Name at birth: Elizabeth Stamatina Fey

Tina Fey is the former Saturday Night Live writer who created and stars in the television sitcom 30 Rock. A 1992 graduate of the University of Virginia (in Charlottesville), Fey began her comedy career with The Second City improvisational troupe in Chicago. She joined SNL as a writer in 1997 and eventually joined the cast, anchoring the "Weekend Update" segment and appearing in occasional sketches. Her smart-girl glasses and sideways glances added a sex appeal that landed her in men's magazines, and Fey emerged as one of SNL's brightest stars. After 2006, Tina Fey left the cast of SNL and developed the comedy 30 Rock, which also stars Alec Baldwin and former SNL player Tracy Morgan. She returned to SNL briefly during the 2008 presidential election to do impersonations of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. She wrote the bestselling 2011 comic memoir Bossypants.