American writer and director Jane Wagner was BOTD in 1935. Born in Morristown, Tennessee, she moved to New York City at 17 to become an actor, and also studied art at the School of Visual Arts. She joined a touring theatre company, working part-time as a commercial designer, and made her writing debut with the 1969 television film J.T. She met actor and comedian Lily Tomlin in 1969, collaborating with her on the comedy album Edith Ann: And That’s the Truth, based on characters created by Tomlin. They became romantic as well as professional partners, co-writing and producing a highly successful string of television comedy programmes for Tomlin throughout the 1970s. She also wrote and produced the comedy films Moment by Moment and The Incredible Shrinking Woman, again starring Tomlin. Wagner is best known for her 1985 play The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, a one-woman show in which Tomlin played thirteen characters. The show’s wit and feminist sensibility was a hit on Broadway, winning Tomlin a Tony, and was filmed in 1991. Wagner and Tomlin continue to live and work together, and were married in 2013.