and pet dog Buster; and the Tasteful Lady, who lives a gracious, na?ve life of entitlement in the upper class and shades of whom show up in Tomlin's film role in
All of Me
(see below). Additional characters include Susie the Sorority Girl, who appeared on Tomlin's album
Modern Scream
and in her 1975 appearance on
Saturday Night Live
.
Tomlin was also one of the first female comedians to break out in male drag. Though drag had been around in Hollywood for some time by men, Tomlin broke new ground by not only crossing gender stereotypes, but racial ones as well. She accomplished this in the late 70's with Pervis Hawkins, a black rhythm-and-blues soul singer (patterned after
Luther Vandross), with a mustache, beard and close-cropped
afro hairstyle, dressed in a three-piece suit. Tomlin used very little if any skin-darkening cosmetics (it usually depended on stage lighting) as part of the character.
AT&T offered Tomlin US$500,000 to play her character Ernestine in a commercial, but she declined saying it would compromise her artistic integrity. However, in 1976 she did appear as Ernestine in a parody of a commercial on
Saturday Night Live
, in which she proclaimed, "We don't care, we don't have to...we're the phone company." The character would later make a guest appearance at
The Superhighway Summit
at
UCLA, January 11, 1994, interrupting a speech being given on the
information superhighway by then-Vice President
Al Gore. In 2003, she made two commercials as Ernestine for
WebEx.
Tomlin is noted for her versatility. In Robert Altman's
Nashville
, for which she was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, she played Linnea Reese, a straitlaced, gospel-singing, mother of two deaf children who has an affair with a country singer (played by
Keith Carradine). The Oscar that year went to
Lee Grant for her role in
Shampoo
. She was also a secretary named
Violet Newstead in
Nine to Five
, performed several comedic roles in the 1981 film
The Incredible Shrinking Woman
, and was a sickly heiress in the
Steve Martin comedy
All of Me
.
She and
Bette Midler played two pairs of identical twins who were
switched at birth in the 1989 comedy
Big Business
. 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 Raku artist in
Flirting with Disaster
and later, as an existential detective in
I ? Huckabees
. In 2007, a video recording surfaced showing Tomlin and Russell in a heated exchange over the shooting of a scene in Huckabees.
Tomlin voiced Ms. Frizzle on the animated
television series The Magic School Bus
from 1994 to 1997. 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 appeared on the dramatic series
The West Wing
for four years (2002-2006) in the recurring role of presidential secretary
Deborah Fiderer.
Tomlin starred in the 1985 hit one-woman Broadway show
The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
, written by her long-time
life partner, writer/producer
Jane Wagner. The show won her 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.
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She collaborated again with director
Robert Altman, starring in the film
A Prairie Home Companion
, playing half of a middle-aged Midwestern singing duo with
Meryl Streep.
In the 2008-2009 fifth season of
Desperate Housewives
she has a recurring role as
Roberta, the sister of
Mrs. McCluskey (played by
Kathryn Joosten). Previously on
The West Wing
, Tomlin had played the successor to
Delores Landingham, the previous secretary, who was played by
Kathryn Joosten.
During the 2008
Emmy Awards, Tomlin appeared as part of a tribute to the influential 1960s television series
Laugh-In
. Tomlin voiced Tammy in the 2005
The Simpsons
episode, "
The Last of the Red Hat Mamas." Tomlin provided a voice for the film
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
, which was released in August 2009.
[5]
Since its launch in 2008, Tomlin has been a contributor for
wowOwow.com. A new website for women to talk culture, politics and gossip.
Tomlin and
Kathryn Joosten are currently in talks to star in a
Desperate Housewives
spin-off.
[6] The
Desperate Housewives
spin-off has just been given the green light.
[7]
Personal life
Tomlin met her life partner Jane Wagner in 1971. After watching an after school special written by Wagner, Tomlin invited her to Los Angeles to collaborate on a comedy album. Although Tomlin officially declared her homosexuality to the press in 2001, her sexual orientation has not really been a secret; in interviews she would often refer to Jane Wagner as her partner. As Tomlin herself stated in 2008, in an interview for ''Just Out'' magazine:
Tomlin has been involved in a number of
feminist and gay friendly film productions, and on her 1975 album
Modern Scream
she poked-fun at straight actors who make a point of distancing themselves from their homosexual characters — answering the pseudo-interview question, she replied: Her narration of the documentary
The Celluloid Closet
in 1995, a film examining Hollywood's portrayals of homosexuals, was also largely considered a nod to the
open secret of her orientation. During the optional audio commentary for the documentary, Tomlin does make mention of rejecting an offer by a magazine to discuss her personal life.
Awards
Tomlin has received numerous awards,
[9] [10] including: six Emmys; a
special 1977 Tony [11] when she was appearing in her one woman Broadway show,
Appearing Nitely
; a second Tony as Best Actress, two
Drama Desk Awards [11] and an
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
(a collection of Ernestine the Telephone Operator routines
[13]) 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.
In March 2009, Tomlin received
Fenway Health's
Dr. Susan M. Love Award for her contributions to women's health.
[14]
(Selected list)
;Tony Awards:
Best Actress in a Play
- 1986 The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
[15]
Special Tony Award
- 1977 Lifetime Achievement [11]
;Grammy Awards:
Best Comedy Album
- 1972 This Is A Recording
[17]
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;Emmy Awards:
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program
Outstanding Writing - Comedy, Variety or Music Special
- 1974 Lily
(1973 special)
- 1976 The Lily Tomlin Special
- 1978 The Paul Simon Special
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Filmography
Year
| Film
| Role
| Notes
|
1969
| Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
| Ernestine, the telephone operator; five-year-old Edith Ann; tasteful lady; other characters
|
|
1973-74
| Lily''
|
| Television special
|
1975
| The Lily Tomlin Special
|
|
|
Nashville
| Linnea Reese
| Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
|
1977
| The Late Show
| Margo Sperling
|
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1978
| Moment by Moment
| Trisha Rawlings
|
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1980
| 9 to 5
| Violet Newstead
|
|
1981
| The Incredible Shrinking Woman
| Pat Kramer/Judith Beasley
|
|
1984
| All of Me
| Edwina Cutwater
|
|
1988
| Big Business
| Rose Ratliff/Rose Shelton
|
|
1991
| The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
| Various Roles
|
|
1992
| Shadows and Fog
| Prostitute
|
|
1993
| The Beverly Hillbillies
| Miss Jane Hathaway
|
|
And the Band Played On
| Dr. Selma Dritz
|
|
Short Cuts
| Doreen Piggot
|
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1995
| Blue in the Face
| Waffle eater
|
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1996
| Getting Away with Murder
| Inga Mueller
|
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Flirting with Disaster
| Mary Schlichting
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1996-98
| Murphy Brown
| Kay Carter-Shepley
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1998
| Krippendorf's Tribe
| Prof. Ruth Allen
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The X-Files
| Lyda on "How The Ghosts Stole Christmas"
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1999
| Tea with Mussolini
| Georgie Rockwell
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2000
| Disney's The Kid
| Janet
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2002-06
| The West Wing
| Deborah Fiderer
|
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2002
| Orange County
| Charlotte Cobb
|
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2004
| I Heart Huckabees
| Vivian Jaffe
|
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2006
| A Prairie Home Companion
| Rhonda Johnson
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The Ant Bully
| Mommo
| Voice
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2007
| The Walker
| Abigail
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2008-09
| Desperate Housewives
| Roberta
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2009
| The Pink Panther 2
| Miss Berenger
|
|
Ponyo
| Kayo
| Voice
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References
- Lily Tomlin Biography
- Stage holds the magic for Tomlin
- Thoroughly Modern Lily
- Lily Tomlin Mysterious Modest and Multifaceted
- Exclusive News on Ponyo’s English Voice Talent Cast
- "Wives" Spins, ''New York Post'', May 12, 2009
- Galloping "Girls", ''New York Post'', May 18, 2009
- Radosta, Jim. "Lily Tomlin Interview." ''Just Out''.
- Lily Tomlin Awards and Nominations at Entertainment Awards Database
- Lily Tomlin Awards & Nominations at IMDB.com
- Grammy Award for comedy album ''This is a Recording''
- [1]
- Lily Tomlin Awards & Nominations at IBDB