Lily Tomlin

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Birthday:

1 September 1939, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Birth Name:

Mary Jean Tomlin

Height:

166 cm

Lily Tomlin was born September 1, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, to Lillie Mae (Ford) and Guy Tomlin, who moved to Michigan from Paducah, Kentucky, during the Great Depression. Her mother was a nurse's aide and her father was a factory worker. She graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1957, and later enrolled at Wayne State University. She began career by doing stand-up comedy in nightclubs in Detroit and New York City. Her first television appearance was on "The Merv Griffin Show". She went on to have astronomical success with several characters, notably, Ernestine, a nosy, condescending telephone operator who generally treated customers with little sympathy and regard, on Laugh-In (1967). Other notable characters are in film include, Linnea Reese, a gospel-singing mother of two deaf children who has an affair with a womanizing country singer (played by (Keith Carradine) in Robert Altman's Nashville (1975). A performance for which she was nominated an Academy Award. Violet Newstead who joins her on-screen coworkers (played by Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton) in seeking revenge on their monstrous and sexist boss, Franklin M. Hart Jr., (played by Dabney Coleman) in the comedy Nine to Five (1980), The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), Doreen Piggot in Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), Cher's best-friend and American compatriot Georgie Rockwell in Tea with Mussolini (1999), deadpan private investigator, and existentialist Vivian Jaffe in I Heart Huckabees (2004), and Country-Western singer Rhonda Johnson in Robert Altman's final film A Prairie Home Companion (2006). Show less «

There will be sex after death - we just won't be able to feel it.

I've been around a long time, and I interviewed with a lot of the same people over and over. I was always direct and open about my life. I w...Show more »

I've been around a long time, and I interviewed with a lot of the same people over and over. I was always direct and open about my life. I would always reference Jane [Wagner] and everything, but they never choose to write about it that way -- just like they never wrote about Jack Kennedy and the women in the swimming pool. It was the times, but the media culture has changed. Show less «

I remember back in the 70s during my really assertive days someone took me to dinner with Lola Falana. And she was talking about her backup ...Show more »

I remember back in the 70s during my really assertive days someone took me to dinner with Lola Falana. And she was talking about her backup dancers; she kept calling them her "boy dancers" so my guard was already up. Then she said "I also like John. He's a real purse nelly". I said "Excuse me? What did you just say". I was ready to go to battle. "You know," she says in her thick accent. "Purse Nelly! Pursnelly!" Then I realized she was saying he had a good personality. Show less «

Why is it that when we talk to God we're said to be praying but when God talks to us we're schizophrenic?

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.

[when asked about her complexion during her career at Laugh-In (1967)] "I've never had a pimple in my whole life - and that's the truth".

If love is the answer, could you rephrase the question.

If you read a lot of books, you're considered well-read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well-viewed.

I had a friend who was getting married. I gave her a subscription to the magazine "Modern Bride". The subscription lasted longer than the ma...Show more »

I had a friend who was getting married. I gave her a subscription to the magazine "Modern Bride". The subscription lasted longer than the marriage. Show less «

Reality is a crutch for people who can't cope with drugs.

[on John Travolta] Maybe the major thing is how sensual he is. And sexy too. The sensitivity and the sexuality are very strong. It's as if h...Show more »

[on John Travolta] Maybe the major thing is how sensual he is. And sexy too. The sensitivity and the sexuality are very strong. It's as if he had every dichotomy -- masculinity, femininity, refinement, crudity. You see him, you fall in love a little bit. Show less «

Just remember. We're all in this alone.

[when Tomlin was asked how she felt when 'Ellen Degeneres' came out as a lesbian] "I felt jealous. Because I'd been around much longer, and ...Show more »

[when Tomlin was asked how she felt when 'Ellen Degeneres' came out as a lesbian] "I felt jealous. Because I'd been around much longer, and I'm gay. I admired her but at the same time, I thought, 'oh, darn it! I wish that that had been me. I would have liked to have left that legacy.' So I'm extremely proud of her. When I say I was jealous, I was jealous in a good way. I thought it was an extraordinary moment". Show less «

You have to cultivate an audience to think more about women. Too many people think about women as necessary, but not 'so' necessary. They ar...Show more »

You have to cultivate an audience to think more about women. Too many people think about women as necessary, but not 'so' necessary. They are as necessary as we need them to be. The power structure doesn't give it up that easy. Even at Sundance, only 25% of the films have women behind the camera in some kind of way. It's slow because you've got to get women in positions of power to extend that hand and get funding for women-led projects. Y Show less «

I've lived a long time, and I've always had to make my own way. I remember when I was eighteen, Ray Valente who was head of casting at Scree...Show more »

I've lived a long time, and I've always had to make my own way. I remember when I was eighteen, Ray Valente who was head of casting at Screen Gems, said, 'Lily, some day there will be parts for gals like you' and I said I couldn't wait that long. So I started making my own parts. Show less «