Lily Tomlin
Born: September 1 1939
Where: Detroit, Michigan, USA
The former stand-up comedienne landed an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her performance in Robert Altman's Nashville.
Other high-profile big screen appearances include The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Short Cuts, The Beverly Hillbillies and Tea With Mussolini.
She first studied as a pre-med student at Wayne State University before switching to acting.
One of her professional gigs was as a waitress in Howard Johnson's on Broadway where customers were regaled by her colourful comments.
Tomlin studied acting under Charles Nelson Reilly, who introduced her to the works of monologist Ruth Draper, a major inspiration for her work.
She made her TV debut on The Garry Moore Show in 1966 and later rose to national prominence on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
On the show she impressed with her characterisations of Ernestine, the sassy telephone operator, and Edith Ann, the devilish five-and-a-half-year-old.
In 1975, she made her debut in Altman's Nashville, attracting a nomination for best supporting actress for the role of Linnea Reese.
Subsequent appearances included The Late Show and Joel Schumacher's sci-fi comedy The Incredible Shrinking Woman in which she played two parts.
All the time, she continued her successful comedy career and even handed out cups of coffee as a Red Cross nurse before one of her shows in New York.
Awards for her one-woman Broadway show Appearing Nitely include a Tony.
In 1984, she starred opposite Steve Martin in the comedy All of Me and also appeared alongside Bette Midler in Big Business.
Woody Allen cast her as a prostitute for 1992's Shadow and Fog and she reteamed with Altman to play Doreen Piggot in Short Cuts.
In 1993, she starred in the family comedy The Beverly Hillbillies and appeared alongside Ben Stiller and Rosanna Arquette in Flirting With Disaster in 1996.
Switching styles, she appeared in Franco Zeffirelli's melodrama Tea With Mussolini with Cher and Maggie Smith and Disney's The Kid with Bruce Willis.
She has been romantically involved with her comedy writer, Jane Wagner, for over 30 years.
After a cameo in Orange County she played existential detective Vivian Jaffe in the comedy I Heart Huckabees with Dustin Hoffman.
