Witty Women Wednesday, Lily Tomlin - The woman that made me move with laughter!

picture from http://www.biography.com/people/lily-tomlin-9508630

This is a wonderful Detroit, Michigan woman that has surely pushed into a guys world and made it better for many more of us women down the line.  Above is one of her characters Ernestine the cranky telephone operator.

• She was born Mary Jean Tomlin on September 1st, 1939.  She looks so amazing!  Her role model was our last Wednesday's witty woman, Lucille Ball http://silverwineadditions.blogspot.com/2016/02/witty-wednesday-i-love-you-lucy.html, as well as Bea Lillie, Jean Carroll and Imogene Coca.

The thing was with Lily, she did not go right into acting after high school.  She took a traditional path after attending Cass Tech High School she went off to college.  In a matter of fact it was as serious as Medical School at Wayne State University in Detroit.  As every college student knows academia want students to take more classes so that they are more well rounded student.  So while taking the medical classes, she took theater & art classes.  During breaks in studying, she would go to the local coffee houses and perform.  Thank goodness she moved to New York and started at places like the Improv, and Cafe Au Go Go because her crazy wit and cast of characters she had created have left many in stitches.            Please watch the clips!  They are smashing!

Picture from http://www.c-ville.com/arts-pick-lily-tomlin/#.Vs3v5xird2s

Her list of career achievements are long and a beautiful sight to see especially in the beginning.

• The Garry Moore Show 1966
• Merv Griffin Show 
• The Music Scene
• Laugh-In 1969-1973

With being in Laugh-in that was when she created the character of Ernestine the telephone operator and Edith Ann a into everything 6 year old.  During the development of the character Edith Ann, Lily was looking for a writer to develop her and me her now partner, Jane Wagner.  There was a quick connection both for them personally and professionally.  It is cool that when you go looking for one thing you can get another.  Being open minded is always a good way to be!

If you don't know about laugh-in, check it out on Youtube.

Ernestine Gossips with Cher https://youtu.be/U0Gw9IUmjwM 

Here are a few more amazing clips:

Joan Rivers interviews Lily Tomlin as Ernestine https://youtu.be/P3AujuB_3Zs

Sesame Street clip - Lets talk about Pride with Harry and Edith Ann https://youtu.be/_Nwu2x_RhRA

Picture from http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/?p=3169

 One of the movies I remember most is the 9 to 5 with Dolly Parton, and Jane Fonda working for a guy with crappy morals and in the circle of the male dominated system.  They did some crazy things to get their point across, but it is Hollywood, so they create some interesting stuff.  The write up on IMDb states, "Three female employees of a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot find a way to turn the tables on him".  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080319/.

In the next clip, Violet finds out she gets passed over for yet another promotion. https://youtu.be/QNnRamMk7xo

This clip is pretty identifiable.  In my life I have been there but when something like that makes the big screen it feels pretty good just to laugh.  Without laughter life can become pretty depressing.

A more recent venture, 2015, of Lily's has been a series on Netflix called Gracie & Frankie and a big screen movie Grandma where a teenager is facing an unplanned pregnancy.  She seeks help from her  grandmother, a woman who is long estranged from her daughter. Also staring in the Grandma flix is the always sexy Sam Elliot.  The movie is a must see for me and it should be a blast for anyone who loves to see the diversity of the actress!

photo from http://www.lilytomlin.com/wordpress2/grandma-2/

Below is the link to IMBd in regards to the information about the movie Grandma written by Paul Weitz

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4270516/ 

 Sometimes when you like an artist many times it is best to watch the clips to really enjoy their work the best.

Congrats to Lily and Jane for tying the knot New Years Eve of 2014 Where they were married in a private ceremony in Los Angeles, California! 

Thank you Lily for the laughs and pushing though the crap to make it good for our Detroit gal!

References:

See each picture close captions for those references.

To check out the full bio of Lily, check out the reference that I used.  There is so many cool movies and shows she has done. 

http://www.biography.com/people/lily-tomlin-9508630#commercial-success