January 11, 2005
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu

Brilliant actor and comedian Lily Tomlin performs “An Afternoon of Classic Lily Tomlin” as a special fundraiser for UCSB Arts & Lectures

Summary Facts:

• “An Afternoon of Classic Lily Tomlin”
• The terrific comedian will perform some of her cherished characters
• Tomlin is one of America’s greatest stars of stage, screen and television
• Saturday, February 12 / 4 pm
• UCSB Campbell Hall
• Show sold-out, except for a limited number of $250 VIP tickets that include a post-performance dinner with Ms. Tomlin (a few of these might be available beginning January 18)
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535

Lily Tomlin, hailed as “one of the few, true comic geniuses of our generation” by USA Today, will perform “An Afternoon of Classic Lily Tomlin” on Saturday, February 12 at 4 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. This fundraiser for Arts & Lectures is sold out, except for a limited number of $250 tickets that include a VIP seat and a post-show dinner with Ms. Tomlin at a private Montecito residence. If available, these tickets will go on sale beginning January 18.

In 2003 Lily Tomlin was awarded the prestigious Mark Twain Prize, given annually to an American comedian of distinction. Tomlin is revered for her creations like Ernestine the Operator, the persnickety kid Edith Ann, and for dramatic turns including Deborah Fiderer on The West Wing. At her show in Santa Barbara she will perform scenes from her hit play The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe and revive some of her cherished characters.

Lily Tomlin continues to venture across an ever-widening range of media, starring in television, theater, motion pictures, animation and video. She has received numerous awards, including: six Emmys; a Tony for her one woman Broadway show, Appearing Nitely; a second Tony as Best Actress, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics’ Circle Award for her one woman performance in Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe; a CableAce Award for Executive Producing the film adaptation of The Search; a Grammy for her comedy album, This is a Recording; and two Peabody Awards—the first for the ABC television special Edith Ann’s Christmas: Just Say Noel and the second for narrating and executive producing the HBO film The Celluloid Closet.

Tomlin rose to national prominence in December 1969, when she joined the cast of the top-rated Laugh-In and immediately became popular with her characterizations of Ernestine, the sassy telephone operator, and Edith Ann, the devilish six year old. When Laugh-In left the air, Lily went on to co-write with Jane Wagner, and star in six comedy television specials over the next nine years, for which she won three Emmy Awards and a Writers Guild of America Award. Lily also starred in the HBO special about the AIDS epidemic And the Band Played On, as San Francisco health official Selma Dritz (1993). She has guest starred on numerous television shows, such as Homicide and X-Files, and played the boss for two years on the popular CBS series Murphy Brown. In 2002 Tomlin joined the cast of the hit NBC series The West Wing, playing President Bartlett’s assistant, Debbie Fiderer—a role for which she received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

Tomlin made her Broadway debut in the 1977 play Appearing Nitely, written and directed by Jane Wagner. Appearing Nitely featured favorite characters from her past, while introducing Trudy the bag lady, and Sister Boogie Woman, a 77-year-old blues revivalist, among others. Tomlin next appeared on Broadway in 1985 in a year long, SRO run of Jane Wagner’s critically-acclaimed The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. The Broadway success was followed by a coast-to-coast 14-city tour that spanned four and a half years. She extended this extraordinary theatrical career with a cross-country, 29-city tour of The Search, a new production of The Search on Broadway, and a record-breaking, six month run of the production in San Francisco.

On film, Lily made her debut as Linnea, a gospel singer and mother of two deaf children in Robert Altman’s Nashville (1975); her memorable performance was nominated for an Academy Award, and both the New York Film Critics and National Society of Film Critics voted Lily Best Supporting Actress. Since that time she has appeared in numerous films, including The Late Show, All of Me, Shadows and Fog, Short Cuts, Flirting with Disaster and I [Heart] Huckabees.

A collaboration between Lily Tomlin, Jane Wagner, Allee Willis and BUBBLES the artist has produced the magical Lily Tomlin website. Her career in art, text, photos and videos can be found at www.lilytomlin.com.

Lily Tomlin is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by the Santa Barbara Independent and KLITE. Arts & Lectures thanks Carole Lieff for her support of this event. $60 general public and $25 UCSB student tickets are all sold out. A limited number of $250 VIP tickets including a post-performance dinner with Ms. Tomlin might become available on January 18.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.