Biography for Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany
Chucky, the doll possessed by the soul of the Lakeside strangler, is rescued from an evidence repository by sexy blond Jennifer Tilly, who once loved the serial killer when he was still in human form. Resurrecting Chucky with the help of the usual incantation and a pentagram, the femme fatale encourages the doll to kill her lover just for laughs. Then Tilly becomes too bitchy for her own good and gets electrocuted in her bubble bath. Chucky then does the incantation and presto!, Tilly's soul pops into a bridal doll named Tiffany. The poisonous playthings then go in a van with runaway teens and plan to retrieve the amulet that will enable them to transfer Chucky's soul to a human.
Biography for Jennifer Tilly
Birth name
Jennifer E Chan
Date of birth
16 September 1958
Harbor City, California, USA
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Jennifer Tilly was born Jennifer Chan on September 16, 1958, in Harbor City, California. The daughter of Harry, a Chinese stockbroker, and Patrica, a schoolteacher, Jennifer's parents got divorced when she was 6. Patrica Tilly remarried and took Jennifer, her 3 siblings, and her 3 stepsiblings to British Columbia, Canada.
Having to relocate constantly with her family, Jennifer had to adjust to each new school, and was a pretty quiet student. At 17, she started out yet again at a new school, this time at St. Stephen's College in Missouri, to study theater. In order to help pay for her tuition, she contributed articles to magazines and earned money by winning 'honorable mentions' in writing competitions.
She then headed to college in Los Angeles rather than New York, unlike her sister Meg who starred in Body Snatchers. She made the television rounds, starting with a role as an extra on "Days of Our Lives", then a recurring role as a Mafia moll who snares a straight-laced cop on "Hill Street Blues" in 1984. Also that year she was cast as Shannon Winters on the short-lived sitcom, "Shaping Up", and followed it up with guest appearances on "Remington Steele", "Cheers", and another recurring role on "It's Gary Shandling's Show".
Jennifer was also busy appearing in small parts, in films such as Moving Violations (1985), (her first film when she was 27) He's My Girl (1987), and Rented Lips (1988), one year after the other. In 1988, Jennifer appeared in Johnny Be Good (1988) and High Spirits (1988). After roles in Let It Ride (1989) and Far from Home (1989), Jennifer was finally recognized for her role as auditioning singer Blanche "Monica" Moran in 1989's Fabulous Baker Boys, The (1989).
Then more parts came her way, such as in Doors, The (1991), Scorchers (1991) and Made in America (1993), but she finally got her big break when she was cast as Olive Neal, the wife of a mobster, in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), in 1994. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, in her convincing portrayal of an untalented, aspiring actress. She has since starred in many hit films such as Liar Liar (1997) with Jim Carrey, Stuart Little (1999) with Michael J. Fox, as a stripper in Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000), and in the hit blockbuster Monsters, Inc. (2001)
She has also appeared in theater productions, including "One Shoe Off" -which earned her a Theater World Award in 1993. She is the sister of actress Meg Tilly.
An actress who always attracts audiences' attention, Jennifer Tilly is by turns funny, sexy, compassionate, and compelling and often all at once.
Her breakthrough movie role tapped into all of those qualities failing singer Blanche "Monica" Moran in Steve Kloves' The Fabulous Baker Boys, opposite Jeff and Beau Bridges.
A few years later, Jennifer earned an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the aspiring, but hopelessly untalented, actress Olive Neal in Woody Allen's Bullets over Broadway.
She has become well-known to filmgoers for both major studio and independent films. In Tom Shadyac's blockbuster Liar Liar, she kept pace with star Jim Carrey. Her steamy performance opposite Gina Gershon helped make the Wachowski Brothers' Bound a breakout indie success at the Sundance Film Festival and then in theatrical release. The latter film also expanded Jennifer's already significant gay and lesbian following.
She successfully cultivated another fan base with the revitalization of the Child's Play horror comedy franchise. For Ronny Yu's Bride of Chucky, the filmmakers turned to Jennifer to create the character who would spark the series in a new direction. She met the challenge and established a new horror icon in Tiffany. This Halloween, in Rogue Pictures' all-new Seed of Chucky, written and directed by series creator Don Mancini, Jennifer again takes the popular series to the next level; she stars as Tiffany and the deadly doll's favorite actress Jennifer Tilly, who soon becomes an unwitting hostess in more ways than one.
Jennifer's pitch-perfect voiceover work as Tiffany is not the only instance of her being able to incarnate a character from the vocal chords out. Families know her distinctive cadences from the recent Disney hits Home on the Range (in which Jennifer voiced a new-age bovine), directed by Will Finn and John Sanford; The Haunted Mansion (in which Jennifer acted from the neck up only), directed by Rob Minkoff; and the Pixar blockbuster Monsters, Inc. (voicing Mike's love interest Celia), directed by Pete Docter, David Silverman, and Lee Unkrich.
She began her acting career as a teenager, putting herself through the theater program at Stephens College in Missouri by winning writing competitions. She then headed to Los Angeles. While she continued to act on the stage (earning a Dramalogue Award for her performance in Vanities), movies and television immediately came calling for the actress with the unique voice and visage.
Over the years, Jennifer has made memorable appearances on some of television's best series, including Hill Street Blues (in a recurring dramatic role), Cheers, Moonlighting, It's Garry Shandling's Show, and Frasier. In addition, she has been a favored guest on a number of talk shows, from Johnny Carson to The Arsenio Hall Show to (currently) The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Those interview segments have encouraged viewers to expect the unexpected from her interplay with the host and the studio audience.
Her many films over a two-decade span include Neil Jordan's High Spirits, Oliver Stone's The Doors, Richard Benjamin's Made in America, Roger Donaldson's The Getaway, Joe Pytka's Let It Ride, P.J. Castellaneta's Relax, It's Just Sex, Michael Radford's Dancing at the Blue Iguana, Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow (in which she played Louella Parsons).
Jennifer has also continued to act on the stage. She won a Theater World Award for her performance in off-Broadway's One Shoe Off, and starred on Broadway in the 2001 revival of The Women (which was later taped for, and broadcast on, PBS).
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Trivia
Went to high school at Belmont High School, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Sister of actress Meg Tilly. She also has an older brother and a younger sister named Rebecca Tilly.
Attended Stephens College, in Columbia, Missouri (majored in drama)
Jennifer has two cats, Corky and Violet.
Jennifer has won a Theater World Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her work in Tina Howe's play One Shoe Off at The Joseph Papp Theater. She also received a Dramalogue Award for her work in the play Vanities. She won a Gemini Award for Best Actress for her role in the Showtime's Heads and a nomination for a Cable ACE Award for her work on "The Garry Shandling Show".
Avid lover of fashion and has 400 pairs of shoes.
Lenny Von Dohlen who co-starred with Jennifer in Bird of Prey (1996) and her sister Meg in Leaving Normal (1992) said "They have a fountain of emotion that keeps coming, even after someone yells cut, but the fountain comes from different bodies of water," he adds. "Meg is an ocean, Jennifer is a rushing river."
In high school, everyone called Jennifer, Meg, and their younger sister Becky the Three Musketeers.
She has played a hot, ditzy, sexy love interest for Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Crane character when he was trying to get over other women on "Cheers" and again on "Frasier." (though she was not playing the same character)
Is 1/2 Caucasian and 1/2 Chinese.
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Personal quotes
"Everyone said that if you want to be a real actor, go to New York. If you want to sell out, go to LA. And I thought - I want to sell out!"
"A way you can get really good abs in film is you get your makeup artist to paint shadows--faux washboard. But if you see me in a movie and I have great abs, it means I have a great body double."
"Spending time with Jim on a stage is an incredibly weird experience! I found myself unable to act seriously! Hard to shoot with the master of comedy!"
"I still haven't made a film that defines who I am."
"If I was like some of the characters I played, I'd probably be dead by now".
"I was the most popular person in my family. I was like a celebrity. All my sisters would fight over who got to sleep with me. I was always thinking up all the games, telling all the stories, and had the best clothes. I was the entertainment. We didn't have television and we didn't have movies, and I was always the boss. I'd write these plays and I'd make everybody be in them. Once, I had this idea that we'd put all the beds on top of one another so there would be only one bed, but it would be a really big, tall bed. Then we'd take turns sleeping on that bed while everybody else slept on the floor. Like, for a month. Everyone thought that was a great idea. I don't know why. I guess because we grew up way, way out in the country and we never had any neighbors."
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Links:
Seed of Chucky (2004) .... Tiffany
Lil' Pimp (2002) (voice)
Piece of My Heart, A (2002) .... Elyse
Sex & Violence (2002) .... Dr. O'Shannon
Magnificent Ambersons, The (2002) (TV) .... Fanny Minafer
Ball in the House (2001) .... Dot
Inside Job (2001) .... Conchita
Joplin: The Movie (2001) .... Drug Dealer
Sultans of Africa (2001) .... Lula
Monsters, Inc. (2001) (voice) .... Celia
Kid, The (2001) (TV) (voice) .... Waitress
... aka Gahan Wilson's The Kid (2001) (TV) (USA: complete title)
Cat's Meow, The (2001) .... Louella Parsons
Fast Sofa (2001) .... Ginger
Sister Mary Explains It All (2001) (TV) .... Philomena Rostovich
Dirt (2001) .... Hooker
Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000) .... Jo
Crew, The (2000) .... Ferris 'aka Maureen' Lowenstein
Cord (2000) .... Helen
... aka Hide and Seek (2000/I) (USA: video title)
Bruno (2000) .... Dolores
... aka Dress Code (2000)
Play It to the Bone (1999) .... Ringside Fan
... aka Play It (1999) (USA: promotional title)
Stuart Little (1999) (voice) .... Camille Stout (Mrs. Stout)
Bartok the Magnificent (1999) (V) (voice) .... Piloff
Do Not Disturb (1999) .... Cathryn
... aka Silent Witness (1999) (USA: video title)
Goosed (1999/I) .... Charlene
Muse, The (1999) .... Herself
"Family Guy" (1999) TV Series (voice) .... Bonnie Swanson
Music From Another Room (1998) .... Nina Swan
Bride of Chucky (1998) .... Tiffany
... aka Chucky (1998) (USA)
Hoods (1998) .... Mary Crippa
Relax... It's Just Sex (1998) .... Tara Ricotto
Gun (1997/I)
Bella Mafia (1997) (TV) .... Moyra Luciano
Wrong Guy, The (1997) .... Lynn Holden
Edie & Pen (1997) .... Edie Piper
... aka Desert Gamble (2000) (UK: TV title)
Liar Liar (1997) .... Samantha Cole
Bird of Prey (1996) .... Kily Griffith
Man with a Gun (1996) .... Rena Rushton, Kathy Payne
... aka Gun for Hire (1996) (Australia)
... aka Hired for Killing (1996)
American Strays (1996) .... Patty Mae
Bound (1996) .... Violet
House Arrest (1996/I) .... Cindy Figler
Pompatus of Love, The (1996) .... Tarzaan
... aka Pompatus of Love, The (1996) (France: TV title)
Double Cross (1994) .... Melissa
Embrace of the Vampire (1994) .... Marika
... aka Nosferatu Diaries: Embrace of the Vampire, The (1994) (USA)
Bullets Over Broadway (1994) .... Olive Neal
Getaway, The (1994) .... Fran Carvey
Heads (1993) (TV) .... Tina Abbot
Webbers, The (1993) .... Miranda Webber
... aka At Home with the Webbers (1993)
... aka Webber's World (1993)
Made in America (1993) .... Stacy
"Key West" (1993) TV Series .... Savannah Sumner
Shadow of the Wolf (1992) .... Igiyook
... aka Agaguk (1992)
Scorchers (1991) .... Talbot
Doors, The (1991)
Fabulous Baker Boys, The (1989) .... Blanche 'Monica' Moran
Let It Ride (1989) .... Vicki
Far from Home (1989) .... Amy
High Spirits (1988) .... Miranda
Johnny Be Good (1988) .... Connie Hisler
Rented Lips (1988) .... Mona Lisa
He's My Girl (1987) .... Lisa
Remote Control (1987/I) .... Allegra
Inside Out (1986)
Moving Violations (1985) .... Amy Hopkins
"Shaping Up" (1984) TV Series .... Shannon Winters
No Small Affair (1984) .... Mona
"Boone" (1983) TV Series
