Lily Tomlin

American Actress

About Lily Tomlin

Mary Jean “Lily” Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the variety show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In from 1969 until 1973. She currently stars as Frankie Bergstein on the Netflix series Grace and Frankie, which debuted in 2015 and has earned her nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.In 1975, Tomlin made her film debut with Robert Altman’s Nashville, which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1977, her performance as Margo Sperling in The Late Show won her the Silver Bear for Best Actress and nominations for the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Actress. Her other notable films include 9 to 5 (1980), All of Me (1984), Big Business (1988), Flirting with Disaster (1996), Tea with Mussolini (1999), I Heart Huckabees (2004), and Grandma (2015).

Her signature role was written by her then-partner (now wife), Jane Wagner, in a show titled The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe which opened on Broadway in 1985 and won Tomlin the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play. She is also known as the voice of Ms. Frizzle on the children’s series The Magic School Bus. She won her first Emmy Awards in 1974 for writing and producing her own television special, Lily. Tomlin won a Grammy Award for her 1972 comedy album This Is a Recording. In 2014, she was given Kennedy Center Honors and in 2017 she received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

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Quotes by Lily Tomlin

Don’t be afraid of missing opportunities. Behind every failure is an opportunity somebody wishes they had missed.

Lily Tomlin

For fast-acting relief try slowing down.

Lily Tomlin

I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.

Lily Tomlin

I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.

Lily Tomlin

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.

Lily Tomlin

I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain.

Lily Tomlin

I worry that the person who thought up Muzak may be thinking up something else.

Lily Tomlin

If I had known what it would be like to have it all – I might have been willing to settle for less.

Lily Tomlin

If love is the answer, could you please rephrase the question?

Lily Tomlin

If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in the library?

Lily Tomlin

If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you’re not considered well viewed.

Lily Tomlin

Instead of working for the survival of the fittest, we should be working for the survival of the wittiest – then we can all die laughing.

Lily Tomlin

It’s my belief we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain.

Lily Tomlin

I’ve always wanted to be somebody, but I see now I should have been more specific.

Lily Tomlin

Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.

Lily Tomlin

Ninety eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hardworking, honest Americans. It’s the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then, we elected them.

Lily Tomlin

No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up.

Lily Tomlin

Reality is a crutch for people who can’t handle drugs.

Lily Tomlin

Reality is nothing but a collective hunch.

Lily Tomlin

Reality is the leading cause of stress among those in touch with it.

Lily Tomlin

Remember we’re all in this alone.

Lily Tomlin

Sometimes I feel like a figment of my own imagination.

Lily Tomlin

Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.

Lily Tomlin

The best mind-altering drug is the truth.

Lily Tomlin

The problem with winning the rat race is you’re still a rat.

Lily Tomlin

The road to success is always under construction.

Lily Tomlin

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.

Lily Tomlin

There’s so much plastic in this culture that vinyl leopard skin is becoming an endangered synthetic.

Lily Tomlin

Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse.

Lily Tomlin

We are all in this together, by ourselves.

Lily Tomlin

We don’t care. We don’t have to. We’re the phone company.

Lily Tomlin

We’re all in this alone.

Lily Tomlin

What if it’s boring – or if it’s not boring, it might be too revealing, or worse, it might be too revealing and still be boring.

Lily Tomlin

What is reality, anyway? Just a collective hunch.

Lily Tomlin

Why is it that when we talk to God we’re said to be praying, but when God talks to us we’re schizophrenic?

Lily Tomlin

Why isn’t there a special name for the tops of your feet?

Lily Tomlin