Tina Fey was born on May 18, 1970 in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. After being exposed to comedy early, she took up drama at the University of Virginia, and proceeded to train at The Second City, an improvisational theater in Chicago. By 1994, she was invited to join the theater’s cast, appearing in many improv productions.
Fey first gained prominence as a member of the late night comedy show Saturday Night Live. She joined the show as a writer in 1997, later becoming the show’s first female head writer in 1999. The program was undergoing many changes, and when Colin Quinn left the show, SNL producer Lorne Michaels scrambled to refresh the format of the long-running segment “Weekend Update.” Fey was later recruited as a featured player on the show, and was given “Weekend Update” co-hosting duties with Jimmy Fallon. The audience’s reaction was positive, and she was later promoted to full time cast member.
Fey’s tenure on Saturday Night Live was marked by many popular segments, including parodies of Live with Regis and Kelly and The View, and sketches she co-wrote with Rachel Dratch. She also co-hosted “Weekend Update” throughout her entire SNL stint; in 2004, her co-host Fallon left and was replaced by Amy Poehler, the first time two women were given co-anchoring duties on the segment.
Fey left the show in 2006 to develop the sitcom 30 Rock. Inspired by her experiences as a writer for SNL, she wrote the series for NBC’s 2006 season, and also stars in it. She played the role of Liz Lemon, the headwriter of a fictional variety show (hosted by Tracy Morgan’s character) who has to deal with her stars, staff and the new network executive (Alec Baldwin). The series won the Emmy for Best Comedy Series in 2007, and she also won acting awards for the show from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Fey has also dabbled in films, having written and starred in the film Mean Girls, which is topbilled by Lindsay Lohan. She also wrote and starred in the film Baby Mama, where she collaborated with Poehler. She also continues to perform on stage, notably in the critically acclaimed two-woman show Dratch & Fey, with Rachel Dratch, in 2000.
Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
- She married Jeff Richmond on June 3, 2001 and gave birth to their daughter, Alice on September 10, 2005.
- She used to be a writer and performer on Chicago's famed Second City comedy troupe, where she meet her husband.
- After completing her studies at Upper Darby High School, she attended the University of Virginia and graduated in 1992.
- She is one of the alumni of the Famous Improv Olympic.
- Her husband revealed that the scar on her left cheek was made by a stranger who slashed her face when she was five years old.
- Her father is German/Scottish-American and her mother is Greek.
2010: Writers Guild of America Awards - Comedy Series for: "30 Rock". Shared.
2010: Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie Actress: Comedy for: Date Night
2010: Screen Actors Guild Awards - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for: "30 Rock"
2010: PGA Awards - Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic - Comedy for: "30 Rock". Shared.
2009: Screen Actors Guild Awards - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for: "30 Rock"
2009: Screen Actors Guild Awards - Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for: "30 Rock". Shared.
2009: Writers Guild of America Awards - Comedy Series for: "30 Rock". Shared.
2009: PGA Awards - Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic - Comedy for: "30 Rock". Shared.
2009: People's Choice Award - Favorite Funny Female Star
2009: Golden Globe Awards - Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for: "30 Rock"
2009: Emmy Awards - Outstanding Comedy Series for: "30 Rock". Shared.
2008: Television Critics Association Awards - Individual Achievement in Comedy for: "30 Rock"
2008: Screen Actors Guild Awards - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for: "30 Rock"
2008: Golden Globe Awards - Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for: "30 Rock"
2008: Gracie Allen Awards - Outstanding Female Lead - Comedy Series for: "30 Rock"
2008: Writers Guild of America Awards - Comedy Series for: "30 Rock". Shared.
2008: PGA Awards - Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic - Comedy for: "30 Rock". Shared.
2008: Emmy Awards - Outstanding Comedy Series for: "30 Rock". Shared.
2007: Gracie Allen Awards - Outstanding Female Lead - Comedy Series for: "30 Rock"
2007: Emmy Awards - Outstanding Comedy Series for: "30 Rock". Shared.
2007: Writers Guild of America Awards - Comedy/Variety - (Including Talk) Series for: "Saturday Night Live". Shared.
2002: Emmy Awards - Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program for: "Saturday Night Live". Shared.
2001: Writers Guild of America Awards - Comedy/Variety - Music, Awards, Tributes - Specials - Any Length for: Saturday Night Live 25. Shared.
2006-2011: 30 Rock (TV series) - Liz Lemon
2010: Megamind (voice) - Roxanne Ritchi
1998-2010: Saturday Night Live (TV series) - Various
2010: Date Night - Claire Foster
2009: The Invention of Lying - Shelley
2008: Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursday (TV series) - Gov. Sarah Palin
2008: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (voice: English version) - Lisa
2008: Baby Mama - Kate
2007: Sesame Street (TV series) - Bookaneer Captain
2007: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (voice) - Burrito
2005: Beer League - Front Desk Girl
2005: A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T.: Improv (TV movie) - Performer
2004: Mean Girls - Ms. Norbury
2002: Martin & Orloff - Southern Woman
1999: Deer Avenger 2: Deer in the City (Video Game) (voice / as Tina Faye) - Additional Voices
1999: Upright Citizens Brigade (TV series) - Kerri Downey
"I honestly think I'm not working any harder than any working mom anywhere else, I'm at least getting to work on things that are exciting and fun.
I had to get back to work, NBC has me under contract. The baby and I only have a verbal agreement."
"It's just so gratifying to see her poop! You never thought your whole day would be hinged on someone else pooping. The other day I got a booger out of her nose with a Q-tip, and it was so satisfying. It was the best thing I had done all day!"
"Never punch a girl in the boob, or she will kick you in the nards."
"It's an honor to be anywhere, actually, and a deep, deep privilege to be wearing a bra and shoes."
"We're out of cereal? What are we going to do? Do you think there's some kind of cereal fairy who we can pay $1,500 a week to buy us more cereal?"
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"I've built a man's life for myself."
"I wanted to stop doing 'Saturday Night Live' so I could spend more time with Star Jones."
"I became immersed in the cult of improvisation. I was like one of those athletes trying to get into the Olympics. It was all about blind focus. I was so sure that I was doing exactly what I'd been put on this earth to do, and I would have done anything to make it onto that stage."
"I think if you ask any of us here, we all dreamed of ending up on Saturday Night Live. I remember thinking, 'I'll just keep doing this as long as I can get away with it.'"
"I was a mostly happy child, though I had a pretty rough puberty. Growing up as a girl is always traumatizing, especially when you have the deadly combination of greasy skin and getting your boobs at ten. But I think it's good to grow up that way. It builds character."
"If you want to make an audience laugh, you dress a man up like an old lady and push her down the stairs. If you want to make comedy writers laugh, you push an actual old lady down the stairs."
"Yeah, it's tough being smart and sexy, too. I have to say, I'm really not that attractive. Until I met my husband, I could not get a date. I promise you it's true. My husband saw a diamond in the rough and took me in."
"I have a very high standard that I place on myself. Nobody's going to be harder on me than I am."
"I'm a registered Independent and my dad is a Republican. Whenever we argue about politics I always lose because he's just more informed."
"If it turns out I'm the worst [actor] ever, then I'll have that distinction of being the worst actor ever. I don't think Jerry Seinfeld and Paul Reiser and Ray Romano worried about it, so I'm gonna choose not to worry about it either."
"Some actors are brilliant when they are deep in character. I am never brilliant, and that makes it easy for me."
"Sweaty is one of my favorite terms when a joke is not built quite right. I was going to call my production company "Sweaty And Familiar"."
"I'm always surprised when I hear someone is scared of me. But I would prefer for them to be falsely intimidated than to actually have conflict."
"Yeah, I'm eating cream cheese out of a bowl - because I ran out of pretzels. You won't see that on the set of Desperate Housewives."
"Food. My only vice. Oh, also I steal."