Tina Fey

Elizabeth Stamatina Fey was born on May 18, 1970, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. She developed an early interest in comedy, stemming from family viewings of classic comedies and a school project on film comedians at age 11. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama, Fey moved to Chicago to pursue improvisational comedy. She worked at a YMCA during the day and took classes at The Second City at night, a renowned improvisational comedy troupe where many future Saturday Night Live cast members began their careers. While performing with The Second City, Fey also started doing gigs at Improv Olympic, where she met her future husband and collaborator, Jeff Richmond.

Fey’s career advanced significantly when she was hired as a writer for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in 1997. She initially faced challenges but quickly made her mark by writing several successful sketches and becoming the show’s first female head writer in 1999. In 2000, she began performing on-screen, co-anchoring the “Weekend Update” segment with Jimmy Fallon, a role that brought her widespread recognition. Later, Amy Poehler joined her as co-anchor, marking the first time two women co-hosted the segment. Her portrayal of Sarah Palin on SNL in 2008 garnered significant media attention and an Emmy Award. Fey departed SNL in 2006 to focus on developing new projects.

Following her successful tenure at SNL, Fey created and starred in the critically acclaimed NBC sitcom “30 Rock” (2006–2013). This show earned her multiple accolades, including Primetime Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards for her role as Liz Lemon. She has since created and produced other successful shows, such as the Netflix sitcom “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (2015–2020), NBC’s “Mr. Mayor” (2021–2022), and Netflix’s “The Four Seasons” (2025). Her film credits include writing and co-starring in “Mean Girls” (2004), starring roles in “Baby Mama” (2008), “Date Night” (2010), and voice roles in animated films like “Megamind” (2010) and “Soul” (2020). Fey is also a published author, with her memoir “Bossypants” (2011) becoming a New York Times Best Seller, and she adapted “Mean Girls” into a successful Broadway musical in 2018.