Las Vegas Weekly

November 10, 2009 · 9:28 AM

Lily Tomlin makes her Las Vegas debut after 40 years in showbiz

By Robin Leach

Lily Tomlin.

Photo: Courtesy

Actress and comedienne Lily Tomlin has racked up awards and success during her extraordinary 40-year entertainment career, but until now, the 70-year-old, six-time Emmy Award winner has never played Las Vegas live. That all changes tonight with her debut and the premiere of her comedy show Not Playing With a Full Deck.

Widely known for her caustic character of telephone operator Ernestine on Laugh-In, Lily promises that the saucy, sexually frustrated Cruella will be back for the nine-day run at MGM Grand’s Hollywood Theater, but this time as a health care interloper.

Lily filmed a TV special here back in the early 1980s, but these are her first live appearances. She has set up a VIP Club with special seating in the Joker section of the theater, along with Golden Circle tickets that include a meet-and-greet and photo op with the star herself.

Click HERE for our extensive one-on-one interview with Lily last month before she packed her bags to head for the Strip from her Los Angeles home.

Photo: Courtesy

Lily Tomlin portrays telephone operator Ernestine.

Lily has appeared on NBC’s The West Wing and as a self-styled sleuth on ABC’s Desperate Housewives. Her film debut was in Robert Altman’s Nashville, and she went on to do four more films with the famed director. She also starred in the Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda hit 9 to 5. In 2003, she was presented with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

One of America’s most brilliant comediennes, she has won a Grammy Award (for her comedy album This Is a Recording), two Tony Awards for hit Broadway shows and six Emmy Awards for her TV specials.

She says that while she’s here, she hopes to launch her Ernestine slot machine and dine at as many of our fine dining restaurants as possible. We welcome Lily to Las Vegas and wish her debut live show much success. We’ll be there tonight for the premiere and have that photo report here tomorrow.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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