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Queer Trivia
She's an American actress, comedian, writer, and singer.
Born on September 1, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan, she was the daughter of Southern Baptist parents who had relocated from Paducah, Kentucky, during the Great Depression. Though she was raised attending a Southern Baptist church, she eventually moved away from religion and identified as irreligious.
She enrolled at Wayne State University, initially majoring in biology. However, after auditioning for a play, she discovered a passion for theatre and changed her focus. Following college, she launched her career in stand-up comedy, performing in nightclubs first in Detroit and later in New York City.
Her television debut came in 1965 on The Merv Griffin Show. She later joined NBC’s hit sketch comedy series Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, stepping in as a replacement for the departing Judy Carne. She quickly became a breakout star on the already popular show, thanks to her sharp comedic timing and memorable presence. In addition to performing in various sketches and delivering punchy one-liners, she introduced a range of original characters that resonated with audiences. These characters became so well-known that she went on to portray them in later recordings and television specials beyond the show.
She made her dramatic film debut in Robert Altman's Nashville (1975), earning both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
In 1980, she co-starred in the hit comedy 9 to 5, playing Violet Newstead, a sharp and determined secretary who teams up with her coworkers—played by Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton—to take revenge on their egotistical boss, Franklin M. Hart Jr., portrayed by Dabney Coleman. The film became one of the highest-grossing releases of the year.
Decades later, from 2015 to 2022, she reunited with Fonda to star in the acclaimed Netflix comedy series Grace and Frankie, alongside Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston.
She met her wife, writer Jane Wagner, in March 1971 after watching the after-school TV special J.T., which Wagner had written. Moved by the piece, she invited Wagner to Los Angeles to collaborate on her comedy album And That's The Truth. Though their relationship became well known over time, the couple never made a formal coming out announcement.
In a 2015 interview, she reflected, “I wasn’t totally forthcoming. Everybody in the business knew I was gay, and certainly everybody I worked with and everything like that.” Throughout her career, she has remained relatively private about her sexuality. After 42 years together, she and Jane Wagner were married in a private ceremony in Los Angeles on December 31, 2013.
Do you know her name? The answer is at the bottom of the email.
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