'''Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey''' (born May 18, 1970) is an American writer, comedian, and actress. Fey is currently co-producing, writing, and starring in ''30 Rock'', a situation comedy said to be based on her experiences at ''Saturday Night Live''
[http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/060424ta_talk_friend Who's on First: Shows about Shows, an April 2006 article from ''The New Yorker'']; the show is part of NBC's fall 2006 schedule.
[http://comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=14547 NBC Announces 2006-07 Primetime Schedule, a May 15, 2005 NBC press release via ComingSoon.net]Career
After Fey studied drama at the University of Virginia, graduating in 1992, she moved to Chicago, getting a job at a residential YMCA by day so she could take classes at The Second City by night. She learned that the key to improvisation was to "focus entirely on your partner. You take what they're giving you and use it to build a scene."
[http://www.believermag.com/issues/november_2003/tina_fey.htm The Believer, November 2003. Retrieved 7 February 2006.]By 1994 she was invited to join the cast of The Second City, where she performed in the Jeff Award-winning revue ''Paradigm Lost''. She is also a veteran of The ImprovOlympic.
''Saturday Night Live''
right|thumb|250px|Tina Fey on SNL opening credits
With then-head writer Adam McKay's help, Fey became a writer for NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') in 1997. In 1999, Fey became ''SNL'''s first female head writer, a milestone she downplays by pointing out how few head writers the show has had.
As co-head writer, she won a 2001 Writers Guild of America Award for the show's 25th anniversary special; she and the rest of the writing staff won an Emmy Award in 2002 for their work on the show.
In September 2005, she went on maternity leave, having given birth to a daughter, Alice Zenobia Richmond. Her "Weekend Update" role was covered by Horatio Sanz for several weeks before her return to the show on October 22, 2005, noting:
:"I had to get back to work. NBC has me under contract; the baby and I only have a verbal agreement."
[http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|98150|1|,00.html New Mom Fey Returns to 'SNL'. Zap2it. 20 October 2005. Retrieved 7 February 2006.]Fey confirmed during a July 2006 ''Tonight Show'' appearance that she will not be returning to ''SNL'' for its 2006-7 season.
[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,205128,00.html Tina Fey Leaving 'Saturday Night Live' for Prime-Time Comedy Show, a July 2006 Associated Press article via Fox News]=''SNL'' sketches
=
Some recurring sketches written by Fey include:
* Parodies of ''Live with Regis and Kelly'' and ''The View''
* The Girl with No Gaydar, cowritten by Rachel Dratch
* Boston Teens, cowritten by Dratch
She is also credited with:
* Colonel Angus, portrayed by Christopher
