The famed actress has had a place in people’s hearts for decades, after first skyrocketing to stardom during the late 1960s for her appearances on various variety series and comedy sketch shows.
In recent years, she had a starring role alongside her longtime collaborator, Jane Fonda, on the hit Netflix series ‘Grace and Frankie’ – which centers on the lives of two women whose husbands have fallen for each other and wish the get married.
Over the years, her other acting credits have included ‘Nashville’, ‘The Late Show’, ‘Shadows and Fog’, ‘All Of Me’, ‘Flirting With Disaster,’ and ‘Big Business.’
Not only this, but Tomlin has also lent her voice to animated shows and movies like ‘has experience as a voice-over artist on animated films like ‘The Ant Bully,’ ‘The Simpsons,’ and ‘The Last Of The Red Hat Mamas.’
Though, aside from her seemingly never-ending acting credits, Tomlin has proven to be a very private person – having kept one massive part of her life relatively under wraps for over 50 years.
That part of her personal life is her 55-year partnership with writer Jane Wagner.
Meeting Jane Wagner
Tomlin has known Wagner for a long time, starting from when she was acting on the comedy-sketch show ‘Laugh-In’ in 1969. In this gig, Tomlin became well-known for creating some pretty hilarious personalities – though, she expressed an interest in hiring a writer to help her perfect one of them; a precocious five-year-old named Edith Ann.
Wagner was hired to work on the characters in 1971, and she instantly bonded with Tomlin. Before long, the pair became and official item.
Reminiscing on their romance in a 2020 interview with Variety, Tomlin said that, for her, it was love at first sight “in two minutes”.
Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner at the Screen Actors Guild Awards Gala in 2017. Credit / Kevin Mazur / Getty.
As the pair’s romance progressed over the years, their personal and professional lives blossomed, with Wagner telling the outlet: “When I got confidence, it was because of Lily, who believed in my work. We loved similar things, and it was just kind of remarkable that we were on the same page, aesthetically.”
She continued: “Her appreciation of my work meant all the difference to me. I saw her motivation. I saw her drive, and her strength taught me something.”
Clearly, Wagner has enjoyed watching Tomlin appreciate her work, and vice versa. During the interview, she also added that it was Tomlin’s admiration for Wagner that gave her the drive she needed.