Best Known As: Television Actor

Gist:  Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, writer, comedienne, and producer. She has received five Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1992, Fey moved to Chicago to take classes at the improvisational comedy group The Second City, where she became a featured player in 1994.

In 1997, Fey became a writer for the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). She was promoted to the position of head writer in 1999. The following year, Fey was added to the cast of SNL. During her time there, she was co-anchor of the show's Weekend Update segment. After leaving SNL in 2006, she created her own television series called 30 Rock, a situation comedy loosely based on her experiences at SNL. In the series, Fey portrays Liz Lemon, the head writer of TGS with Tracy Jordan, a fictional sketch comedy series.

In 2000, Fey and Rachel Dratch starred in the Off Broadway two-woman show Dratch & Fey, which received positive reception. Fey made her feature film debut as writer and co-star of the 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls. In 2008, she starred in the comedy film Baby Mama, alongside Amy Poehler. Fey received an Emmy nomination for her satirical portrayal of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in a guest appearance on SNL.

Life Facts:  Fey was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. She is the daughter of Zenovia "Jeanne" (née Xenakes), a brokerage employee of Greek ancestry and Donald Fey, a university grant proposal-writer of German and Scottish ancestry. She has an older brother named Peter (born 1962).

Fey was exposed to comedy early. She recalls:

She also grew up watching Second City Television (SCTV) and includes Catherine O'Hara among her role models.

Fey attended Cardington Elementary School and Beverly Hills Middle School in Upper Darby. By middle school, she knew she was interested in comedy, even doing an independent-study project on the subject in eighth grade. Following her graduation in 1988, Fey enrolled at the University of Virginia, where she studied playwriting and acting. She graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama.

While performing shows with the Second City in 1997, it was during this time that Fey began submitting several scripts to NBC's variety show Saturday Night Live (SNL), at the request of Adam McKay, a former performer at Second City and head writer of the show at the time. She was hired following a meeting with SNL creator Lorne Michaels. Fey told The New Yorker, "I?d had my eye on the show forever, the way other kids have their eye on Derek Jeter." She moved to New York to become a staff writer. Originally, Fey "struggled" while at SNL. Fey went on to write a series of parodies, including ABC's morning talk show The View. She also co-wrote the "The Boston Teens" sketches, alongside Rachel Dratch, who plays one of the teens.

Fey played an extra in one of the episodes in 1998, and after watching herself, decided to diet, in which she lost 30 pounds. She told The New York Times, "I was a completely normal weight. But I was here in New York City, I had money and I couldn't buy any clothes. After I lost weight, there was interest in putting me on camera." In 1999, McKay stepped down as head writer, which led Michaels to approach Fey for the position. She became SNL's first female head writer, a milestone she downplays in light of the fact that there have not been very many head writers.

In 2000, Fey and Jimmy Fallon became co-anchors of SNL's Weekend Update segment. Fey admitted she did not ask to audition, but that Michaels approached her. Michaels explained that there was "chemistry" between Fey and Fallon. Her role in Weekend Update was well received by critics. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrote: "...Fey delivers such blow darts -- poison filled jokes written in long, precisely parsed sentences unprecedented in Update history -- with such a bright, sunny countenance makes her all the more devilishly delightful." Dennis Miller, a former cast member of SNL and anchor of Weekend Update, was pleased with Fey as one of the anchors for the segment. "...Fey might be the best Weekend Update anchor who ever did it. She writes the funniest jokes". Robert Bianco of USA Today, however, commented that he was "not enamored" with the pairing. Fey was also co-writer of the Weekend Update segment. It was also in 2000 that she began performing in sketches.

In 2001, Fey and the writing staff won a Writers Guild of America Award for SNL's 25th anniversary special.

The pairing of Fey and Fallon ended in May 2004 when Fallon last appeared as a cast member. He was replaced by Amy Poehler. It was the first time that two women co-anchored Weekend Update. Michaels, in regards to this, noted that Fey and Poehler "have been the strongest thing on the show in recent years because they can do it all. And the good news is they all do different things." Fey revealed that she "hired" Poehler as her co-host for the segment. The reception to the teaming of Fey and Poehler was positive.

In September 2005, Fey went on maternity leave after giving birth to her daughter, Alice. Her Weekend Update role was covered by cast member Horatio Sanz for two episodes before her return to the show on October 22, 2005, at which time she noted, "I had to get back to work. NBC has me under contract; the baby and I only have a verbal agreement."

The 2005-2006 season was her last, as she thereafter departed to develop 30 Rock.

In 2000, Fey partnered with fellow SNL cast member Rachel Dratch in the Off Broadway two-woman show Dratch & Fey at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City. The production was well received by critics. Tim Townsend of The Wall Street Journal in review of Dratch & Fey, wrote that the fun part of watching them perform is "seeing how comfortable they are with each other". He concludes with, "...Dratch & Fey isn't about two women being funny. [...] Dratch and Fey are just funny. Period." One of SNL's sketches, "The Boston Teens", originated at Second City in Chicago. Fey played Dratch's mother.

On August 13, 2007, Fey made a guest appearance on the children's television series Sesame Street, in the episode, "The Bookaneers". She appeared as a guest judge on the November 25, 2007 episode of the Food Network program Iron Chef America. Fey has appeared in Disney's campaign "Year of a Million Dreams" as Tinker Bell, along with Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peter Pan and Gisele Bündchen as Wendy Darling. She has also done commercials for American Express credit card.

On February 23, 2008, Fey hosted the first episode of SNL after the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, becoming the third female cast member to host overall. For this appearance, she was nominated for an Emmy in the category of Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.

Fey is married to Jeff Richmond, a former composer on Saturday Night Live. They met at Chicago's Second City and dated for seven years before marrying in a Greek Orthodox ceremony on June 3, 2001. They have a daughter, Alice Zenobia Richmond, who was born on September 10, 2005, in New York City, where they reside. In April 2009, Fey and Richmond purchased a 3.4 million dollar apartment in the Upper West Side.

Fey has a scar a few inches long on the left side of her chin and cheek. Responding to questions about its origin, Fey was quoted in the November 25, 2001, New York Times article as saying: "It's a childhood injury that was kind of grim. And it kind of bums my parents out for me to talk about it". She has said she was reluctant to discuss the incident in part because "It's impossible to talk about it without somehow seemingly exploiting it." In addition, Fey favors the right side of her face when acting.

Her charity work includes support of Autism Speaks, an organization that sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, and the public. At the 65th Golden Globe Awards, Fey wore a blue puzzle piece to raise awareness for the organization. In April 2008, she participated in Night of Too Many Stars, a comedy show benefit for autism education.

Fey is also a supporter of Global Envision, an organization to help spread of more open markets and the global fight against poverty. Fey narrated a video centering around rising food prices and the financial crisis. She also supports the Love Our Children USA organization, which named her among their Mothers Who Make a Difference in 2009. In 2009, she became the spokesperson for Light The Night, which benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.