Lily Tomlin

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).

Acknowledged that she has been in a romantic relationship with Jane Wagner since 1971.

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 for 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.

Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1977" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 29.

Was to star in a film called Illegitimate around 1980 but the film was never made. [Originally reported in "Playboy" magazine].

She gave away genuine locks of her hair as a bonus for buyers of her home video library in 1993.

(25 May 1999) Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada - guest speaker for Exceptional Experiences lecture series. [May 1999]

In 2002, Lily Tomlin was The Women's Image Network (WIN) Awards Lifetime Achievement Honoree which Director David O. Russell presented onstage as an opera singer serenading Lily on his one bended knee.

Won the Kennedy Center's prestigious Mark Twain Prize for Humor in 2003.

With Meryl Streep presented Robert Altman with his honorary Oscar on March 5th, 2006 at the 78th Academy Awards ceremony.

Nominated in the Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, "Eastbound & Down", at The Women's Image Network (WIN) Awards 2012.

(December 31, 2013) Married her girlfriend of 42 years Jane Wagner. They met in March 1971.

A recipient of the 2014 Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipients this year were Al Green, Tom Hanks, Patricia McBride, and Sting.

Nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category for her role as Frankie Bergstein in Grace and Frankie (2015), but lost to Rachel Brosnahan from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017).