Lily Tomlin's Real Name: Mary Jean Tomlin

Quick answer: The actress and comedian is known professionally as Lily Tomlin. Britannica and Encyclopedia.com independently give the original name Mary Jean Tomlin and date her birth to September 1, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan (Britannica; Encyclopedia.com).

Real name and early life

Independent publishers support the documented original name Mary Jean Tomlin. Britannica says she grew up in Detroit and attended Wayne State University, began performing stand-up comedy in local clubs, and later moved to New York City. Encyclopedia.com independently records that she was born Mary Jean Tomlin in Detroit, that her father, Guy Tomlin, was a toolmaker, that her mother was Lillian May Ford, and that she attended Wayne State University.

Career highlights

Britannica says she appeared on The Garry Moore Show in 1966-67 and was a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1969 to 1973, creating characters including Ernestine, a telephone operator, and Edith Ann, a precocious five-year-old. Encyclopedia.com independently names those two characters and dates her time as a Laugh-In regular to 1970-73, a slightly later start than Britannica's 1969; this page records both wordings. Britannica says Ernestine appeared on the album This Is a Recording (1971), which earned a Grammy Award, and that several characters appeared in the Emmy-winning television movie Lily (1973). Encyclopedia.com independently lists the Grammy-winning album.

Britannica says her film debut was Robert Altman's Nashville (1975), which brought an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress, and later names The Late Show (1977), the Broadway shows Appearing Nitely (1977), which earned a special Tony Award, and The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1985-86), which earned a Tony for best actress. Encyclopedia.com independently lists Nashville, The Late Show, Nine to Five (1980), and those two stage shows. Britannica independently names Nine to Five as a 1980 comedy with Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton, later lists Short Cuts (1993), and records the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (2003), a Kennedy Center Honor (2014), and later work in the series Grace and Frankie. It also says she married her longtime collaborator Jane Wagner in 2013, and that the Library of Congress added This Is a Recording to the National Recording Registry in 2024.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Lily Tomlin or Mary Jean Tomlin are looking for the same American comedian and actress. Independent sources support the original name used in the title.