Tina Fey: Biography, Career, Family and Net Worth Facts

Full birth name: Elizabeth Stamatina Fey · Born: May 18, 1970, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania · Education: Bachelor’s degree in drama, University of Virginia · Moved to Chicago: 1992 · Saturday Night Live tenure: 1997 to 2006

Seven core facts anchor the profile, and each one traces to a named source.

The implication: the rows above name a publisher for every entry, while the disputed details wait in the unclear card of the snapshot.

What’s Tina Fey’s real name?

Her birth name is Elizabeth Stamatina Fey, as recorded by Britannica (encyclopedia publisher). She has used the name Tina for most of her life, and Wikipedia (open encyclopedia) notes that she has gone by Tina since elementary school.

The name question is settled in the sources. The family questions around it are where the record thins.

What is Tina Fey’s ethnicity?

• Her mother, Zenobia “Jeanne” Xenakes, was born in Piraeus, Greece (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia).
• Her father, Donald Henry Fey (1933–2015), was a Korean War veteran, university administrator and grant proposal writer (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia).
• Greek heritage on her mother’s side is the only ancestry claim in the retrieved sources (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia).

Greek ancestry runs through the mother, and no retrieved source supports a broader ethnicity label, so this profile does not offer one. Acting Magazine (actor profile) reportedly names the mother “Sandra,” a name that conflicts with the Wikipedia account.

The catch: the name is firmly documented, but the family details rest mainly on one encyclopedia entry, so they are only as firm as that entry.

What happened to Tina Fey when she was younger?

Fey’s early years are documented in two layers: birth and degree dates from Britannica, and school and childhood detail from Wikipedia.

Tina Fey young: school and early years

• Upper Darby High School: honors student, member of the choir, drama club and tennis team, and co-editor of the school newspaper (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia).
• Read Joe Franklin’s book on film comedians at age 11 for a school project, and cites Catherine O’Hara as a role model (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia).
• One brother, Peter, who is eight years older (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia).

She was born on May 18, 1970 (Britannica, encyclopedia publisher) in Upper Darby Township, a suburb of Philadelphia. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in drama from the University of Virginia in 1992, with studies in playwriting and acting (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia).

After graduating, she moved to Chicago and took classes at The Second City (Britannica, encyclopedia publisher). While attending those classes, she worked as a receptionist at a YMCA in Evanston, Illinois (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia).

The pattern: early-life details come from Wikipedia, while the dates that matter for career timing come from Britannica, which makes Britannica the stronger check.

How old was Tina Fey when she had her daughter?

Fey has two daughters, and the verified birth dates make the age question answerable for the first one.

Does Tina Fey have biological kids?

• Alice Zenobia Richmond, born September 10, 2005 (Anime News Network, entertainment database)
• Penelope Athena Richmond, born August 10, 2011 (Anime News Network, entertainment database)

Anime News Network says Fey and Jeff Richmond have two daughters. The retrieved sources do not address biological parentage in separate terms, so that word stays unconfirmed here.

Based on her May 18, 1970 birth date (Britannica, encyclopedia publisher), Fey was 35 when Alice was born and 41 when Penelope was born. A 2010 birth year does not match the dated records retrieved for this profile.

What is the age difference between Tina Fey and her husband?

• Fey’s birth date: May 18, 1970 (Britannica, encyclopedia publisher)
• Husband: composer Jeff Richmond, according to IMDb (film and TV database)
• Jeff Richmond’s birth year: not in any retrieved source

Without his birth year, no age gap can be calculated. That figure needs a dated Tier 1 or Tier 2 source before it appears in print.

What this means: the daughters’ dates are firm enough to answer the age question, while the husband’s age gap stays open until a source supplies his birth year.

How rich is Tina Fey?

The sources retrieved for this profile contain no net worth figure, so none is published here.

Tina Fey net worth

• Documented work: writer and performer on Saturday Night Live, then producer, writer and star of 30 Rock (Britannica, encyclopedia publisher)
• 30 Rock aired on NBC from 2006 to 2013 (Britannica Facts, reference facts)
• Mean Girls screenplay credit, according to Martin CID (secondary profile site)
• Figures circulating on aggregator sites are unverified and are not repeated here

Her income, in the terms the record supports, comes from television, film and writing. The record supports categories, not amounts.

The trade-off: a categories-only answer is less satisfying than a number, but a number without a dated source would undermine every other claim on this page.

Who is Tina Fey’s best friend?

No retrieved source names a single best friend, so this profile cannot give a sourced answer.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler

• Documented training: Fey took classes at The Second City in Chicago (Britannica, encyclopedia publisher)
• Documented on-air partnership: Fey co-anchored Weekend Update with Jimmy Fallon during the 2000–01 season (Vulture, entertainment journalism)
• Amy Poehler: no sourced personal friendship appears in the retrieved records

The record documents professional partners, not a named personal friend. Anyone looking for a best friend will find a circle of collaborators, not a confirmed name.

The implication: the friendship question has no sourced answer, and any name offered as a best friend needs the same dated proof as every other claim.

Career timeline

Most career dates cluster between 1992 and 2006, and the sources agree on nearly all of them.

The pattern: the career milestones hold up across sources, and the one real conflict, the SNL hire year, is the detail to check first.

Confirmed versus unverified

Four facts are confirmed across Tier 1 sources, while five claims remain open or disputed.

Confirmed facts

• Born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey on May 18, 1970, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania (Britannica, encyclopedia publisher)
• Bachelor of Arts in drama from the University of Virginia, 1992 (Britannica, encyclopedia publisher)
• First female head writer in Saturday Night Live’s history, 1999 (Britannica, encyclopedia publisher)
• Left Saturday Night Live in 2006 to create 30 Rock, which aired on NBC from 2006 to 2013 (Britannica Facts, reference facts)

What’s unclear

• SNL hire year: IMDb (film and TV database) lists 1995, while Britannica and Wikipedia list 1997
• Dating start: Idea Wiki (fan-written wiki) dates the relationship with Jeff Richmond to 1994, which conflicts with accounts of a 1993 meeting
• Scar origin: Biography.com (biographical reference) reportedly attributes the scar to a stranger’s attack when Fey was about five, citing a 2009 Vanity Fair profile
• Mother’s name: Acting Magazine (actor profile) reportedly names her “Sandra,” which conflicts with Wikipedia
• Mean Girls credit: Martin CID (secondary profile site) reportedly credits Fey with the screenplay

The catch: the unverified list is longer than the confirmed one, and that imbalance is the honest picture of this record.

What Fey has said

“my first name is Elizabeth, but I’ve always gone by Tina even in, you know, from elementary school on.”

Tina Fey, actress and writer, in an interview cited by Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)

Why this matters: Fey’s own words settle the name question, and nothing in the retrieved record settles the money or friendship questions.

The open questions about Fey’s money, friendships and a few family details have no sourced answers yet, and that gap changes how her record should be used. For anyone repeating her biography, the choice is clear: stick to the dated career facts that Britannica supports, or label anything beyond them as unverified.

Frequently asked questions