(1970-)

Who Is Tina Fey?

Tina Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. She broke through in 1995 on Saturday Night Live as a writer, later becoming the sketch comedy show's head writer and its "Weekend Update" co-host. Fey went on to pen the hit movie Mean Girls (which later became a successful musical), before thriving as the star of the popular sitcom 30 Rock and co-creating the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Early Life

Tina Fey was born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey on May 18, 1970, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, to parents Donald and Zenobia "Jeanne" Fey. Jeanne worked in a brokerage firm and Donald Fey wrote grants for the University of Pennsylvania.

At the age of five, a stranger approached her in her front yard and slashed her face with a knife, leaving her with a scar she still carries today. But Fey did not allow this incident to define or hinder her. Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Fey recalls a dorky adolescence filled with unplucked eyebrows and perms. In lieu of dating, Fey would have friends over to play party games like Celebrity. This self-proclaimed super nerd went on to study drama at the University of Virginia.

'Saturday Night Live'

After graduating from college in 1992, Fey moved to Chicago to pursue a career in comedy. She joined the comedy training ground Second City, a renowned program where many Saturday Night Live performers got their start.

In 1995, SNL writers came to Second City looking for new talent and were encouraged by Fey's aptitude. When SNL producer Lorne Michaels read Fey's sketch ideas, she was offered a job as a writer. After several years at the show, Fey became the first female head writer in SNL history.

During the show's 25th season, Fey transformed her image and earned the co-host spot on "Weekend Update" with Jimmy Fallon, where she wrote many of the segments' most popular biting jokes.

'Mean Girls,' '30 Rock' and Sarah Palin

Despite gaining a more glamorous persona in recent years, Fey still retains her legendary work ethic, deadpan humor and grounded personality, qualities that helped catapult her comedy projects to unprecedented levels of success. Proving she had the staying power to endure past her SNL run, she penned the screenplay for Mean Girls (2004), a popular movie about the awkwardness of teenage culture, starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams.

Mean Girls later found new life on the stage, enjoying a run at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., in late 2017 before moving to Broadway. The play earned a whopping 12 Tony nominations and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical in 2018.

Meanwhile, Fey created the television show 30 Rock, a satirical look on her own life as a SNL writer. Despite lukewarm ratings in the show's early seasons, 30 Rock made comedy series history after receiving 17 different Emmy nominations in 2008, and became one of the most popular shows of its era.

Many attributed the sudden success of 30 Rock to Fey's enormously popular impersonations of Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live during the 2008 presidential election. When combined with friend Amy Poehler's impersonations of New York Senator Hillary Clinton, the sketches resulted in a 46 percent increase in Saturday Night Live's ratings from the prior season.

'Bossypants' Book and 'Kimmy Schmidt'

Fey continued her successful momentum through the end of 30 Rock. In 2011, she took time out to release her autobiography, Bossypants, which was well received by The New York Times. She went on to star in the films Admission (2013), Muppets Most Wanted (2014) and This Is Where I Leave You (2014), before re-teaming with Poehler for the 2015 comedy Sisters and headlining the 2016 war comedy-drama Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Fey went on to more success in scripted television as the co-creator of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, starring Ellie Kemper, which debuted in 2015 and garnered strong reviews through four seasons and one interactive special.

Returning to sitcom TV for NBC, Fey produced and took on a recurring role in Great News, about a news producer dealing with her mother's internship at the network. Fey was also featured in Poehler's 2019 directorial debut, Wine Country, before appearing in the anthology series Modern Love later that year.

Awards and Honors

Beginning with her first Writers Guild award, for her work on SNL in 2001, Fey has earned enough accolades to fill an entire trophy room. She has since taken home nine Primetime Emmys, three Golden Globes and five Screen Actors Guild awards. Additionally, the multi-talented writer and performer has earned three Gracie awards, three Producers Guild of America awards and a Television Critics Association award for Individual Achievement in Comedy.

Husband and Kids

Fey resides in New York City with her husband, 30 Rock producer and composer Jeff Richmond, and their daughters, Alice Zenobia Richmond (b. 2005) and Penelope Athena Richmond (b. 2011).

QUICK FACTS

Name: Tina Fey
Birth Year: 1970
Birth date: May 18, 1970
Birth State: Pennsylvania
Birth City: Upper Darby Township
Birth Country: United States
Gender: Female
Best Known For: Tina Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer best known for her roles on 'Saturday Night Live' and '30 Rock.'
Industries

Comedy
Theater and Dance
Television

Astrological Sign: Taurus
Schools

University of Virginia

Interesting Facts

Tina Fey got the scar on her face when she was only five years old. A stranger slashed her face with a knife while she was in her front yard.

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CITATION INFORMATION

Article Title: Tina Fey Biography
Author: Biography.com Editors
Website Name: The Biography.com website
Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/tina-fey
Access Date:
Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
Last Updated: April 27, 2021
Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

QUOTES

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.