All you need to know about Jennifer Tilly and Jennifer Tilly Net Worth
Jennifer Tilly is an American-Canadian voice actress, actress, and professional poker player. She is multi-talented and has won various awards as an actress and as a poker player. Over the course of her career, Jennifer Tilly net worth has steadily grew into what it is today. In this article, we will look at Jennifer Tilly and her poker exploits as well as some other activities she has dabbled into that have impacted on her net worth. Are you ready to learn all you can about Jennifer Tilly? Do you want to know how she has been able to combine her acting with her professional poker career? This article is the perfect read for you! Read on to find out about the life and career of this amazing woman.
Early Life of Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly was born on the 16th of September, 1958 as Jennifer Ellen Chan in Los Angeles, Harbor City to be precise. She is the daughter of Patricia, a former stage actress and a Canadian schoolteacher, and Harry Chan, a fairly used car salesman. Tilly’s mother was Irish and her father was of Chinese heritage. Jennifer is an American-Canadian voice actress, actress, and professional poker player. In her career as a professional poker player, she has won the title of a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Ladies Event with a bracelet to show for it. Jennifer has two younger sisters, Rebecca and Meg, and an older brother, Steve. Meg is also a popular actress in the movie industry.
When Tilly was only five, her parents separated and finally divorced, leaving her to be brought up by her mother and her stepfather in the rural area of Texada Island, in British Columbia. When she was sixteen, her mother and stepfather divorced again, and Tilly, with her mother moved to Victoria. Jennifer Tilly attended the Belmont High School, in Victoria, and proceeded to earn her Bachelor of Arts in Theater from the prestigious Stephens College, Missouri. Although she didn’t have such a fantastic childhood that characterized growing up in a loving home with dad and mom, she was determined enough to make something out of her life. This determination has greatly influenced Jennifer Tilly net worth and every other thing she has achieved so far. She decided early in her life to become successful in whatever she sets her mind to do and with her love for acting from her early age, it wasn’t strange that she moved into the movie industry.
Jennifer Tilly’s Acting Career
After graduating, Jennifer took up acting as her career and her first significant role in acting was on Shaping Up, a sitcom that aired in 1984. After this role, she had her film debut, No Small Affair, in the same year. Tilly is famous for her comedic timing and unique voice. She came to limelight when she became a recipient of an Academy Award nomination based on her distinctive portrayal of Olive Neal in Bullets over Broadway, a 1994 film produced by Woody Allen. After this, she went ahead to be nominated for various awards which include the MTV Award and Saturn Award nominations for her performance in Neo-Noir thriller, Bound. She also appeared in some other films which include Terry Gilliam’s Tideland in 2005; Home on the Range in 2004; The Haunted Mansion in 2003; Monsters, Inc., The Cat’s Meow in 2001; Dancing at the Blue Iguana in 2000; Stuart Little in 1999; Music from Another Room in 1998; Liar Liar in 1997; House Arrest, Edie & Pen in 1996; The Getaway in 1994; Made in America in 1993; The Fabulous Baker Boys, and Let It Ride, in 1989. She is well respected as an icon in horror film field for her enchanted portrayal of Tiffany Valentine in the 1998-2017 Child’s Play franchise. She has also been the voice behind Bonnie Swanson in the animated TV series, Family Guy that has been on air since 1999.
In 1993, Jennifer received the Theatre World Award as recognition for her performance in Off-Broadway Play One Shoe Off. In addition to this, she has also featured in Don’t Dress for Dinner, produced in 2012, and Broadway revivals of The Women, produced in 2001. We have taken time to highlight her acting career because they have significant impact on the overall of Jennifer Tilly net worth.
Jennifer Tilly Poker Career
Tilly is no doubt multi talented. Apart from her career as an actress, she has also been involved in the poker world as a professional player. On the 27th of June 2005, she became a recipient of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet and also took home a total of $158,625 at the Ladies’ No Limit Texas Hold’ Em event. At this event, she beat 600 other professional poker players to win the highly coveted bracelet. Jennifer Tilly didn’t stop here; she took it a step higher by winning the 3rd World Poker Tour (WPT) Ladies Invitational Tournament in September of 2005. This event took place at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Garden, Los Angeles. She also made an appearance at the GNS Poker Royale Series. She featured in the TV series, Celebrity Poker Showdown, which was broadcasted on Bravo in June of 2006. In the course of the game, she was run out by Ida Siconolfi, the online poker champion of Bravo. It is essential to point out that she finished in the third place during this game, which means she didn’t actually do shabbily during the event. All the winnings and cash finishes have added greatly to Jennifer Tilly net worth up till date.
Tilly is known for her dressing at poker events and TV poker series. When playing on TV, she is often seen wearing low cut tops and push up bras that are designed to expose lots of cleavage. These entire ensembles are of course aimed to make her look cute but really, who cares about what players are putting on when they are actually playing poker? All that is important is the pair of aces available in the game. In 2007, Jennifer appeared at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament of Championship of the 2007 edition video game. She made this appearance with her boyfriend, Phil Laak. This video game was launched by Activision in 2007.
In 2005, Tilly also made an appearance on a TV interview and mentioned that she was more interested in focusing on her poker career than her acting career. Within the next three years after making this statement, she was found at many poker tables. Unfortunately, the zeal for fame in poker games didn’t last for long for Jennifer Tilly. In the December of 2008, she announced her retirement from the world of poker, stating that she is done playing poker as a professional player or pursuing it as a career. She wrote in her monthly column in the Bluff Magazine that, although she loves the exhilarating feel of poker, but greatness in the game is really an elusive dream. According to her, there are just too many variations to deal with and trying to attain validation in poker game is like striving to discover ‘a virgin in a whorehouse’. Tilly stated that she is not really giving up on poker because gambling is a strong addiction. However, she is going to start playing poker as a hobby and not really as a career.
Like she said, gambling is an addiction, so it wasn’t a surprise when she returned to the felt table in the January of 2010 to resume her career as a professional poker player. By June of 2017, her liver tournament winnings have exceeded a huge $992,000. These earnings have significantly contributed to Jennifer Tilly net worth. It is interesting to note that many professional poker players who give up on poker usually return after a while to resume their games. Obviously, the passion for gambling at poker tables far exceeds the passion for doing something else. It is believed that one of the driving forces that kept bringing players back to the game even after they have vowed to give up on the game is the exhilaration and rewards that come with the game.
Jennifer Tilly Moments in Poker Community
Although she is famous for playing buxom girlfriends and dimwitted wives in films, Jennifer has really made a name in the world of poker as a professional player. As a matter of fact, her involvements in various poker games have displayed her level of smartness outside the world of acting.
For instance, in June of 2005, she won the World Series of Poker bracelet and a whopping $158,625 USD during the $1,000 Ladies No Limit Texas Hold’ Em event where she knocked out a total of 600 other poker players. Not long after this, she went further to win the 3rd World Poker Tour Ladies Invitation Tournament at Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens.
About a decade later, she had totally shifted her focus to poker from her career as an actress. During this period, Jennifer Tilly net worth continued to grow steadily with her frequent appearances at poker tournaments as well as cash game circuit on both national and international level. Tilly’s appearances at poker events include some of the biggest poker television shows such as Poker Royale series which was aired on GSN (Game Show Network). She also featured in the 3rd season of Fox Sports News’ Poker Superstars Invitational event, and the Celebrity Poker Showdown (2006 season) on Bravo. In addition to this, she also made an appearance on the iconic NBC’s Poker After Dark.
With a total of $992,501 in tournament earnings by 2017, Jennifer Tilly net worth showed that dedication and perseverance can pay off at the end of the day. She has really proven to be very capable during the felt as could be seen in her nomination for the PokerListing Spirit of Poker Living Legend Award of 2014. Of course, with a nomination as this, there is no doubting the fact that Tilly has made an impact in the poker community and her presence is worth recognizing.
How Jennifer Tilly got involved in playing Poker
Tilly didn’t start out to become a professional poker player. She was focused on acting right from her teenage days which made her enrolled to study Theatre at Stephens College, Missouri. After graduating from the school, she moved to Los Angeles to become a professional actress. She has been involved in acting for the past twenty years, taking up various roles in movies which include Bullet Over Broadway, where she played the role of an aspiring but amateur actress. In 1994, she was nominated for an Oscar award of the Best Actress in Supporting Role for her exceptional translation of the role of the talentless actress, Olive Neal.
While doing what she knows how to do best, acting, she was introduced to poker accidentally. In 1989, she took up an acting role in a gambling comedy, Let It Ride, which aroused her interest in poker games. After the production of the movie, Jennifer became a regular player of home games with her friends. From this point, her interest in poker games began to increase and her skills also significantly increased.
By 2004, Tilly has started playing in competitive poker tournaments. At this period, she was in a relationship with professional poker Player, Phil Laak, popularly known as ‘The Unabomber’. She met Laak during the World Poker Tour Invitational tournament in Commerce Casino. Her relationship with Phil Laak greatly helped to develop Tilly’s interest the more in the game of poker. After her World Series of Poker winning in 2005, she recognized Phil as the person who took his time to teach her all that she knows about the game. According to her, he greatly helped her to work out her poker game and she has learnt a lot through the process of ‘osmosis’. Tilly was popularly referred to as ‘The Unabombshell’, deriving from her boyfriend’s name. When she won the World Series event, the whole poker community was pleasantly surprised because she is the first celebrity to win the title. Jennifer mentioned that she was also surprised at herself for winning the coveted title.
While talking during an interview at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, she stated that she was astonished as she noticed that she was closing in to the final stage. According to her, during the game, she had almost all her chips. As a matter of fact, she had about 1,300 chips while her opponent had about 57 chips. She felt she was going to lose all the stack in a single hand but amazingly, this never happened. Many critics believed that she won the game by sheer luck and not as a result of her skill. However, this debate was discarded when she became the winner of the World Poker Tour Annual Ladies Night event about two months later. At this particular game, she knocked out professional poker player, Isabelle, the World Poker Tour Season Two Ladies Night Champion, and Cecelia Mortensen, the Tournament Player and wife of 2001 World Series of Poker Champion, Carlos Mortensen.
Jennifer and Phil’s relationship and their unique expertise in the field of poker made them one of the most popular couples in the field of poker. Both of them are regularly seen at World Series of Poker event every summer. The two are usually seen together also at important European Poker Tour tournament events as well as some big time televised poker cash games. The various earnings during these tournaments have greatly increased Jennifer Tilly net worth over the course of the years.
Tilly’s Exceptional Moments in Poker Games
The most popular television poker moment of Tilly could be said to be on Poker After Dark show. She played against Finnish high stakes professional poker player, Patrik Antonius. With interesting blinds of 200/400, Jennifer raised from button with jacks while Antonius returned with T8 of the hearts. At this stage, Patrik check-called an additional wager from Jennifer on TJ-7 flop flop. Both players checked the K-turn and when Patrik checked at the K-river, Jennifer checked behind him. Of course, everyone at the table was surprised by the turn of event. Players and critics within the poker community could no longer deny the fact that Jennifer Tilly is indeed a professional player that knows her salt. Since this period, she has gone ahead to validate her skills and knowledge while showing that she knows the strategy of the games in multiple forms. She has since made an impressive winning at an open field Bellagio $5,000 event in the year 2010 where she won a remarkable $125,455.
Jennifer Tilly Tournament Placing
In her career as a professional poker player, Tilly has taken on some spectacular tournaments and has proven her skills and strategy. The tournaments placing as well as earnings that have contributed to Jennifer Tilly net worth are highlighted below.
| Tournament | Placing | Winnings |
|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Home Game 3, WPT Hollywood | 2 | $5,000 |
| $1,000 Ladies Event No Limit Hold’ Em One Day Event, Event 26, World Series of Poker 2006 | 1 | $158,335 |
| No Limit Hold’ Em Short Handed 6-Table Event 30, WSOP 2006 | 41 | $8,340 |
| No Limit Hold’ Em, Event 31, WSOP 2006 | 99 | $5,597 |
| No Limit Hold’ Em, Event 22, WSOP 2007 | 50 | $12,653 |
| World Championship Heads Up No Limit Hold’ Em Event 31, World Series of Poker 2007 | 48 | $9,212 |
| No Limit Hold’ Em, Event 47, WSOP 2007 | 30 | $18,546 |
| L.A Poker Classic, WPT Season 6 | 12 | $61,610 |
| Bellagio Cup IV, WPT Season 7 | 49 | $25,855 |
| $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’ Em, Event 7, WSOP 2011 | 21 | $20,129 |
| No Limit Shootout, Event 13, WSOP 2011 | 131 | $4,998 |
| $1,500 No Limit Hold’ Em, Event 56, WSOP 2012 | 205 | $3,324 |
| $1,000 Turbo No Limit Hold’ Em, Event 34 WSOP 2013 | 13 | $12,373 |
| No Limit Hold’ Em 6 Handed, Event 32, WSOP 2015 | 14 | $25,022 |
| $1500 Mixed No Limit Hold’ Em/Pot Limit Omaha Event 45, World Series of Poker 2016 | 109 | $2,322 |
Jennifer Tilly Poker Awards
Tilly has been the recipient of a couple of awards in her career as a professional poker player. In 2005, she won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Bracelet. This was during the $1,000 Ladies’ No Limit Hold’ Em event. In addition to the bracelet, she also earned $158,335 as her cash prize during the event. Jennifer Tilly also won the Card Player Best Celebrity Player of the Year, as well as the World Poker Tour Ladies Night Champion. She also won the World Poker Tour $5,000 Bellagio Cup and took home a total of $124,455.
Personal Life of Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer got married to Sam Simon in 1984 and the couple divorced in 1991. It is important to note that Sam Simon is the developer and producer of the TV series, The Simpsons. After her divorce, Tilly maintained a low profile as far as her relationship was concerned. In 2004, she started a relationship with Phil Laak, a professional poker player, and the duo has maintained their relationship since them. According to Tilly, Laak has been a teacher and motivator for her in her career as a professional poker player. Although she gave up on poker at some point to focus on her acting career but three years later, she was back at the table, playing poker as a professional player. While taking up roles as an actress, Tilly has won a couple of awards as a professional actress. Her awards include Theater World Award for Most Promising Newcomer (One Shoe Off), Dramalogue Award (Vanity), Florida Film Festival Award for Artistic Achievement, and Asheville Film Festival Career Achievement Award (2006).
Who is Jennifer Tilly’s Husband?
Samuel Michael Simon was married to Jennifer Tilly in 1984. The couple was married for a period of six years and in 1991, they filed for divorce and after it went through, they both went their separate ways. The duo remains friends for a long time until his death in March of 2015.
Sam Simon was an American producer, director, writer, philanthropist, and an animal rights activist. He co-developed the popular TV series, The Simpson. After his divorce with Jennifer Tilly, he got married to Jami Ferrell, the Playboy Playmate, in 2000. Unfortunately, the marriage lasted for only a period of three weeks, which was a tiny dot of marriage life, compared to what he had with Jennifer Tilly.
Well, not someone to give up on love, he got engaged to caterer and Chef Jenna Stewart in 2011 and obviously broke up with her somewhere along the line. He began to date a make-up artist, Kate Porter, from the year 2012. The two were together until his death in 2015. Suffice to mention that Sam Simon became a vegetarian at nineteen years old and when he joined the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in the year 2000, he turned fully to veganism.
Cause of Sam Simon’s Death
Sam Simon was diagnosed with terminal colorectal cancer in late 2012. This disease later metastasized to other organs of his body, including his kidneys and liver. Prior to this period, he had been feeling sick and had been to the hospital where he was misdiagnosed. After his correct diagnosis, he was given about three to six months to live. For the meantime, he went through chemotherapy, which significantly reduced the size of the tumors over the next six months. Within the period he was given to live, he made arrangement for the distribution of his fortune. He left his entire fortune to different charitable causes. According to the reports, his fortune was estimated to be about $100 million USD, which he bequeathed to various charity organizations. He died in his home in Los Angeles following complications from the disease. He was aged 59 at the time of his death.
Since his death, there have been controversies surrounding the management of his fortune. Many reports have made it to the news of how there have been lack of donations to the groups that Sam Simon supported during his lifetime. Following his death, the Simpsons episode, ‘Waiting for Duffman’, was dedicated to his memory.
Jennifer Tilly net worth
Thanks to her acting career and poker career, Tilly has amassed some tidy sum for herself. Currently Jennifer Tilly net worth is placed at somewhere around $25 million USD. She is a professional actress who dabbled into poker gambling with the influence of her boyfriend, although she has started developing interest in poker games from the time she took part in a comedy movie that revolves around gambling. She is the first Hollywood celebrity to have ever won the much coveted World Series of Poker bracelet. Although she has been acting since early 80s, her big break in acting came with her Oscar nominated acting role in Bullets Over Broadway, produced in 1994 by Woody Allen. Since her break as an actress, she has continued to attract the attention of her audience. Popularly known for her eye popping curves and her baby-like breathless voice, Tilly has indeed captured and held the TV audience’s breathe for a long time.
Jennifer Tilly movies
Jennifer Tilly net worth has been impacted by her career as an actress as well as her career as a professional poker player. She started out as a promising actress and she indeed earned her place in the world of movie entertainment as she played some unique roles in various movies in the course of her acting career. Some of the roles she took up during her two decades acting career include High Spirit by Neil Jordan; The Doors by Oliver Stone; Made in America by Richard Benjamin; The Getaway by Roger Donaldson; Bound by Andy and Lana Wachowski; and Liar, Liar by Tom Shadyac, among others. Apart from acting, Tilly also proved herself as a professional and gifted voice actress known for her works in various films and TV series. Some movies she acted in as voice actress include The Family Guy, which aired on TV between 1999 and 2005; Stuart Little, in 1999; and Monster, Inc. in 2001.
In the year 2003, Jennifer began taking part in poker tournaments and with the help of her boyfriend, Phil Laak, she has been able to develop her skills to a professional level. Although she is not the best female poker professional player in the poker community, there is no doubt that Tilly can hold her own against many of the top class female players. She might also not be the richest among the female poker players, but Jennifer Tilly net worth is definitely not a meager sum. She has been able to groom herself and her earnings testifies to the level of work she has done on herself.
Conclusion
Jennifer Tilly is an American-Canadian voice actress, actress, and a professional poker player. She started her career as an actress and voice actress but somewhere along the line, she took interest in poker games and became a professional poker player. In 2005, Tilly won the World Series of Poker Ladies Championship event and World Poker Ladies Night 3. She is well known in the world of poker and also in the world of entertainment. She is one of the few multi talented female professional poker players in the world. Jennifer Tilly net worth is estimated to be around $25 million and it is expected to grow as she continues to do what she is passionate about. When she is not playing poker, she is taking up roles as an actress in one movie or the other.