Tina Fey has starred in movies including ‘Mean Girls’, ‘Sisters’, and ‘Baby Mama’. Eagle-eyed fans may have spotted her scar, but how did she get it?
Tina Fey has a scar on the lower half of her face, which she got in childhood. She sustained the injury after a stranger slashed her in an alley near her home.
Find out more below about Tina Fey, her career, and how she got her scar.
Who is Tina Fey?
Tina Fey, full name Elizabeth Stamatina Fey, was born in Pennsylvania. Her mother was Greek while her father also had European heritage.
In 1992, she graduated from the University of Virginia after studying drama and headed to Chicago to pursue her acting career. She was accepted into the Second City Training Center, the starting place of many Saturday Night Live cast members.
It was at the theatre group that Fey met her husband Jeff Richmond. “Tina always made me laugh,” he recalls.
The couple married in 2001 and have two daughters, Alice and Penelope. She has spoken about balancing family life with her demanding work schedule.
How Did She Get the Scar?
Fey was injured as a child and was left with the scar.
She talks about the scar in her autobiography, explaining that she was attacked by a stranger. “During the spring semester of kindergarten, I was slashed in the face by a stranger in the alley behind my house,” she explains.
How people react to her scar gives her a good indication of their personality, she claims. Though she has found that the majority of people do not ask about it, those that do can be categorized.
There are, she explains, the “dumb,” who ask whether the injury was an accident, such as a cat scratch. There are also those who make presumptions about her attacker, often racially profiling them without any evidence.
The third type of person she says, are those who “Think it makes them seem brave or sensitive or wonderfully direct to ask me about it right away.”
Fey believes that the scar has made her increasingly recognizable. “My scar was a miniature form of celebrity. Kids knew who I was because of it.”
She has also been met with sympathy, both by relatives and strangers. “I realized people weren’t making a fuss over me because I was some incredible beauty or genius; they were making a fuss over me to compensate for my being slashed.”
She did, however, relish the opportunities presented. “What should have made me feel “less than” ended up giving me an inflated sense of self.”
Tina Fey’s Career
In 1997, Fey became a writer for Saturday Night Live, and just two years later became the first female head writer of the show. She soon became a co-anchor on SNL’s ‘Weekend Update’ sketch, alongside Jimmy Fallon.
She is well known for her role in the movie ‘Mean Girls’, where she played the role of a high school teacher. She also wrote the screenplay for the movie.
The hugely popular movie has been hailed as a “Classic” by The New Yorker.
The TV sitcom ‘30 Rock’ is created by Fey, and she also stars in the series. The show is based vaguely around her time as the head writer at SNL.
In 2015, she worked alongside former SNL colleague Amy Poehler once again to create the movie ‘Sisters’. The movie depicts two siblings who try to relive their glory years before their parents sell their childhood home, doing so by throwing a party with hilarious consequences.
The two actresses also worked together on ‘Baby Mama’. The movie made $17.4 million in its opening box office weekend.
Fey is a leading comedy figure with recognition across the globe. She has received six Golden Globe nominations, with two wins, and in 2010 she was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humour.
The actress and writer has been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.