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
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Hats off to the 100 Women We Love, class of 2008 (in no particular order, ’cause we love ’em all!).
Kimberly Peirce
In a world where most films focus more on special effects than on political and emotional ones, filmmaker Kim Peirce is a diamond in the rough. From her Oscar- winning Boys Don’t Cry to this year’s Stop-Loss, which brought national attention to the US military’s controversial tour extensions, she continues to confront hard-hitting political issues. “One of the most significant challenges directors face is protecting the emotional journey of the protagonist while also dramatizing the larger scale elements of the story,” says Peirce, who manages this balance with grace and precision. “I love true stories about America, love, loyalty and violence, especially in the context of family,” she adds. As long she’s making them, we’ll be watching. –MF
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