Don’t expect to see Lily Tomlin holding any political offices.
“No, I don’t want to do that,” Tomlin, 86, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Beverly Hills Film Festival premiere of Sock It To Me: The Legend of George Schlatter on April 13. “I can’t imagine what they go through.”
Of her close friend Jane Fonda, Tomlin said she thinks the longtime activist and actress, 88, is exactly in the career she needed to pursue.
“I think she could have [been good in office], but I don’t think she would really be suited. She would be better to do what she does,” Tomlin said.
The duo have collaborated on many projects over the years, including 9 to 5 and Grace and Frankie.
Tomlin got her big break on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In in 1969, which Schlatter, 96, created.
“When I went on the show, I was pretty political,” Tomlin told Us. “There were all kinds of jokes on the show. I’d go right away … and I’d say, ‘George, I can’t do this joke. I can’t do this joke. I can’t do this joke,’ and he says, ‘You don’t have to worry about that.’ He says, ‘You don’t need to do it.’ And he yelled, ‘Jo Anne!’” (Fellow actress and comedian Jo Anne Worley was widely known for her time on the variety show.)
Tomlin told Us that appearing on Laugh-In meant “everything” to her career at the time.
“I was totally unknown,” she said. “I went in the third year, and [my character] Ernestine was literally a success overnight. She was just astounding, because I was in New York doing publicity for the show, and it was Monday. Tuesday morning when I got up, when I went out the door, people would say, ‘Oh, there’s the new girl on Laugh-In.’”
Tomlin admitted she was shy about the attention initially.
“It was totally unexpected,” she said. “Ernestine was like a monster character overnight.”
Tomlin continued: “No one could hit with one single character and make such a big splash as she did.”
Laugh-In featured many other high-profile appearances from show regulars such as Goldie Hawn, Arte Johnson and Richard Dawson. Other celebrity guests included Sammy Davis Jr., John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Carol Channing and Frank Sinatra.
The series ran for six seasons from 1968 to 1973. The show was largely regarded as a precursor to the Saturday Night Live, which first aired in October 1975.
