Jennifer Tilly
8.3
12 votes
Astrological Zodiac sign: Virgo
Age: 54
Jennifer Tilly is an Academy Award-nominated American actress and a World Series of Poker bracelet winner.
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.
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 Gary's girlfriend on "the Gary Shandling Show" which aired on HBO 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 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. But the series was cancelled shortly after.
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. As of 2008 her live tournament winnings exceed $450,000.
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 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.
See also: Actress, Chinese, American, Academy Award Nominee, Poker Player
