Elizabeth Stamatina Fey was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, just west of Philadelphia, in 1970 to Donald and Jeannec Fey. Going by the name of Tina, Ms. Fey considered herself a "supernerd" during her high school and college years. She studied drama at the University of Virginia, and after graduating in 1992, she headed to Chicago, the ancestral home of American comedy. While working at a YMCA to support herself, she started Second City's first set of courses. After about nine months, a teacher told her to just skip ahead and audition for the more selective Second City Training Center. She failed but about eight weeks later, she re-auditioned and got into the year-long program. She ended up spending many years at The Second City in Chicago where many SNL cast members first started out. Then in 1995, Saturday Night Live came to The Second City's cast, including Fey's friend, Adam McKay, as a writer, searching for new talent. What they found was Tina Fey. When Adam was made Head writer, he suggested Fey should send a submission packet over the summer with six sketches, 10 pages each. Tina took the advice and sent them. After Lorne Michaels met her and saw her work she was offered a job a week later. She admitted that she was extremely nervous working in the legendary Studio 8H; being a foot shorter than everyone else, younger, and being one of the only female writers at the time. After a few years, Tina made history by becoming the first female head writer in the show's history. Tina also made her screen debut as a featured player during the 25th season by co-anchoring Weekend Update with Jimmy Fallon. Since Tina and Jimmy have taken over Weekend Update it has been considered the best ever. This year she made it to full fledged star by becoming a regular cast member, though she is hardly on the show, besides Update. And during the past two summers, Tina and Rachel Dratch performed their two-woman show to critical acclaim in both Chicago (1999) and New York (2000) and made their Aspen Comedy Festival Debut. Tina is married to Jeff Richmond, a Second City director and currently lives in New York City.
Came out of Chicago's famed Second City comedy troupe, where she was a writer-performer. She is Saturday Night Live's first-ever female head writer. Was chosen by Entertainment Weekly as the #8 entertainer of the year for the year 2001 Brother: Peter, who is 8 years older than Tina Her husband, Jeff Richmond is a Second City director. That's how they met. He is ten years older than she is. As a head writer for Saturday Night Live she has written the Old French Whore, The View, Sully and Denise and the Monica Lewinsky skits, among many, many others. Fey's mother is from Greece Was voted one of People's 50 Most Beautiful in the World. Her father is of German and Irish descent, and her mother is Greek. Told "Bust" magazine in 2004 that she considers herself a feminist. In her first session as a member of the Saturday Night Live writing staff, the 5'4" Tina found discovered that she was a foot shorter than the mostly male writing staff, and felt for a while as if she'd shrunk. Attended the University of Virginia, graduating in 1992. Graduated from Upper Darby High School. Recorded the voices for the British and German princesses for Williams' "Medieval Madness" pinball machine. Tina and her husband, Jeff Richmond, had a girl, Alice, on September 10, 2005. She is an alumna of the Famous Improv Olympic, along with actors Vince Vaughn, the late Chris Farley, Ossie Beck, Mike Myers, Amy Poehler, and Adam McKay. Close friends with fellow Saturday Night Live cast member, Amy Poehler. Is often compared to Nana Mouskouri, to whom she bears a striking resemblance. This may be due to both women's common Greek ancestry and the fact that they both have black-rimmed glasses as their trademark. Born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, the same town in which Saturday Night Live alumna Cheri Oteri (a cast member when Fey was writing on SNL) was born.