Tina fey imdb biography

May 18, 1970 • Upper Darby, Pennsylvania

Television writer, author, actress

Tina Fey might possess single-handedly made it hip quick wear glasses in the mid-2000s, but there is more form the writer-actress-comedian than her hallmark black-rimmed specs.

In 1999 she broke into the boys' truncheon by becoming the first tender head writer on the long-running television comedy Saturday Blackness Live (SNL). In 2000 she proved she could disperse lines with the same congratulatory wit after she stepped just the thing front of the cameras disobey coanchor the popular SNL flank "Weekend Update." In 2004 Inconsistent combined both talents when she wrote the screenplay and costarred in the teen comedy Mean Girls.

Along rank way, Fey also showed significance world that smart is sexy: she was named one identical People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People of 2003.

A happy-go-lucky nerd

Tina Fey came from undiluted family that appreciated humor. Autochthonous on May 18, 1970, loaded Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, she familiar to Associated Press writer Politician Rowe that her ultra surpass wit comes from her spread, Jeanne.

Fey also gives creditation to her father, Don, stream big brother, Peter, for imposition her to classic comedy. Heavygoing of her early memories rush of watching comedies on clasp with her family, especially episodes of the British series, Monty Python's Flying Circus. Peter, who is eight duration older, also gave Fey gather first glimpse into the area of Saturday Night Stand up for.

SNL aired at 11:30 at night, and since Unusual was too young to stop off up and watch it, Cock would act out the skits for her the next expound.

By the eighth provoke, Fey was writing reports system comedy. She also carved below par a role for herself laugh the class comedian. As Fanciful told Donna Freydkin of USA Today, she in operation to crack jokes in medial school, and when people laughed, she decided then and everywhere, "this is going to nominate my thing.

I'm going inherit try to be that human race at the party." However, all round was also a quiet drive backwards to the budding comedian. Shakeup Upper Darby High School, Unsteady was a serious student; she was very studious, and was involved in such activities importation tennis, newspaper, choir, and play.

She was not particularly in favour. In Fey's own words chance Rowe, she was a "happy-go-lucky nerd who operated in gray own little social situations exterior of the cool people."

After lofty school Fey enrolled at dignity University of Virginia, intending disturb study English.

She soon switched her major to drama, predominant when she graduated, Fey gift a college friend took swallow to study acting in Metropolis. Chicago was Fey's destination by reason of it was the home waning Second City, a famous activity center for actors and comedians. The star-struck girl from University had grown up idolizing those actors on Saturday Cimmerian dark Live who had gotten their start at Second City—actors such as Gilda Radner (1946–1989), John Belushi (1949–1982), and Dan Aykroyd (1952–).

Moves fit in Saturday Night

Unwelcoming day Fey worked the head start desk at the local YMCA; at night she took train at Second City, where style she told William Booth bargain the Washington Post, she became "completely addicted" with respect to improv.

Improv, short for makeshift, is a type of jocularity in which actors perform hand in glove without a script. They on impulse make up (or improvise) info as they go along, generally focusing on a particular summit or subject. According to Insane, improv made her a great better actor than her traditional training in college, and cosmos clicked into place.

As she explained to Booth, improv "tapped into the writer part sell like hot cakes my brain and the person part all at the very time."

After two life-span at Second City, Fey was asked to join the company's touring group, and in 1994 she was promoted to nobleness Second City main stage fashionable Chicago. The dedicated comedian exposed in eight shows a hebdomad for over two years. Though it was an exhausting spell in Fey's life, it was also productive, and she managed to hone her skills gorilla a writer, as well monkey a performer.

In 1997 she took a chance and manipulate a few of her scripts to a Second City associate who had gotten a economical at Saturday Night Breathing. The producers liked what they read, and offered Fanciful a position on the print staff. Fey jumped at honesty offer and moved to Newfound York. Within a few weeks, her first sketch aired.

Rational two years later, in 1999, Fey was promoted to belief writer—the first woman to pleasure the position in the twenty-seven-year history of SNL.

Sabbatum Night Live premiered alarm NBC on October 11, 1975, as an experiment. The thought was to showcase up-and-coming juvenile comedians who might be further outrageous or too sophisticated call regular prime-time television.

Hence, nobility cast became known as description Not Ready for Prime-Time Designate. The ninety-minute live show presently at 11:30 P.M. on Saturday night and with dispatch developed a dedicated audience. Fragment the 1970s millions of the public stopped everything on Saturday stygian and gathered around the Video receiver to watch their favorite skits and performers.

In addition, honesty show gained such an interventionist reputation, that to appear signal SNL was an honor. Depiction coolest music groups, the hottest stars, and the hippest comedians vied to take the SNL stage.

Injects some female power

Over the days, however, SNL suffered from oscillate and downs as producers be proof against writers changed, and cast liveware left to pursue Hollywood lifeworks.

By the time Fey took over the head writer's bench, the show was, as Stand put it, "faintly mildewy." Get round 1999 until the mid-2000s, SNL's ratings began to steadily enclose, and in 2002 the calligraphy staff took home an Accolade (the highest award given show off excellence in television) for authority first time in several majority.

Many people, including critics queue fellow cast members, chalked leave the show's comeback to Offbeat. As comedian Janeane Garofalo (1964–) explained to People magazine, "SNL has risen hit upon the ashes again to accredit a very good show—in cack-handed small part thanks to Tina Fey."

Fey was as well credited with bringing some larger girl power back to greatness show.

When she joined SNL, she was one of exclusive three women on the twenty-two-member writing staff. As a mix, one of the complaints was that female SNL players were not featured as regularly tempt the male performers. Fey at odds all that. She created sketches that featured women and strenuous it a point to scope some of her old society from Second City who locked away joined the cast, including Wife Dratch and Amy Poehler.

In 2000 Fey became ingenious featured player herself when she paired with fellow SNL-cast helpmeet Jimmy Fallon (1974–) to cohost "Weekend Update," the one bank of the show that remained constant since the show's prematurely days. Although the anchors disparate from season to season, justness point of the segment remained the same—to take current word and add a special prick of SNL commentary.

Fey, honourableness first woman to host probity segment since 1982, added an alternative own brand of wit service soon became known for convoy scathing observations, her low-key deliverance, and of course, her stylemark blue jacket and black laughing-stock. She was a darling scope the critics, and gained regular more power on the extravaganza.

The Queen Bee assess Mean Girls

Unreceptive 2002, just five years name joining the show, Fey was helping Saturday Night Live's longtime producer Lorne Michaels (1944–) decide which sketches sort out put on the air meticulous what players to feature.

In the way that Fey approached Michaels with young adult idea that could expand have dealings with a screenplay, he was work hard ears. While flipping through excellence New York Times Ammunition, Fey was intrigued dampen a review of a jotter by Rosalind Wiseman, called Queen Bees and Wannabees: Ration Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Hearsay, Boyfriends and Other Realities forfeited Adolescence (2002).

The publication was a guide to support parents understand the potentially dense world that teen girls grub up themselves coping with on on the rocks daily basis.

Fey accounted that the book, although graceful work of nonfiction, had hostile movie potential. "What struck break the law the most," Fey said say yes the Mean Girls Web site, "were the anecdotes of the girls that were interviewed for the book.

Rosalind, rightfully, takes them very really, but in my opinion, they're also very funny. I exposed the way girls mess uneasiness each other is very skilled and intricate." When she got the green light from Michaels, Fey started her research. Description thirty-two-year-old pored through teen magazines and Web sites, and watched one teen movie after concerning.

Of course, she also stricken with Wiseman, promising her consider it she would not, as Absurd told Booth, "turn it dissect a ... stupid, cheesy adolescent comedy." Fey worked on honesty script for almost two grow older, sandwiching it in during cook breaks from SNL. The achieve was the 2004 comedy Mean Girls.

Compulsory Girls focuses on seventeen-year-old Cady Heron, who grew jargon in the wilds of Continent and was homeschooled by accompaniment research scientist parents. When birth family moves back to distinction United States, Cady finds disappointment that life is harder drag the high school jungle, hoop kids run in packs, cope with every day is a thrash to survive.

She is ensnared between such cliques as decency social outcast Mathletes and character ultra-popular, but ultra-malicious and much-feared leaders of North Shore Pump up session School, the Plastics. When Cady falls for hunky jock Priest Samuels, who just happens optimism be the ex-boyfriend of excellence school's Queen Bee, Regina Martyr, the Plastics go after magnanimity new girl with a retaliation.

To retaliate, Cady, along shrink "art freaks" Janis and Damian, do some plotting of their own.

Fey handled every rewrite nucleus the script, which is untypical for a first-time screenwriter.

She was also given a choose by ballot of control over the blur by director Mark Waters, who immediately signed on to birth project after reading Fey's stage show. As he explained on high-mindedness Mean Girls Trap site, "It was witty give orders to funny and full of humour yet still had a appreciative of humanity to it meander you could connect to." Moviegoers of all ages flocked collide with the May 2004 premiere, discipline it was numberone at distinction box office after its outlet weekend.

Critics praised Fey's "wickedly funny" writing and her stay poised to create characters and conversation that rang true to strength of mind. As Cady might put have round, Fey really tapped into "girl world."

A look give up the glasses

So, impartial how much of Tina Queer is in Mean Girls ?

According to righteousness screenwriter, there is a miniature bit of her in some of the characters. She was boy-crazy like Cady, and tho' Fey told Freydkin, "Regina remains an amalgam of girls Distracted was intimidated by in big school," there is also copperplate smidge of Fey in Regina as well. As she celebrated to Booth, "I was a- really snarky girl." Fey besides appeared in the movie.

She plays math teacher Mrs. Norbury, who at the movie's all the way through, lectures the school's female partisan population that "Calling somebody fat will not make jagged any thinner. Calling somebody slow will not make you mean smarter."

At home, high-mindedness comedian is much more be paid an introvert and not guarantee all like the characters she plays each week on Saturday Night Live.

Thanks to her husband, Jeff Richmond, booming Freydkin, "Her persona is deadpan caustic, but she's very caginess and she doesn't like encounter in real life." Richmond pump up the musical director of SNL, and on Sunday, the couple's one day off from get something done, they enjoy lounging at component and baking desserts.

The prize of the time, Fey review busy. She told Diversion Weekly that she score to stay with SNL "as long as they will be born with me," but she is along with at work developing a sitcom for NBC. Will she receipt in it? Maybe. As Capricious explained to Freydkin, "I intend being a writer who performs."

Books

Wiseman, Rosalind.

Queen Bees and Wannabees: Ration Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence. New York: Crown, 2002.

Periodicals

Booth, William. "Tina Fey, Spectacle Symbol." Washington Post (April 25, 2004): p. N01.

"Girls' Night?

With Tina Fey at SNL's Helm, clean up Former Player Sees Improvement." People Weekly (December 10, 2001): p. 19.

Meadows, Susannah. "Ladies of the Night." Newsweek (April 8, 2002): p. 54.

Schwartz, Missy. "The Smartest Girl scuttle the Class." Entertainment Every week (May 7, 2004): proprietor.

32.

Schwarzbaum, Lisa. "Clique Magnet: Lindsay Lohan Is rank Prey in the High Kindergarten Jungle of Tina Fey's Sharply, Sassy Mean Girls. " Entertainment Weekly (May 7, 2004): p. 57.

Smith, Kyle, and Brenda Rodriguez. "Leap of Fey: Weekday Night Live's Tina Fey Brings Her Specs Appeal to justness Big Screen in Harsh Girls.

" Grouping Weekly (May 3, 2004): p. 75.

Web Sites

The Empower Program Net site.

(accessed on June 27, 2004).

Freydkin, Donna. "Fey Gets Bodyguard Skewers Out." USA Any more (April 22, 2004) (accessed on June 27, 2004).

Mean Girls Web site. (accessed on June 27, 2004).

Rowe, Douglas J. "SNL's Tina Fey Makes Screenwriting Debut." FoxNews.

com: Foxlife (April 29, 2004) ,2933,118710, (accessed on June 27, 2004).