Lily Tomlin and Herry during production of her Sesame Street appearance.
Lily Tomlin with the Muppet Gang.
Tomlin as "Ernestine" with Oscar.
Tomlin as "Ernestine" with Jerry Nelson circa 1993.
Lily Tomlin (b. 1939) is an actress and comedienne who made her first television appearance in 1969 on The Merv Griffin Show. Her extensive film credits include Nine to Five (with Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda), All of Me (with Steve Martin), and Nashville, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Tomlin received a Tony Award as Best Actress in a Play in 1986 for The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life, a one-woman Broadway show written and directed by her partner, Jane Wagner. Tomlin is also known for her role as the voice of Ms. Frizzle ("The Frizz") on The Magic School Bus.
Tomlin has appeared with the Muppets frequently, not only as herself, but also as two characters she made famous on the television show Laugh-In: Ernestine, a gum-chewing, wisecracking, snorting telephone operator whose famous line was "One ringy dingy, two ringy dingy;" and Edith Ann, a five-year-old child often seen in an oversized rocking chair making rude noises.
Appearances[]
- Sang "I Got You Babe" with Scred in a "Land of Gortch" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1975. The skit involved Scred's sudden infatuation with Lily, replacing his former crush on Fran Allison. Also appeared in the final Gortch sketch, visiting the Muppets in the file cabinet "morgue."
- Played a cheerleader doing a cheer about parts of the body. (First: Episode 0885)
- Performed "Sing" for two deaf children on the stoop of 123 Sesame Street. (First: Episode 0901)
- Guest starred with Dudley Moore on The Muppets Go to the Movies primetime special in 1981.
- Appeared in the Spring 1986 issue of Muppet Magazine, promoting "Hands Across America".
- Made a cameo as Ernestine in prerecorded material for the Here Come the Muppets live stage show at Walt Disney World's Disney-MGM Studios in 1990.
- Guest starred as Ernestine on the PBS special Sesame Street Stays Up Late in 1993. Tomlin appears in her Ernestine persona as a telephone operator who serves as a conduit through which Oscar speaks with his family.
- Guest starred as Ernestine on the 1994 album, Kermit Unpigged.
- Appeared as Deborah Fiderer in a 2004 episode of The West Wing that featured the Sesame Street Muppets.
External links[]
- Tough Pigs Anthology -- Gortch transcript: "I Got You, Babe!"
- Tough Pigs Anthology -- Gortch transcript: "The Muppet Morgue"
- IMDb
- TV.com
- Official Site
- Internet Broadway Database