On Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 7 PM, award-winning comedian Tina Fey will speak in the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House stage as a guest in Hamilton College’s Sacerdote Great Names Series. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets will be required. Tickets will be available at
www.hamilton.edu/greatnames
in September.
Prior to serving as the executive producer, head writer, and star of NBC’s Emmy Award-winning comedy “30 Rock,” Fey moved to New York City from her temporary residence in Chicago to write for
Saturday Night Live
(
SNL
). Not only did she complete nine seasons of the series as a cast member and “Weekend Update” anchor, but Fey also became the first female head writer in
SNL
history. One of her more notable roles was her impersonation of former-Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. In the role, which received widespread acclaim, Fey sported the Alaskan governor’s apparel and introduced catchphrases like “Babies, guns, Jesus: hot damn!”
“30 Rock” became one of Fey’s next projects in 2006. The show garnered multiple Emmy Awards from the comedy category including Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. As executive producer, head writer, and star of the show, she worked alongside actors Alec Baldwin, Jane Krakowski, and Tracy Morgan.
The premise of the sitcom has parallels to Fey’s real-life role on
SNL
; in “30 Rock,” Fey’s character Liz Lemon is the head writer of an NBC sketch comedy series called “TGS with Tracy Jordan.” Alec Baldwin plays Jack Donaghy, Lemon’s high-maintenance boss and confidant.
After “30 Rock” ended its run, Fey found further success as the co-creator of the Netflix comedy series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and as the author of
Bossypants
, her 2011 autobiography that topped the
New York Times
bestseller list for over 36 consecutive weeks. Among other life events, the book details her experience as a female producer and head writer.
Fey also co-hosted the Golden Globe awards from 2013–15 with her close friend and former
SNL
colleague Amy Pohler. Further, she wrote and acted in the hit comedy
Mean Girls
(2004) and later adapted the film into the book for the Broadway musical, which premiered in 2017. Finally, she served as an executive producer of the NBC comedy series “Great News.” In 2010, she became the youngest recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Around Hamilton’s campus, many students, including Carson Goos ’21, say they were excited when they learned Fey would be coming to campus.
“I’ve loved her since watching ’30 Rock,’ and
Bossypants
was an amazing book!” says Goos.
“I’m so excited to hear her speak since it’s guaranteed to be funny,” says Alma Bradley ’21.
“Even though I really like hearing political speakers for Great Names, I’m glad they are bringing in people from other professions as well to appeal to the interests of all Hamilton students,” she adds.
Established in 1996 in recognition of a significant gift from the family of Alex Sacerdote ’94, the main goal of the Sacerdote Great Names Series is to bring national and international leaders in business, government, science, and the arts to campus. Previous notable speakers in the series include Susan Rice, Aretha Franklin, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Derek Jeter, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Jon Stewart, Madeleine Albright, Rudy Giuliani, Colin Powell, Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lady Margaret Thatcher, F.W. deKlerk, and David Cameron.
