In an extract from her memoir, Bossypants, Tina Fey considers the pros and cons of breastfeeding, explains why male comedy writers pee in cups – and has some choice words for her detractors Tina.
- Before Liz Lemon, before 'Weekend Update,' before 'Sarah Palin,' Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true.
- Tina Fey, Writer: 30 Rock. Elizabeth Stamatina Fey was born in 1970 in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, just west of Philadelphia, to Xenobia 'Jeanne' (Xenakes), a brokerage employee, and Donald Henry Fey, who wrote grant proposals for universities. Her mother is Greek, born in Piraeus, while her father had German, Northern Irish, and English ancestry.
A happy-go-lucky nerd
Tina Fey came from a family that appreciated humor. Born on May 18, 1970, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, she admitted to Associated Press writer Douglas Rowe that her ultra dry wit comes from her mother, Jeanne. Fey also gives credit to her father, Don, and big brother, Peter, for introducing her to classic comedy. Some of her early memories are of watching comedies on television with her family, especially episodes of the British series, Monty Python's Flying Circus. Peter, who is eight years older, also gave Fey her first glimpse into the world of Saturday Night Live. SNL aired at 11:30 at night, and since Fey was too young to stay up and watch it, Peter would act out the skits for her the next day.
By the eighth grade, Fey was writing reports on comedy. She also carved out a role for herself as the class comedian. As Fey told Donna Freydkin of USA Today, she started to crack jokes in middle school, and when people laughed, she decided then and there, 'this is going to be my thing. I'm going to try to be that person at the party.' However, there was also a quiet side to the budding comedian. At Upper Darby High School, Fey was a serious student; she was very studious, and was involved in such activities as tennis, newspaper, choir, and drama. She was not particularly popular. In Fey's own words to Rowe, she was a 'happy-go-lucky nerd who operated in my own little social situations outside of the cool people.'
'Women tend toward more character-based, subtle observations. Men are more amused by fighting bears, sharks, and robots.'
Bossypants By Tina Fey
After high school Fey enrolled at the University of Virginia, intending to study English. She soon switched her major to drama, and when she graduated, Fey and a college friend took off to study acting in Chicago. Chicago was Fey's destination because it was the home of Second City, a famous training center for actors and comedians. The star-struck girl from Pennsylvania had grown up idolizing those actors on Saturday Night Live who had gotten their start at Second City—actors such as Gilda Radner (1946–1989), John Belushi (1949–1982), and Dan Aykroyd (1952–).
Alec Baldwin loves being in love.
The 30 Rock alum is Vanity Fair's April 2017 cover star. Instead of giving an interview, Baldwin released an excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, Nevertheless. In his book, Baldwin opens up about the iconic actresses with whom he has been lucky to work over the years, such as Megan Mullally, Jane Krakowski and Tina Fey. Although they're all comic geniuses, they have something else in common: Baldwin's love.
In Nevertheless, Baldwin reveals he has fallen in love with each of them. Ohh la la!
'I have always been madly in love with Megan Mullally. Some have compared her to Madeline Kahn, and although I hear some echoes, Megan is such an original in terms of her timing, her warmth, and her mixture of insanity and sexiness,' he writes, as excerpted by Vanity Fair. 'Like Megan, Jane Krakowski went on to nail the self-absorbed, horny femme fatale on 30 Rock. In my mind, there is a line from Marilyn Monroe to Madeline Kahn to Megan to Jane. Scattered in between are a lot of talented female comics and actresses who are scoring in film and TV, of all ethnicities and ages, like Rosie Perez, Wanda Sykes, Sarah Silverman, and Tig Notaro. But with her high-pitched voice and loopy delivery, I've always found Megan irresistible.'
But fans might be surprised to know that when the Saturday Night Live star was first introduced to Fey, who would go on to become his 30 Rock co-star and mentee Liz Lemon, he wanted to date her.
'When I first met Tina Fey—beautiful and brunette, smart and funny, by turns smug and diffident and completely uninterested in me or anything I had to say—I had the same reaction that I'm sure many men and women have: I fell in love,' he admits in his memoir. 'Tina was then the head writer at Saturday Night Live, and I was hosting that week's show.'
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Tina Fey Autobiography
He recalls, '..I asked Marci Klein, who coordinated the talent, if Tina was single. She pointed to a man sitting along the wall. Or maybe he was standing? This was Jeff Richmond, Tina's husband. Jeff is diminutive. Tina describes him as 'travel-size.' When I saw him, I thought, 'What's she doing with him?'
Tina Fey Memoir
Download adobe audition 1.5 full free mac. Baldwin's opinion later shifted.
'When I ended up working with the two of them years later, on 30 Rock, of which Tina was writer, producer, and star, I changed that to 'What's he doing with her?' Jeff, who was the talented composer and music supervisor on 30 Rock, is as loose and outgoing as Tina is cautious and dry. 'Just remember one thing,' Lorne[Michaels] said. 'She's German.'
His time on 30 Rock ended up being 'the best job I ever had.'