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These days, you’re seeing women appear more and more frequently in comedic roles. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, this movement was pioneered by the likes of Lily Tomlin. The former stand-up comedian was able to perform improv in front of live audiences, and has made a career out of acting. Now entering her 80s, Tomlin is still going strong and has had a regular TV role for several years running.

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Tomlin was born on September 1, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, where she had spent her entire childhood. Tomlin went to high school in Detroit, and stayed in the Motor City for college as she went to Wayne State. Tomlin didn’t have aspirations of becoming an actress while she attended college, instead focusing on biology. It wasn’t until she decided to try out for a stage performance that she considered acting, and made it her major. In the Detroit area, Tomlin became a celebrity of sorts, appearing on stage and doing stand-up routines. This helped open the door for Tomlin’s career.

“I grew up in a time when women didn’t really do comedy,” Tomlin said when looking back at this time of her life. “You had to be homely, overweight, an old maid, all that. You had to play a stereotype, because very attractive women were not supposed to be funny - because it’s powerful; it’s a threat.”

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Tomlin made her television debut in 1966 when she became a regular on “The Garry Moore Show” for a year. After a couple of guest appearances, Tomlin joined the cast of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”, becoming one of the more popular cast members. For four years, Tomlin entertained audiences to the point where she was nominated for both an Emmy and Golden Globe award.

“I was doing a barefoot tap-dance at a revue, and (‘Laugh-In’ producer) George Schlatter happened to see my act,” Tomlin said of how she was cast. “He didn’t hire me then, but he hired me later. George was the only person who really got me. I did all the characters, and he loved them all. When I went to ‘Laugh-In’, I was already accepted.”

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After her time on “Laugh-In” came to an end, Tomlin had focused most of her time in film. In 1975, she starred in the film “Nashville” that earned herself an Oscar nomination for the first time, as well as nominations from various other awards shows. For the rest of the decade, Tomlin starred in Golden Globe nominated “The Late Show” and “Moment by Moment”.

Throughout the 1980s, Tomlin had just a handful of roles. She starred alongside Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda in the hit film “9 to 5”, as well as “The Incredible Shrinking Woman”, “All of Me” and “Big Business”. The following decade, Tomlin returned to television with several guest appearances that included “The X-Files” and “Homicide: Life on the Street” that earned an Emmy nomination. She also had a regular role on “Murphy Brown” and voiced Ms. Frizzle in the animated series “The Magic School Bus”.

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Tomlin added another regular role in the early 2000s when she starred as Deborah Fiderer on “The West Wing”, and then rounded out the decade by appearing in “Desperate Housewives”. She’s also added film roles that include “The Kid”, “Orange County” and “I Heart Huckabees”. More recently, Tomlin has appeared in the films “Grandma” and “Admission”, as well as playing a voice role in the animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”.

Recent years have also seen Tomlin return to “The Magic School Bus” for the new series “Rides Again”. Since 2015, Tomlin has starred on the Netflix series “Grace and Frankie” that’s seen her nominated for more awards, including several Emmys and a Golden Globe. All in all, Tomlin has appeared in nearly 70 productions, and will be coming out with the film “The Road Home”.

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Tomlin has enjoyed a fine career that has now lasted for a half century. She has some advice to offer up to those that are hoping to follow down the same path. “Don’t be afraid of missing opportunities,” she said. “Behind every failure is an opportunity somebody wishes they had missed…The road to success is always under construction.”

When asked about how she’s been able to sustain her success for so long, Tomlin admits that “I have no idea whatsoever.” She added that “I think it is because I have done characters all my life. If I am not so attractive to a fan one of the characters is. I remind them of someone in their family or maybe they sense that I come to them with a very compassionate view. I have a hard time shaking that. Someone asked me a similar question when I was doing some politicking once, they said something like, ‘How do you keep up with the times’ and all that stuff…I grew up in a working class family with all kinds of people You don’t have to be vindictive to be funny.”

“Many times I sit back and say, ‘I can’t believe that this is my life,’” she added. “Other times, I feel self-satisfied. I mean, there’s a lot to be proud and thankful for but, nonetheless, it’s just a life!” There is one thing that’s escaped Tomlin’s career to this point, and that’s an Oscar win. She admitted that she wants to win one, “Because I’d like to make something out of it.” As for what that is, “I don’t want to tell you what I’d like to do, because then I won’t be able to do it.”