Lily Tomlin was born on September 1, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan, to LillieMae (Ford) and Guy Tomlin, who relocated to Michigan from Paducah, Kentucky, during the Great Depression. Her mother, a nurse's aide, and her father, a factory worker, instilled in her a strong work ethic from a young age. Tomlin graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1957 and later enrolled at Wayne State University.
She began her career in stand-up comedy, performing in nightclubs in Detroit and New York City. Her first television appearance was on "The Merv Griffin Show," which marked the beginning of her illustrious career. Tomlin's breakthrough role came with her iconic character Ernestine, a nosy and condescending telephone operator, on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in 1967.
Throughout her illustrious career, Tomlin has appeared in numerous films, including Robert Altman's Nashville in 1975, where she received an Academy Award nomination for her performance as Linnea Reese, a gospel-singing mother of two deaf children who has an affair with a womanizing country singer. She also starred alongside Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton in the comedy 9 to 5 in 1980, playing the role of Violet Newstead, who joins her on-screen coworkers in seeking revenge on their monstrous and sexist boss.
Tomlin's other notable film roles include Doreen Piggot in Robert Altman's Short Cuts in 1993, Georgie Rockwell in Tea with Mussolini in 1999, deadpan private investigator and existentialist Vivian Jaffe in I Heart Huckabees in 2004, and Country-Western singer Rhonda Johnson in Robert Altman's final film A Prairie Home Companion in 2006.
