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!).
Kathy Wolfe
A successful businesswoman in a growing niche market, Kathy Wolfe founded the LGBT video and DVD distributor Wolfe Video in 1985, after a lifelong interest and fruitful career in filmmaking, videography and visual arts. Wolfe Video began as a mail-order company for gay- and lesbian-interest videos, tapping into a then-ignored market. The company, which is now a large online venture with a staggering inventory, still reflects Wolfe’s dedication to social responsibility and serving the interests of her customers. “The biggest change in the business [since we began] is the mainstream acceptance of lesbian and gay film,” she says. “Queer entertainment is now readily available in most mainstream stores, and it’s not just studio product, but independent films as well. Here at Wolfe we have created a marketing model designed to help independent filmmakers get their story out there—and to pay them ongoing royalties, too!” –KL
In no particular order…
