Elizabeth Tina Fey, better known as Tina Fey, was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, on May 18, 1970. Fey attended high school in Upper Darby and continued her education at the University of Virginia, where she was a drama major. She graduated from the University of Virginia in 1992, and decided to move to Chicago to pursue improvisational comedy and acting. She joined the famous Second City comedy troupe as a writer and performer. During this time she met her husband, Jeff Richmond, who was a director for Second City.

After working with Second City for a number of years, Fey sent script samples to Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, who hired her as a writer in 1997. She worked as a staff writer from 1997 to 1999 and was then promoted to head writer, the first woman to ever hold that position at SNL. In 2000, she took a performing role, hosting "Weekend Update" alongside Jimmy Fallon, which she continues today with co-host Amy Poehler. Fey, along with her writing staff, received the Writers Guild Award in 2001 for her work on the Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary show and received an Emmy Award in 2002 for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy program.

Fey branched out in 2004 to write her first film screenplay, Mean Girls, which she also stars in alongside Lindsay Lohan. The film, based on the book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, takes a comedic look into the lives and behaviors of high school girls. She earned praise for writing an original fictional screenplay based on a non-fiction book. Fey"s writing credits also include the short-lived The Colin Quinn Show in 2002.

Fey is currently co-head writer for Saturday Night Live, a responsibility she shares with Dennis McNicholas, and still performs every week as a cast member. She is also reportedly working on a new sitcom for NBC, as well as her next feature film, entitled Curly Oxide and Vic Thrill. The new comedy is about a young Jewish boy and an aging rock and roll star who meet and form a band. On June 3, 2001, Fey married Jeff Richmond, who now also works for SNL. The two live together in New York.