Jennifer Tilly

Biography for Jennifer Tilly

An actress who always attracts audiences' attention, Jennifer Tilly is by turns funny, sexy, compassionate, and compelling and often all at once.

Her breakthrough movie role tapped into all of those qualities failing singer Blanche "Monica" Moran in Steve Kloves' The Fabulous Baker Boys, opposite Jeff and Beau Bridges.

A few years later, Jennifer earned an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the aspiring, but hopelessly untalented, actress Olive Neal in Woody Allen's Bullets over Broadway.

She has become well-known to filmgoers for both major studio and independent films. In Tom Shadyac's blockbuster Liar Liar, she kept pace with star Jim Carrey. Her steamy performance opposite Gina Gershon helped make the Wachowski Brothers' Bound a breakout indie success at the Sundance Film Festival and then in theatrical release. The latter film also expanded Jennifer's already significant gay and lesbian following.

She successfully cultivated another fan base with the revitalization of the Child's Play horror comedy franchise. For Ronny Yu's Bride of Chucky, the filmmakers turned to Jennifer to create the character who would spark the series in a new direction. She met the challenge and established a new horror icon in Tiffany. This Halloween, in Rogue Pictures' all-new Seed of Chucky, written and directed by series creator Don Mancini, Jennifer again takes the popular series to the next level; she stars as Tiffany and the deadly doll's favorite actress Jennifer Tilly, who soon becomes an unwitting hostess in more ways than one.

Jennifer's pitch-perfect voiceover work as Tiffany is not the only instance of her being able to incarnate a character from the vocal chords out. Families know her distinctive cadences from the recent Disney hits Home on the Range (in which Jennifer voiced a new-age bovine), directed by Will Finn and John Sanford; The Haunted Mansion (in which Jennifer acted from the neck up only), directed by Rob Minkoff; and the Pixar blockbuster Monsters, Inc. (voicing Mike's love interest Celia), directed by Pete Docter, David Silverman, and Lee Unkrich.

She began her acting career as a teenager, putting herself through the theater program at Stephens College in Missouri by winning writing competitions. She then headed to Los Angeles. While she continued to act on the stage (earning a Dramalogue Award for her performance in Vanities), movies and television immediately came calling for the actress with the unique voice and visage.

Over the years, Jennifer has made memorable appearances on some of television's best series, including Hill Street Blues (in a recurring dramatic role), Cheers, Moonlighting, It's Garry Shandling's Show, and Frasier. In addition, she has been a favored guest on a number of talk shows, from Johnny Carson to The Arsenio Hall Show to (currently) The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Those interview segments have encouraged viewers to expect the unexpected from her interplay with the host and the studio audience.

Her many films over a two-decade span include Neil Jordan's High Spirits, Oliver Stone's The Doors, Richard Benjamin's Made in America, Roger Donaldson's The Getaway, Joe Pytka's Let It Ride, P.J. Castellaneta's Relax, It's Just Sex, Michael Radford's Dancing at the Blue Iguana, Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow (in which she played Louella Parsons).

Jennifer has also continued to act on the stage. She won a Theater World Award for her performance in off-Broadway's One Shoe Off, and starred on Broadway in the 2001 revival of The Women (which was later taped for, and broadcast on, PBS).

Jennifer Tilly was cited at the Oscar and the American Award for the best support for her olive interpretation in shots on Broadway by Woody Allen. She was also appointed to the American Comedy Award for a liar, Tom Shadyac liar, as well as the Award Blockbuster for best supporting role.

In her filmography are High Spirits by Neil Jordan, Bound of the Wachowski brothers, for whom she was appointed to the Saturn Award for best actress, Edie & Pen of Matthew Irmas, Let It Ride by Joe Pytka, Shadow of the Wolf by Jacques Dorfman , The Muse of Albert Brooks, Relax, It's Just Sex by P.J. Castellaneta. She lent her voice to Stuart Little by Rob Minkoff. She also interpreted the fiancée of Chucky by Ronny Yu, for which she was appointed to the Saturn Award.

We could also see her in Guet-Apens by Roger Donaldson, Made in America by Richard Benjamin, Susie and the Baker Boys by Steven Kloves, the "swan" of the fate of Charlie Peters, the adversaries of Ron Shelton, outline of rescue From Dick Maas, The Crew by Michael Dinner, The Cat's Meow by Peter Bogdanovich, and "The Magnifice Ambersons" by Alfonso Arau, in which she takes up the role of Fanny Minafer, created by Agnes Moorehead in the version of Orson Welles in 1942.

She has since shot "Sister Mary Explains It All", a TV movie by Marshall Brickman, with Diane Keaton, Laura San Giacomo and Brian Benben. She lent her voice to Célia in the original version of Monsters & Cie, the animated film by Pete Doctor, and played in Fast Sofa by Salome Breziner, Sultans of Africa by Barry Gifford, inside Job de Laszlo Papas and Ball in The House of Tanya Wexler. We saw her recently in Dancing At The Blue Iguana by Michael Radford. She will soon lend her voice to the original version of the new Disney animated film, the farm rebels, and she will be playing by Jericho Magns with James Caan and Nowhere To Go But Up, with Audrey Tautou and Justin Theroux.

On the television side, it was the star of the miniseries "Bella Mafia", alongside Vanessa Redgrave, and the series "Key West". She was cited at the Cableace Award for best actress for her regular role in "It’s Garry Shandling’s Show" and the Gemini Award for the best actress for the "Heads" TV movie.

She performs regularly in the theater, in plays like "Le Tartuffe", "Boy’s Life", "Baby with the Bathwater", "The Woolgathen". She won the Dramalogue Award for the best actress for "Vanities" and the Theater World Award for "One Shoe Off".

Jennifer Tilly is an American actress born September 16, 1958 in Harbor City, California. She is best known for her roles in Liar Liar, Bound and Chucky films, as well as for her participation in several television series such as Family Guy, Modern Family and Psych.

Tilly began her career in the 1980s, playing in theatrical productions and independent films. She won the prize for best actress for her role in the film Bound at the Sundance Film Festival in 1996, and was also nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the Service Service Family Guy in 2009.

In addition to her acting work, Tilly is also a professional poker player and won the World Series of Poker Ladies' Event in 2005. She is also known for her distinctive voice and her sense of humor, which has earned a large fanbase.

Apart from his career, Tilly is an activist in favor of animal rights and supports several charities. She is also very close to her family and has a twin sister, actress Meg Tilly.

Photos

Filmography

Trivia

• Went to high school at Belmont High School, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
• Attended Stephens College, in Columbia, Missouri (majored in drama)
• Has one cat, Corky.
• She has won a Theater World Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her work in Tina Howe's play One Shoe Off at The Joseph Papp Theater. She also received a Dramalogue Award for her work in the play Vanities. She won a Gemini Award for Best Actress for her role in the Showtime's Heads and a nomination for a Cable ACE Award for her work on _"It's Garry Shandling Show" (1986)_ .
• Avid lover of fashion and has 400 pairs of shoes.
• Lenny Von Dohlen who co-starred with Jennifer in Bird of Prey (1995) and her sister Meg in Leaving Normal (1992) said "They have a fountain of emotion that keeps coming, even after someone yells cut, but the fountain comes from different bodies of water," he adds. "Meg is an ocean, Jennifer is a rushing river."
• In high school, everyone called Jennifer, Meg, and their younger sister Becky the Three Musketeers.
• She ranked #23 in Celebrity Sleuth 25 Sexiest Women of 1995
• Measurements: 36C-24-34 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
• She has played a hot, ditzy, sexy love interest for Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Crane character when he was trying to get over other women on "Cheers" and again on "Frasier." (though she was not playing the same character)
• Is 1/2 Caucasian and 1/2 Chinese
• In 2005, won the Ladies-Only No Limit Texas Hold 'Em event at the World Series of Poker, becoming the first celebrity to win an open (as opposed to celebrity-only) WSOP tournament and earn a World Series bracelet. She beat out exactly 600 other women to take the championship.

Quotes

"Everyone said that if you want to be a real actor, go to New York. If you want to sell out, go to LA. And I thought - I want to sell out!"

"A way you can get really good abs in film is you get your makeup artist to paint shadows--faux washboard. But if you see me in a movie and I have great abs, it means I have a great body double."

"Spending time with Jim on a stage is an incredibly weird experience! I found myself unable to act seriously! Hard to shoot with the master of comedy!"

"I still haven't made a film that defines who I am."

"If I was like some of the characters I played, I'd probably be dead by now".

"I was the most popular person in my family. I was like a celebrity. All my sisters would fight over who got to sleep with me. I was always thinking up all the games, telling all the stories, and had the best clothes. I was the entertainment. We didn't have television and we didn't have movies, and I was always the boss. I'd write these plays and I'd make everybody be in them. Once, I had this idea that we'd put all the beds on top of one another so there would be only one bed, but it would be a really big, tall bed. Then we'd take turns sleeping on that bed while everybody else slept on the floor. Like, for a month. Everyone thought that was a great idea. I don't know why. I guess because we grew up way, way out in the country and we never had any neighbors."

On her curves and her frequent cleavage baring characters; "People are always accusing me of having implants."

(On Seed of Chucky): "It's really gruesome, but it's a heartwarming story."

Family

• Spouse : Sam Simon (1984 - 1991) (divorced)
• Sister of actress Meg Tilly. She also has an older brother and a younger sister named Rebecca Tilly.

Author of the card

• Creation date: 01/07/2003 by abdest
• Last update: 01/05/2007 by OnceUponAtime...