Lily Tomlin immortalized in TCL Chinese Theatre hand and footprint ceremony

Tomlin's "9 to 5" and "Grace and Frankie" co-star Jane Fonda gave a tearful introduction speech

By Kelly McClure

Nights & Weekends Editor

Published April 23, 2022 12:33PM (EDT)

Actress Lily Tomlin With Hand And Footprint Ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 22, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage/Getty)
Actress Lily Tomlin With Hand And Footprint Ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 22, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage/Getty)

Lily Tomlin, treasured star of such films as "9 to 5," "Big Business," and "All of Me;" as well as "Grace and Frankie," Netflix's longest running original series; was honored on Friday in the Hand and Footprint Ceremony held at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Tomlin's frequent co-star and long-time friend, Jane Fonda, gave a heartfelt speech prior to Tomlin putting her handprints and two sets of footprints; one for herself, and one representing one of her most famous comedy sketch characters, Edith Ann; into the ceremonial cement which will be situated in the Forecourt of the Stars among similar prints by the likes of Joan Crawford, Natalie Wood, Judy Garland and, more recently, Nicolas Cage

Related: Lily Tomlin: "Young people don't even know who Bella Abzug was"

The cement imprint at TCM Honors Actress Lily Tomlin with Hand And Footprint Ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 22, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage/Getty)"Lily's been pushing me around for decades," Fonda joked at the beginning of her speech. "So I'm really glad they're gonna put her hands in cement; maybe they'll get stuck; and her feet too."


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Present at the ceremony were Rita Moreno and "Grace and Frankie" co-star June Diane Raphael; both seated in the front row; as well as Tomlin's wife and long-time collaborator, Jane Wagner, who Tomlin had to crane to see seated off to the side. Tomlin and Wagner have been a couple since the 70's, and became legally married in 2013. 

Towards the end of her speech Tomlin made a joke in reference to her many years spent keeping her sexuality "in the closet" saying that if they should ever shift around the hand and footprints to make way for new ones, better for her prints to end up back in the closet rather than her.

Watch the full ceremony here:

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By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Nights and Weekends Editor covering daily news, politics and culture. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

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Aggregate Hand And Footprint Ceremony Jane Fonda Lily Tomlin Tcl Chinese Theatre