Born

May 18, 1970

Tina Fey Overview

Known for her bookish glasses and withering wit, Tina Fey is one of the most popular and influential comic voices of the 2000s. From her days as head writer and star of the sketch comedy Saturday Night Live to her seven seasons as star on the Emmy award-winning sitcom 30 Rock, Fey totally dominated the comic landscape for over a decade. Mixing intelligence with sarcasm (and a healthy dose of the absurd), Fey is like the most popular girl in school that you can still be friends with -- one whose bad side you'd rather not be on, because she's smarter and funnier than you.


Quick Tina Fey Facts

• Tina Fey was born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey on May 18, 1970, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
• In the 1990s, Fey moved to Chicago and began performing as part of the legendary sketch comedy theater Second City.
• She joined the staff of the late night sketch series Saturday Night Live in 1997 and remained for almost a decade, leaving at the end of her 2006 season. She was both head writer and anchor of "Weekend Update" while she was there.
• Fey wrote and starred in the 2004 comedy Mean Girls, which went on to be a huge hit, grossing over $100 million at the domestic box office.
• In 2006, she created and starred on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, which lasted on the air for seven seasons. The show received 112 Emmy nominations and multiple wins during its time on the air.
• She released her first book, the comic memoir Bossypants, in 2011.

Tina Fey on 'Saturday Night Live'

In 1997, Fey was asked by her former Second City alumn Adam McKay to submit scripts to Saturday Night Live. She was hired as a writer; just two years later, she replaced McKay as head writer, becoming the first female to ever hold the position.

By 2000, she was regularly appearing on camera as one of the co-anchors of "Weekend Update," first with Jimmy Fallon and then alongside Amy Poehler, once again making show history for being the first time two women anchored the segment. Fey remained at the "Update" desk until she left the show in 2006.

Just two years later, Fey made SNL hugely popular again with a series of guest appearances playing then-Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The impersonation became such a pop culture phenomenon that Palin herself had to go on the show to address what was happening. Fey's run as Sarah Palin gave the show its most buzz and highest ratings in years.

Tina Fey on '30 Rock'

Just a few months after leaving Saturday Night Live, Fey returned to TV with 30 Rock, for which she was the creator, head writer and star. A fictional backstage look at an SNL-style sketch comedy, co-starring Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan, the show became one of the most critically-acclaimed sitcoms of the last 30 years, picking up over 100 Emmy nominations during its seven seasons on the air.

Select Tina Fey Filmography

• Mean Girls (2004) (also screenwriter)
• Baby Mama (2008)
• The Invention of Lying (2009)
• Date Night (2010)
• Admission (2013)
• Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
• This is Where I Leave You (2014)

Additional Tina Fey Facts

• In 2000, Fey and her SNL co-star (and former Second City castmate) Rachel Dratch starred in the popular off-Broadway show Dratch & Fey.
•  In 2010, Fey was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. At age 40, she was the youngest recipient to ever win the award.
• When she left SNL, she had the record for holding the longest tenure at the "Weekend Update" desk, though that record was eventually broken by her replacement (both on "Update" and as head writer) Seth Meyers.
• She won two Emmys for her writing at Saturday Night Live.
• In addition to the Emmy wins for 30 Rock, Fey won two Golden Globes (in 2007 and 2008) and four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series.
• She has appeared on People's list of the 100 Most Beautiful People four times.
• In 2011, Forbes placed Fey at the top of their list of the highest-paid actresses on television.
• She and Amy Poehler co-hosted the Golden Globe Awards in both 2013 and 2014.
• Fey has a small scar on her chin that she declined to speak about in the press for years. In her 2011 book Bossypants, Fey finally revealed that she was cut on the face by a stranger when she was playing outside as a child.