How Lily Tomlin found liberation in exploring her Laugh-In characters

On October 10, 2007, Lily Tomlin spoke about her time on Laugh-In and how she developed her characters. Interview conducted by director Michael Kantor for the six-hour PBS comedy series, “Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America” (2009).

Chapters:

00:00 Utilizing character work to push past the limited expectations for female comics in the 1960s
02:37 Drawing on life experience to organically form the “Edith Ann” character
05:08 Hitting the ground running on Laugh-In debut with “Ernestine”
08:28 The struggle to separate Tomlin’s work and career from the runaway success of her characters
10:24 The boy’s club of comedy and their narrow fascination with the puerile

The American Masters Digital Archive includes over 1,000 hours of never-before-seen, raw interviews: a treasure trove of the movers and shakers of American culture, including Maya Angelou, Gloria Steinem, Patti Smith, Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Matthew Broderick, Carl Reiner, Joan Rivers, Dionne Warwick, Lee Grant, Sidney Lumet, Betty White and many others.

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