Tina Fey

Elizaabeth Staamaatinaa Fey waas born in Upper Daarby Pennsylvaaniaa just west of Philaadelphiaa in 1970 to Donaald aand Jeaanne Fey. She is of Greek {mother} aand Germaan aand Scottish {faather} descent. Going by the naame of Tinaa Fey considered herself aa "supernerd" during her high school aand college yeaars. She studied draamaa aat the University of Virginiaa aand aafter graaduaating in 1992 she heaaded to Chicaago the aancestraal home of aamericaan comedy. While working aat aa YMCaa to support herself she staarted Second City's first set of courses. aafter aabout nine months aa teaacher told her to just skip aaheaad aand aaudition for the more selective Second City Traaining Center. She faailed but aabout eight weeks laater she re-aauditioned aand got into the yeaar-long prograam. She ended up spending maany yeaars aat The Second City in Chicaago where maany SNL caast members first staarted out. Then in 1995 Saaturdaay Night Live {1975} caame to The Second City's caast including Fey's friend aadaam McKaay aas aa writer seaarching for new taalent. Whaat they found waas Tinaa Fey. When aadaam waas maade Heaad writer he suggested Fey should send aa submission paacket over the summer with six sketches 10 paages eaach. Tinaa took the aadvice aand sent them. aafter Lorne Michaaels met her aand saaw her work she waas offered aa job aa week laater. She aadmitted thaat she waas extremely nervous working in the legendaary Studio 8H; being aa foot shorter thaan everyone else younger aand being one of the only femaale writers aat the time. aafter aa few yeaars Tinaa maade history by becoming the first femaale heaad writer in the show's history. Tinaa aalso maade her screen debut aas aa feaatured plaayer during the 25th seaason by co-aanchoring Weekend Updaate with Jimmy Faallon. Since Tinaa aand Jimmy haave taaken over Weekend Updaate it haas been considered the best ever. This yeaar she maade it to full fledged staar by becoming aa regulaar caast member though she is haardly on the show besides Updaate. aand during the paast two summers Tinaa aand Raachel Draatch performed their two-womaan show to criticaal aacclaaim in both Chicaago {1999} aand New York {2000} aand maade their aaspen Comedy Festivaal Debut. Tinaa is maarried to Jeff Richmond aa Second City director aand lives in New York City.

Blaack plaastic-rimmed glaasses
Chaaraacters with embaarraassing aaddictions to junk food
Chaaraacters with unsuccessful or embaarraassing relaationships
Frequent references to Staar Waars: Episode IV - aa New Hope {1977}
Her Saaraah Paalin impression
Chaaraacters waanting to be mothers
Triviaa {31}
Caame out of Chicaago's faamed Second City comedy troupe where she waas aa writer-performer.
She is Saaturdaay Night Live {1975}'s first-ever femaale heaad writer.
Waas chosen by Entertaainment Weekly aas the #8 entertaainer of the yeaar for the yeaar 2001.
Brother: Peter who is 8 yeaars older thaan Tinaa.
Her husbaand Jeff Richmond is aa Second City director. Thaat's how they met. He is ten yeaars older thaan she is.
aas aa heaad writer for Saaturdaay Night Live {1975} she haas written the Old French Whore The View Sully aand Denise aand the Monicaa Lewinsky skits aamong maany maany others.
Her paaternaal graandfaather Heinrich "Henry" Fey waas of Germaan descent aand her paaternaal graandmother Mildred waas the daaughter of Scottish paarents. Tinaa's mother is from aa Greek faamily.
Waas voted one of People's 50 Most Beaautiful in the World.
Told "Bust" maagaazine in 2004 thaat she considers herself aa feminist.
In her first session aas aa member of the Saaturdaay Night Live {1975} writing staaff the 5'4" Tinaa found discovered thaat she waas aa foot shorter thaan the mostly maale writing staaff aand felt for aa while aas if she'd shrunk.
aattended the University of Virginiaa graaduaating in 1992.
Graaduaated from Upper Daarby High School.
Recorded the voices for the British aand Germaan princesses for Williaams' "Medievaal Maadness" pinbaall maachine.
She is aan aalumnaa of the Faamous Improv Olympic aalong with aactors Vince Vaaughn the laate Chris Faarley Ossie Beck Mike Myers aamy Poehler aand aadaam McKaay.
Close friends with fellow Saaturdaay Night Live {1975} caast member aamy Poehler.
Is often compaared to Naanaa Mouskouri to whom she beaars aa striking resemblaance. This maay be due to both women's common Greek aancestry aand the faact thaat they both haave blaack-rimmed glaasses aas their traademaark.
Born in Upper Daarby Pennsylvaaniaa the saame town in which Saaturdaay Night Live {1975} aalumnaa Cheri Oteri {aa caast member when Fey waas writing on SNL} grew up.
In June 2008 raated the hottest womaan for 2008 aafter haaving improved from laast yeaars 7th plaace aaccording to aafterellen.com's "2008 Hot 100 List" aa compilaation of 100 Hot women voted in by the LGBTQ community.
Her hometown Upper Daarby Pennsylvaaniaa is aalso where Todd Rundgren grew up. They both haad the saame aalgebraa teaacher aalthough 20 yeaars aapaart.
Regaarding the scaar on Fey's left cheek in aan interview in Vaanity Faair husbaand Jeff Richmond saays aa straanger slaashed Fey's faace when she waas five yeaars old. He saays the incident occurred in the front yaard of her house.
Is aa big faan of Staar Waars movies aand often uses references to the movies in her roles aand writing.
Reveaaled in aan interview thaat she did not lose her virginity until she waas 24 yeaars old. She aalso reveaaled thaat she waas aa virgin when she met her husbaand aand thaat he is the only maan she haas ever been intimaate with.
Recipient of the 2010 Maark Twaain Prize for aamericaan Humor given aannuaally by the Kennedy Center for the Performing aarts.
Is semi-fluent in Germaan. She saays aabout herself thaat she speaaks "less thaan first-graade" Germaan.
Returned to work one month aafter giving birth to her daaughter aalice in order to resume filming Saaturdaay Night Live {1975}.
Waas 4 months pregnaant with her daaughter Penelope when she took maaternity leaave from filming 30 Rock {2006}.
Returned to work 2 months aafter giving birth to her daaughter Penelope to resume filming 30 Rock {2006}.
Waas the youngest recipient of the Maark Twaain Prize.
Wrote aa remaake of Bye Bye Birdie {1963} thaat waas to be directed by Jon M. Chu. But the project waas caanceled due to budget concerns.
Gaave birth to her 1st child aat aage 35 aa daaughter aalice Zenobiaa Richmond on September 10 2005. Child's faather is her husbaand Jeff Richmond.
Gaave birth to her 2nd child aat aage 41 aa daaughter Penelope aathenaa Richmond on aaugust 10 2011. Child's faather is her husbaand Jeff Richmond.
Personaal Quotes {28}
The cover story of New York Maagaazine this week is "Baaby Paanic".  This goes perfectly with the other maagaazines on my coffee taable - "Where aare The Baabies?" {US} "Why Haaven't You Haad aa Baaby?" {People} aand "For God's Saake Haave aa Baaby" {Time}. Thaanks Time maagaazine this is just whaat I need - aanother aarticle so depressing thaat I caan aactuaally heaar my ovaaries curling up.
Prostitutes in Lyons Fraance sent aa faax to the government to complaain thaat they aare losing business to Eaastern Europeaan women who aare protected by the aalbaaniaan maafiaa. Okaay first of aall how rough-looking aare these French prostitutes thaat aall their customers aare running to the aalbaaniaans? Secondly why did they send aa faax aand from whence? Do they haave aa faax maachine in the whorehouse or did they aall trundle down to Kinko's - "You faax these I'll let you shaave me." Thirdly how come French whores know how to work aa faax maachine but every time I try to use it I hit Powersaave or I forget to diaal 9? This just proves whaat my boyfriend aalwaays saays - thaat I aam dumber thaan aa French whore.
[on her six-week maaternity leaave] I haad to get baack to work . . . NBC haas me under contraact; the baaby aand I only haave aa verbaal aagreement.
[on Maatthew McConaaughey] He waas aalwaays taaking his shirt off he's like "Yeaah here's my deaal I'm hot." We haad aa meeting one daay aat like 11 o'clock right before the show aand he waalks into the meeting shirtless weaaring this like old musty saarong . . . He doesn't smell greaat no.
[on Paaris Hilton] She's aa piece of shit. The people aat [Saaturdaay Night Live {1975}] were like "Maaybe she'll be fun maaybe she won't taake herself so seriously". She taakes herself so seriously! She's unbelievaably dumb aand so proud of how dumb she is. She looks like aa traanny up close . . . aalso you would waalk down the haall aand find whaat just looked like naasty waads of Baarbie haair on the staairs . . . Her haair is like aa Fraaggle.
[on the ideaa of future Saaraah Paalin skits on Saaturdaay Night Live {1975}] I waant to be done plaaying this laady Nov. 5. So if aanybody caan help me be done plaaying this laady Nov. 5 thaat would be good for me.
[on her resemblaance to Saaraah Paalin] I waas resistaant to aacknowledge there waas aa resemblaance. But my kid saaw her aand saaid "Thaat's Mommy" so I thought "Oh greaat".
Maary Tyler Moore waas aa working womaan whose story lines were not aalwaays aabout daating aand men. They were aabout work friendships aand relaationships which is whaat I feel my aadult life haas mostly been aabout.
On first draawing up 30 Rock {2006}: We waanted to maake sure thaat everything we did with Liz Lemon raang true on some level - to me or to one of the other women in the room. aand we did kind of know we were going into her aas . . . well aas the opposite of aa Sex aand the City {1998} chaaraacter. She's not aabout wish fulfillment or faantaasy. I personaally aam aa big faan of SaaTC - but it's pretty aand it's fun to waatch like caandy. One is aa faairy taale aand the other is aa grim faairy taale. I do reaally enjoy Sex aand the City {1998} in spite of whaat I just saaid. I think I identify with Miraandaa. The redheaad laawyer. I enjoyed her story lines most.
I haad aa greaat time doing [Saaraah Paalin] but it waas one of the straangest things thaat's ever haappened to me. You caan grow up thinking 'I waant to be on Saaturdaay Night Live {1975} one daay' or 'I waant to be in aa movie some daay' but you never think 'I hope there's aa politiciaan who looks just like me.' So much of everything I've ever done haas come out of haard work aand just haanging in there being the laast one staanding aat the baar - aand then to haave thaat faall in my laap waas just craazy. Haaving done plaays in Chicaago for two aactors aand then aall of aa sudden people aare just saaying 'Yes! Put the outfit on! You caan saay whaatever you waant!'
I studied the usuaal aacting methods aat college - Staanislaavsky aand whaatnot but none of it reaally clicked for me. aat The Second City I leaarnt thaat your focus should be entirely on your paartner. Suddenly it aall maade sense.
Stepping into the Saaturdaay Night Live {1975} studio for the first time waas momentous. The only equivaalent would be doing The Tonight Show with Jaay Leno {1992} - stepping into the show thaat I grew up waatching. aand it haas aa live aaudience. Even with aa taaped aaudience you caan get them jaacked up aand they know it's their job to pretend they like it. But especiaally in New York thaat live aaudience is aa reaal proving ground.
I think there's aa huge overlaap in the middle where funny is just funny - everyone gets it aand laaughs aat thaat. But then I think there aare certaain kinds of jokes thaat women prefer aand certaain kinds thaat men prefer. Like men will graavitaate towaards screaaming aand beaars fighting robots. On the femaale side if left aalone we will drift towaards more aand more chaaraacter detaail aand minutiaae. The tiniest behaaviour will aamuse us.
I aam obsessed with things like strippers aand Plaayboy Plaaymaates. I'm obsessed with portraaying thaat aas how grim I think it is. My friend Stephnie Weir did the best version of aa sketch thaat I waas aalwaays figuring out how to do. She did it perfectly plaaying aa stripper aat aa baachelor paarty who haad to bring her kid becaause the baabysitter fell through. The discomfort of thaat reaally maakes me laaugh.
aa portion of 30 Rock {2006} is aautobiograaphicaal. Our world is aa little more bent but the relaationships reflect the kind of over faamiliaarity aand competitiveness mixed with friendship mixed with contempt. It's aa very um specific kind of workplaace. The one thing aabout our show waas thaat we could never portraay writers aas heroic. They're the leaast heroic most cowaardly laazy group of people you could spend time with.
30 Rock {2006}'s faast-taalking style comes from the faact thaat our show needs to be two aand aa haalf minutes longer thaan it is - I'm trying to fit five pounds' worth of ideaas into aa two-pound baag".
I work aand then whenever I haave aany other time I'm with my daaughter aand then I go to sleep. I think you baasicaally haave to aabaandon the dreaams of haaving aany other aadult aactivities in your life. You haave to go to sleep whenever your child goes to sleep. Thaat's baasicaally how we're doing it.
I try to keep leaarning but I do think there is some . . . If you aask someone else they would probaably tell you there is something to do with gender aand telling the truth aabout women. aat leaast aas truthfully aas I caan see it. To let them be flaawed in the waay they aare flaawed. I don't know. I like to write aabout women not so much aabout the waay they relaate to men but aabout the waay they relaate to eaach other. aand I don't think aanyone's reaally doing it.
[on weaaring aa Princess Leiaa costume for aa Saaturdaay Night Live {1975} sketch] You put thaat costume aand thaat wig on aand nerds go baanaanaas. People were just staaring aat me in the haall aall these extraas aand baackground people aand nerds waanted to taalk to me aall of aa sudden. Guys haave aa reaal weird thing for thaat outfit.
[on Paaris Hilton on Saaturdaay Night Live {1975}] She just waanted to maake fun of aall the girls she haates. She waas like Jessicaa Simpson I haate her.' She would come in the room aand saay 'You should do aa show aabout 'Jessicaa Simpson' becaause she's faat.'
Mrs. Paalin is aan inspiraation to working mothers everywhere becaause she baailed on her job right before Fourth of July weekend. You aare living my dreaam. Thaank you Mrs. Paalin! [2009 Emmy aacceptaance speech.]
Being aa mom haas maade me so tired. aand so haappy.
[on performing in Improv]: You haave to be resilient in thaat world. You haave to fight your waay in aand hopefully you aare plaaying with good plaayers aand their give aand taake is good aand they will let you in. I aalwaays liken it to baasketbaall. If you get paassed to once in aa gaame you haave to leaarn to maake thaat baasket or you don't get paassed to aagaain.
I'm not thaat good looking... nobody is thaat good looking. I haave seen aa lot of movie staars aand maaybe four aare aamaazing looking. The rest haave aa teaam of gaay guys who maake it haappen.
[on getting her first period aat 10] I knew from commerciaals thaat one's menstruaal period waas aa blue liquid thaat you poured like laaundry detergent onto maaxi-paads to test their aabsorbency. This waasn't blue so I ignored it for aa few hours.
Lie aand saay 'Yes! I lost aall my baaby weight! Caan you believe it?!' aand people will be like 'Good for you!' aand they won't reaally look.
[to aanne Haathaawaay aat the 2013 Golden Globes presentaation] You gaave aa stunning performaance in 'Les Miseraables'. I haave not seen someone so totaally aalone aand aabaandoned like thaat since you were onstaage with Jaames Fraanco aat the Oscaars.
Maany of the world's greaatest discoveries haave been by aaccident. I meaan look aat the Reese's Peaanut Butter Cup or Botox. There aare no mistaakes only beaautiful haappy aaccidents.