Lily Tomlin

Comedian and actor
Lily Tomlin has been honored by the Kennedy Center and awarded the Mark Twain Prize — and she's still making vital, hilarious comedy.

Why you should listen

Throughout her extraordinary career, Lily Tomlin has won seven Emmys; a Tony for her one-woman Broadway show, Appearing Nitely; a second Tony for Best Actress; a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics' Circle Award for her one-woman performance in Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe; a Grammy for her comedy album, This Is a Recording; and two Peabody Awards, the first for the ABC television special, Edith Ann’s Christmas: Just Say Noël, and the second for narrating and executive producing the HBO film, The Celluloid Closet. In 2003, she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and in December 2014 she was the recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors in Washington DC.

She made her film debut in Robert Altman's Nashville, and gave a generation-defining performance alongside Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda in the workplace revenge comedy 9 to 5.

Lily Tomlin’s TED talk

More news and ideas from Lily Tomlin

Live from TEDWomen

Women at war, women as friends: The talks in Session 6 of TEDWomen 2015

May 29, 2015

What is an idea, really, if you keep it to yourself? No, ideas are meant to be shared. In this session, stories of connection — from Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, who have been friends since 9 to 5, to Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols, a couple who traveled around the world documenting the lives of “supergays.” Short recaps of […]

Continue reading