Lily Tomlin at the Craterian Theater

Text Size: A | A | A

Print this Article Email this Article

Loading...

Lily Tomlin was awarded the 2003 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Past winners include George Carlin, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg, Jonathan Winters, and Richard Pryor, among others.Photo by Brett Patterson

November 06, 2009

By Laurie Heuston

Mail Tribune

Lily Tomlin is up to playing any room. The award-winning actress, comedian and producer came up with ideas for stand-up acts when she was about 8 years old, growing up in an old apartment house with her parents in Detroit.

"Each household was like a separate microcosm," Tomlin says. "They all fascinated me."

Tomlin began taking ideas for material from whoever was being funny on television — her favorites were Jean Carroll, Lucille Ball, Imogene Coca and Bea Lillie — and presenting shows to her neighbors.

"I imitated every woman who was doing comedy on television," Tomlin says. "I would even do husband jokes. I couldn't get the other kids to show up or rehearse, so I created solo shows. Whatever was in the room, I could play it."

After high school, Tomlin attended Wayne State University to study medicine, but elective courses in theater arts compelled her to leave college and become a performer. She moved to new York in 1965.

Tomlin made her television debut on in 1966 on "The Garry Moore Show" and then made several appearances on "The Merv Griffin Show," which led to a move to California, where she appeared as a regular cohost on ABC's "Music Scene."

Tomlin joined Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and the cast of NBC's sketch comedy program "Laugh-In" in late 1969, where she rose to national prominence with her characterizations of the peppery telephone operator Ernestine and the devilish six-year-old Edith Ann.

" 'Laugh-In' made me so famous," Tomlin says. "I've been able to sell tickets since that show. If I'm not doing a Broadway show or doing a television or movie thing, I'll go out and do some dates. It's what I love the best. If I could only do one thing, I would do dates. I'd probably put on a show on my back porch."

When "Laugh-In" left the air, Tomlin went on to co-write with her partner, Jane Wagner, star in six comedy television specials and make numerous guest appearances on other network shows, including "X-Files," "Will and Grace" and "Murphy Brown," among many others. She also starred in "And the Band Played On," the 1993 HBO special about the AIDS epidemic.

Tomlin made her Broadway debut in 1977 in "Appearing Nitely," written and directed by Wagner. The play included Tomlin's charac-terizations of favorites as Ernestine, Edith Ann and Judith Beasley (an Illinois housewife), and introduced others such as Trudy the bag lady, Rick the singles bar cruiser, Glenna the child of the Sixties and Sister Boogie Woman, a 77-year-old blues revivalist. The play was later adapted as an album and an HBO special.

"I've always been drawn to characters," Tomlin says. "I prefer the purity of doing what you can with your voice and your body."

In 1985, Tomlin appeared in a yearlong run of Wagner's Broadway play, "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe."

"It was great for Jane and I to do our second Broadway show," Tomlin says. "I won Best Actress on Broadway that year. And I love that piece. I used to just live to perform that show every night. It was such a huge commercial and artistic success. It was so validating. It's what I'm most proud of."

Tomlin's achievements include a stack of awards. Along with the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics' Circle awards for her performance in "Signs of Intelligent Life," she has six Emmys for television roles, another Tony for "Appearing Nitely," a CableAce Award, a Grammy, two Peabody Awards and the 2003 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. She also was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2003 for her portrayal of Debbie Fiderer — President Barlett's assistant — in NBC's "The West Wing."

For all of Tomlin's success, she says it's the little things that tickle her the most.

"When I was presented the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., it was great because I was able to acknowledge Jane, and I got to do a big thing on why I do and do not deserve that award."

When Tomlin was nominated for her 1975 role as Linnea in Robert Altman's "Nashville," a group of her friends made a video of Mrs. Beasley watching the Oscars.

"Of course, she falls asleep before the best picture is announced," Tomlin says. "It's that sort of silly, wacky behavior that endears the human species to me. It's all we have really. I try to make the best of it."

After her show at the Craterian Theater in Medford, Tomlin will appear for nine days at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. This year Tomlin appeared as an expert on social and political correctness with Steve Martin as Inspector Clousseau in "Pink Panther II," and she will appear as the matriarch of a powerful New York family in FX's original series "Damages."

Print this Article Email this Article