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. She ended up spending many years at The Second City in Chicago where many SNL cast members first started out.
In 1995, "Saturday Night Live" (1975) 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. 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. 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.
