jennifer tilly

Early life

Jennifer Tilly was born Jennifer E. Chan in Harbor City, California. Her father was a Chinese stockbroker and her mother an Irish-Canadian. Tilly is her mother's maiden name. Jennifer and her two sisters, Meg Tilly and Rebecca Tilly, were brought up in rural British Columbia, Canada. Jennifer began her acting career in her teenage years through a theatre program at Stephens College in Missouri.

Acting career

Her 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. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as a hopelessly bad actress in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994).

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. She played the wife of a murdered Italian Mafia son in Bella Mafia with Dennis Farina. Tilly has also appeared in Bound, which revolves around a lesbian relationship her character has with Gina Gershon.

Tilly is a semi-regular cast member on Family Guy, voicing the Griffin family's neighbor, Bonnie. She has also done vocal work for the film Monsters, Inc., the children's series Hey Arnold, Stuart Little , The Haunted Mansion and Home On The Range where 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.

Jennifer Tilly has three new projects for 2006, The Poker Movie, Intervention and a remake of The Initiation of Sarah for TV.

Poker

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 is the first non-poker celebrity to win a World Series of Poker event. 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♠.

In a television interview, Tilly stated that at this point in her career she is more interested in pursuing poker than acting.

Private life

Tilly married The Simpsons producer Sam Simon in 1984, but they divorced in 1991.

Tilly is currently dating poker professional Phil "Unabomber" Laak and is nicknamed "The Unabombshell" within the poker circuit.

Facts & figures

• Ranked #23 in Celebrity Sleuth 25 Sexiest Women of 1995
• In high school, everyone called Jennifer, Meg and their younger sister Becky the Three Musketeers.
• Has two cats, Corky and Violet
• Is an avid lover of fashion.

Selected filmography

• No Small Affair (1984)
• Moving Violations (1985)
• Remote Control (1987)
• Inside out (1987)
• He's My Girl (1987)
• Johnny Be Good (1988)
• Rented Lips (1988)
• High Spirits (1988)
• Far from Home (1989)
• Let It Ride (1989)
• The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
• The Doors (1991)
• Scorchers (1991)
• Shadow of the Wolf (1992)
• The Webbers (1993) (TV)
• Heads (1993) (TV)
• Made in America (1993)
• Double Cross (1994)
• Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
• Embrace of the Vampire (1994)
• The Getaway (1994)
• Bird of Prey (1995)
• Man with a Gun (1995)
• The Pompatus of Love (1996)
• House Arrest (1996)
• Bound (1996)
• American Strays (1996)
• Liar Liar (1997)
• Edie & Pen (1997)
• The Wrong Guy (1997)
• Bella Mafia (1997)
• Relax... It's Just Sex (1998)
• Hoods (1998)
• Bride of Chucky (1998) (voice)
• Music From Another Room (1998)
• The Muse (1999)
• Goosed (1999)
• Do Not Disturb (1999)
• Bartok the Magnificent (1999) (voice)
• Stuart Little (1999) (voice)
• Play It to the Bone (1999)
• Cord (2000)
• Bruno (2000)
• Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000)
• The Crew (2000)
• Dirt (2001)
• Sister Mary Explains It All (2001) (TV)
• Fast Sofa (2001)
• Monsters, Inc. (2001) (voice)
• The Kid (2001) (voice) (TV)
• Ball in the House (2001)
• The Cat's Meow (2001)
• Hollywood North (2003)
• The Magnificent Ambersons (2002) (TV)
• The Haunted Mansion (2003)
• Nowhere to Go But Up (2003)
• Jericho Mansions (2003)
• Return to Babylon (2004)
• Second Best (2004)
• Perfect Opposites (2004)
• Home on the Range (2004) (voice)
• El Padrino : Latin Godfather (2004)
• Saint Ralph (2004)
• Love on the Side (2004)
• Seed of Chucky (2004)
• Bailey's Billion$ (2005)
• Lil' Pimp (2005) (voice)
• Out of Practice (TV series) (2005)
• The Civilization of Maxwell Bright (2005)
• Tideland (2005)
• The Poker Movie (2006)
• Intervention (2006) (Post Production)
• The Initiation of Sarah (2006) (Post Production)(TV)

Awards & 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"

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"

Notes

1. ^ Some sources indicate 1961, but Tilly's listing on the California Birth Index 1905 - 1995 (as Jennifer E. Chan) gives her birthdate as 16 September 1958.

External links

Acting

• Jennifer Tilly at the Internet Movie Database
• Jennifer Tilly Unofficial Unofficial Fan Site
• Jennifer Tilly Fan Forum Fan Forum

Poker

• PokerPages.com profile
• World Poker Tour profile
• PokerPlayer magazine interview
• Hendon Mob poker tournament results