Tina Fey's Life Before the Cameras
Tina Fey was born on May 18th, 1970 to Donald Fey, who wrote grants for the University of Pennsylvania, and Jeanne Fey, who worked in a brokerage firm. Donald, who went by Don, and Jeanne were an upper middle class Greek family who lived in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. Fey writes in her book that throughout her life, Don was a strong father figure that intimidated her peers at times. (Tina Fey: Biography)
Tina was a surprise to her parents, who had already had a son, 8 years older than her. Fey says that her brother was very protective, almost like a 3rd parent to her. She says that when she entered kindergarten, was when she realized she had “old parents” compared to all the other kids.
When Tina was around the age of 5, a strange incident occurred; a complete stranger came up to her while she was playing in an alley behind her house and slashed her face. Although this could be traumatic, Tina does not act as so, saying she could remember the trip to the hospital with her dad but doesn’t remember any emotional scaring, unlike the physical one. If you look at a picture of Tina Fey, on the left side of her face you can see the scar the misfortune left her with. (Tina Fey: Biography)
But there was a positive to this whole situation, in her community, it made her a mini celebrity. Everybody knew who
she was, and were kind to her because of it. (Bossypants; Tina Fey)
In her teenage years, Fey was a straight-A student, editor of the school newspaper, drama club member, and choir member. Even though she was so involved, Fey had trouble fitting into her high school. She was a self-proclaimed super-nerd, who at times was snarky and rude. She was quoted that she at the time “ate weaker girls for breakfast”. Mean
Girls, another popular movie Fey wrote and starred in, was inspired by her own high school experience.
Fey became involved in theater when she first started volunteering at a local theater group, called Summer Showtime. This community program would put on children’s theater shows for the city. In the process, it would teach kids about music, art, carpentry, discipline, friendship, and teamwork. She began work there as a night box office manager, before getting promoted to one of the Children’s Theater directors. Fey loved to be there, where she earned her appreciation of the arts, and cannot recommend it highly enough.
One of Tina’s first steady jobs after college was a secretary position at the YMCA, where she learned about being a
good coworker and team player. Although she did have her occasional bad days here, she will always remember the lessons this job taught her.
After leaving her job at the YMCA, Tina took a job with The Second City to practice improvisation, something that for Tina, “changed the way she looked at the world” that it, “literately changed her life”. Second City also began her transition into written comedy, but for all the wrong reasons.
At the time, both Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who she was touring with in the company, agreed that they were tired of playing the “women’s roles” not very big characters that lacked creativity and only cracked one liners. Soon after, they
began to switch out old sketches and replace it with one of their originals. Eventually, their whole show was just skits that they wrote themselves. (Bossypants; Tina Fey)
Tina was a surprise to her parents, who had already had a son, 8 years older than her. Fey says that her brother was very protective, almost like a 3rd parent to her. She says that when she entered kindergarten, was when she realized she had “old parents” compared to all the other kids.
When Tina was around the age of 5, a strange incident occurred; a complete stranger came up to her while she was playing in an alley behind her house and slashed her face. Although this could be traumatic, Tina does not act as so, saying she could remember the trip to the hospital with her dad but doesn’t remember any emotional scaring, unlike the physical one. If you look at a picture of Tina Fey, on the left side of her face you can see the scar the misfortune left her with. (Tina Fey: Biography)
But there was a positive to this whole situation, in her community, it made her a mini celebrity. Everybody knew who
she was, and were kind to her because of it. (Bossypants; Tina Fey)
In her teenage years, Fey was a straight-A student, editor of the school newspaper, drama club member, and choir member. Even though she was so involved, Fey had trouble fitting into her high school. She was a self-proclaimed super-nerd, who at times was snarky and rude. She was quoted that she at the time “ate weaker girls for breakfast”. Mean
Girls, another popular movie Fey wrote and starred in, was inspired by her own high school experience.
Fey became involved in theater when she first started volunteering at a local theater group, called Summer Showtime. This community program would put on children’s theater shows for the city. In the process, it would teach kids about music, art, carpentry, discipline, friendship, and teamwork. She began work there as a night box office manager, before getting promoted to one of the Children’s Theater directors. Fey loved to be there, where she earned her appreciation of the arts, and cannot recommend it highly enough.
One of Tina’s first steady jobs after college was a secretary position at the YMCA, where she learned about being a
good coworker and team player. Although she did have her occasional bad days here, she will always remember the lessons this job taught her.
After leaving her job at the YMCA, Tina took a job with The Second City to practice improvisation, something that for Tina, “changed the way she looked at the world” that it, “literately changed her life”. Second City also began her transition into written comedy, but for all the wrong reasons.
At the time, both Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who she was touring with in the company, agreed that they were tired of playing the “women’s roles” not very big characters that lacked creativity and only cracked one liners. Soon after, they
began to switch out old sketches and replace it with one of their originals. Eventually, their whole show was just skits that they wrote themselves. (Bossypants; Tina Fey)