100 WOMEN WE LOVE 2008
Lily Tomlin’s extraordinary career as a funny lady bloomed on the TV show Laugh-In in 1969, the year of the Stonewall rebellion. Fittingly, she has woven feminism and LGBT life into her characters—the not-so-hardworking phone operator Ernestine, Violet Newstead in 9 to 5 and the numerous personas populating The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, the one-woman play written by Tomlin’s partner Jane Wagner, for which Tomlin won a Tony Award. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for her turn as Linnea Reese in Robert Altman’s Nashville, played recurring roles on TV shows from Murphy Brown to The West Wing, and has won six Emmys, a Grammy, and a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 1977. Tomlin, who has called Wagner the most influential person in her life and career, narrated 1995’s landmark LGBT documentary The Celluloid Closet. –KL
In no particular order…
Hats off to the 100 Women We Love, class of 2008 (in no particular order, ’cause we love ’em all!).
Bitch
Indie musician Bitch’s bitchin’ music career took off when she was signed by Ani DiFranco’s record label, Righteous Babe. And a very righteous babe Bitch is, too. A vision in her trademark dreadlocks, she brings her talent and her feminist politics to everything she does. In recent years, that has included her appearance in John Cameron Mitchell’s movie Shortbus, her album Make This/Break This with her current label, Kill Rock Stars, and collaboration on The L Word soundtrack. She is currently producing Boulder, folk-artist Ferron’s latest album, which she completed on a laptop in her RV. She just released a new EP, Bitch and the Exciting Conclusion, but contrary to the title, Bitch has only just begun. “Dreams can be really big,” she says, “and no matter how big they are, they are possible.” –MF
In no particular order…
