Jennifer Tilly (born September 16, 1958)[1] is an Academy
Award-nominated American actress and a World Series
of Poker bracelet winner.
Biography
Early life
Tilly was born Jennifer E. Chan in Harbor City, Los Angeles,
California. She is the second of four children of Harry Chan, a Chinese American
used car salesman, and Patricia Tilly, a schoolteacher and former stage actress. Following her parents' divorce when she was
young, she was raised by her mother and stepfather, John Ward, in rural British
Columbia, Canada. Her sister is actress Meg Tilly.
Tilly began her acting career in her teenage years through a theatre program at Stephens College in Missouri.
Career
Tilly had small roles in TV shows and movies beginning in 1983. She had a recurring guest role on Hill Street Blues as Gina Srignoli, a mobster's widow who becomes romantically involved with
detective Henry Goldblume.
Tilly's breakthrough film role was as a singing waitress in The Fabulous Baker
Boys (1989) in a part that was specially written for her by Steve Kloves. That
same year, she played a small part in the cult classic horse racing movie, Let it
Ride with Richard Dreyfuss and Teri Garr,
that Tilly later said "should have done better."
She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as a hopelessly bad actress in
Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway
(1994). In 1994, she also had a small role in the The Getaway with
Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger. Tilly was ranked #23
in Celebrity Sleuth "25 Sexiest Women of 1995."
Tilly appeared in Bound, which revolves around a lesbian relationship her character has with Gina Gershon. She played
Samantha Cole in the 1997 Jim Carrey hit, Liar Liar. In 2000, Tilly appeared in the
film Dancing at the Blue Iguana in which she played a stripper and part-time dominatrix.
Tilly gained some additional popularity in recent years for providing voice-over work as killer doll Tiffany for the
Child's Play series of movies. In the most recent installment, Seed of Chucky, she plays a dual role, not only providing the voice for Tiffany but also playing an
exaggerated version of herself.
Tilly is a semi-regular cast member on Family Guy, voicing the Griffin family's
neighbor, Bonnie Swanson. She has also done vocal work for the film Monsters, Inc., the children's series Hey Arnold,
Stuart Little and Home on the
Range. In Disney's The Haunted Mansion, she does the voiceover for
Madame Leota and works from the neck up. She has been active in the theatre, winning a Theater World Award for her performance in
the off-Broadway play One Shoe Off.
Tilly has also had a recurring role in the US television comedy Out of
Practice starring Henry Winkler and Stockard Channing.
Poker
On June 27, 2005, Tilly won a World Series of Poker bracelet (and $158,625) in the Ladies' No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em event, outlasting 600 other players. She followed up this accomplishment on
September 1, 2005 by also winning the third World Poker Tour Ladies Invitational Tournament held at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. Tilly has appeared in the GSN
Poker Royale series. She appeared in the third season of Poker
Superstars but was eliminated in the preliminary round.
Tilly played in the Celebrity Poker Showdown which aired June 14, 2006 on Bravo. Tilly
was knocked out in third place by Bravo’s internet poker champion Ida Siconolfi (the first non-celebrity to appear on the show) when her
A♣ K♥ failed to improve against Ida's starting hand
of K♣ K♠. Tilly appears as a celebrity, rather than a poker pro, in ESPN's Pro-Am Poker Equalizer.
In a television interview, Tilly stated that at this point in her career she is more interested in pursuing poker than
acting.[2] Her total tournament winnings exceed
$340,000.
Personal life
Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak at the 2005 WSOP.
Tilly married The Simpsons producer Sam Simon
in 1984, but they divorced in 1991. She is currently dating poker professional Phil "Unabomber" Laak and is nicknamed "The Unabombshell" within the poker circuit. Laak is 13 years Tilly's
junior.
Tilly has two cats, Corky and Violet, and is an avid lover of fashion. She is a supporter of gay and lesbian rights.[3]
Filmography
Awards & nominations
Awards
- Theater World Award, Most Promising Newcomer - One Shoe Off
- Dramalogue Award - Vaniti
- Gemini Award For Best Actress - Heads
- Fanta Festival Best Actress - Bride Of Chucky
- Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Award Best Actress - Bound
- Golden Gate Award - GLAAD Media Award for media
professionals who increase the understanding of the GLBT community
Nominations
- MTV Movie Award Best Frightened Performance - Seed of Chucky
- Academy Award for Best Actress In Supporting Role - Bullets Over Broadway
- Academy Of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films USA Best Actress - Bride Of Chucky
- Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Favourite Supporting Comedy Actress
- Academy Of Science Fiction, Fantasty & Horror Films USA Best Supporting Actress - Bound
- MTV Movie Award Best Kiss (With Gina Gershon) - Bound
References
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
