Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/754215
48 SAG-AFTRA | Fall 2016 | SAGAFTRA.org JOHN PAUL FILO/CBS MELISSA MOSELEY/NETFLIX Above, Tomlin is awarded a Kennedy Center Honor in 2014; left, Netflix's Grace and Frankie premieres in 2015, starring Tomlin and Jane Fonda. A Prairie Home Companion. Most recently, Tomlin played the title character in the dramedy Grandma, a psychologically deep role developed with Tomlin in mind. It earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Under the Tomlin-Wagner banner, Tomlin has also starred in six TV comedy specials, three of which earned four Emmys. Her memorable roles for television include Ms. Frizzle in the animated The Magic Schoolbus; the president's executive assistant on The West Wing, a role that earned her an individual 2003 SAG Award nomination; and her Emmy-nominated performance as the wife of a disgraced financier in Damages. "Lily Tomlin is an extraordinary actress, equally adept in narrative drama and comedy roles," SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said in making the Life Achievement Award announcement. "But it is through her many original characters that Lily's creative genius fully shines. She has an ability to create diverse and distinct characters that are at once familiar, eccentric and oh-so-honest — in a way that illuminates life's hidden corners. From Edith Ann to Frankie, her characters are wholly unique, and by exposing every nuance of human behavior, they widen our scope of understanding." As Edith Ann would say, "And that's the truth!" L ily Tomlin answered the call to help Screen Actors Guild raise funds during the long difficult SAG and AFTRA strike of 1980. She was among the funniest union members enlivening the stage of the Hollywood Bowl on Sept. 16, 1980, at the Guild's Evening of Stars benefit for the SAG Emergency Fund. Before opening night, the SAG Benefit Steering Committee proudly revealed, "Over 600 volunteers from SAG, AFM and other guilds and unions donated their services. One hundred and fifty celebrities agreed to serve as greeters … Other unions from AFTRA to the Machinists donated $60,000 directly to the SAG Emergency Fund." The Los Angeles Times described Tomlin performing that evening in her characterization of lounge singer Bobbie Jeanine. She answered her own question about when the strike would end, with a medley of phrases from hits sung by Bob Dylan, Jackie DeShannon and Barbra Streisand: "The answer my friends is blowin' in the wind. Ladies and gentlemen, what the world needs now is love, sweet love and people who need people are the luckiest people in the whole wide world." 1980: Lily for Labor! SAG-AFTRA COLLECTIONS X4