Jennifer Tilly (born September 16, 1958)1 is an Academy Award-nominated Canadian-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.2 Following her parents' divorce when she was five, she was raised by her mother and stepfather, John Ward, on rural Texada Island, British Columbia, Canada. Her mother divorced again when she was a teenager and moved to Victoria, where she attended Belmont High School. Her sister is actress Meg Tilly. Tilly began her acting career in her teenage years through a theatre program at Stephens College in Missouri.
Acting
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. Jennifer Tilly also appeared as Garry's girlfriend on It's Garry Shandling's Show, which aired on Showtime in the mid 1980's.
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 an 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 permanently pregnant neighbor, Bonnie Swanson. She has also done vocal work for the films Monsters, Inc., Stuart Little, and Home on the Range, as well as the children's series Hey Arnold, In Disney's The Haunted Mansion, she does the voice-over 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 starring role in the US television comedy Out of Practice starring Henry Winkler and Stockard Channing. The series was canceled shortly after.
Poker
Jennifer Tilly and
Phil Laak at the 2005 WSOP.
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 online 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.3 As of 2008, her live tournament winnings exceed $450,000.
Tilly also appears in the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions 2007 Edition video game (along with current boyfriend, Phil Laak) that was released in 2007 by Activision.
Personal life
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 14 years younger than Tilly.
Tilly has two cats, Corky and Violet, and is an avid lover of fashion. She is a supporter of gay and lesbian rights.4
Filmography
Awards and 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 LGBT 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
