LILY TOMLIN

'Lily Tomlin' (born September 1, 1939) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress, 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.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

''I ♥ Huckabees'' controversy

Personal life

Awards

Filmography

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Tomlin was born 'Mary Jean Tomlin' in Detroit, Michigan to Guy Tomlin, a factory worker, and his wife Lillie Mae (Ford), a housewife and nurse's aide^[1] who moved to Detroit from Paducah, Kentucky during the Great Depression. 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.'' 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 $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 WebEx. 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.
Tomlin is noted for her versatility. For example, in Robert Altman's ''Nashville'', for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, she played Linnea Reese, a strait-laced, gospel-singing mother of two deaf children who has an affair with a country singer played by Keith Carradine, who sings ''I'm Easy'' for her in a crowded nightclub. She was also secretary Violet Newstead in ''Nine to Five'', performed several roles in the 1981 comedy 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'', 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 Raku artist in ''Flirting with Disaster'' and later, as an existential detective in ''I ♥ Huckabees''.
Tomlin voiced Ms. Frizzle 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, playing 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, playing half of a middle-aged Midwestern singing duo with Meryl Streep.

''I ♥ Huckabees'' controversy

Two heated, profane clips of Tomlin clashing with director David O. Russell during the filming of ''I ♥ Huckabees'' were posted to YouTube in March 2007 and briefly caused an internet sensation. When asked to comment by the ''Miami New Times'' she replied, “Adults have fights and go through stuff...I know some people are more dignified in the world, that if you transgress against that kind of professionalism, that it’s some kind of great sin, but I don’t see it that way.” She said the arguments with Russell were “in a way liberating…now it’s all over, and so what, and I don’t have to keep up some great pretention I’m the most dignified, eloquent, elegant, perfect, smart-thinking, kind, generous person. I’m just a plain old human with a whole bunch of flaws...After poor Britney Spears, with her poor little legs open...I’m not the least bit upset about it. That’s part of the upside and the downside of the Internet.”^[2]

Personal life

Though 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''.

Awards

Tomlin 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'

★ 1986 ''The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe''
'Special Tony Award'

★ 1977
'Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program'

★ 1981 ''
'Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Special'

★ 1978 ''The Paul Simon Special''

★ 1976 ''The Lily Tomlin Special''

★ 1974 ''Lily''
'Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album'

★ 1972 ''This Is A Recording''

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''	Ernestine, the telephone operator; five -year old Edith Ann; tasteful lady; other characters
1975	''Nashville''	Linnea Reese	Academy Award nomination - Best Supporting Actress
1977	''The Late Show''	Margo Sperling
1978	''Moment by Moment''	Trisha Rawlings
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
1995	''Blue in the Face''	Waffle eater
1996	''Getting Away with Murder''	Inga Mueller
	''Flirting with Disaster''	Mary Schlichting
1996-98	''Murphy Brown''	Kay Carter-Shepley
1998	''Krippendorf's Tribe''	Prof. Ruth Allen
1999	''Tea with Mussolini''	Georgie Rockwell
2000	''The Kid''	Janet
2002-06	''The West Wing''	Deborah Fiderer
2002	''Orange County''	Charlotte Cobb
2004	''I Heart Huckabees''	Vivian
2006	''The Ant Bully''	Mommo	Voice
	''A Prairie Home Companion''	Rhonda Johnson

References

1. http://www.filmreference.com/film/5/Lily-Tomlin.html
2. Lily Tomlin Reacts to Leaked Videos Frank Houston

External links

★ Lily Tomlin Official website

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★

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★ Lily Tomlin profile at AfterEllen.com

★ AARP Magazine: Who's Lily Now?

★ outlineschicago.com article "Lily Tomlin Comes Out: Explains Her Past Reluctance"

★ Time Magazine cover: March 28, 1977

★ Lily Tomlin Quotes - The Quotations Page

★ Lily Tomlin - BrainyQuote.com

★ Metro Weekly interview

★ The Advocate interview March 15, 2005