Jane Wagner

Writing

Jane Wagner

Born 1935-06-26 · Morristown, Tennessee, USA

Jane Wagner (born February 26, 1935), one of America’s most distinguished playwrights, has won numerous awards, including: several Emmys for writing and producing and a Writer’s Guild Award for her work in television. Wagner has also won a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Special Award and a New York Drama Desk Award for her Broadway success, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe; a CableAce Award for Executive Producing the film adaptation of The Search; three Grammy nominations for comedy albums she wrote with Lily Tomlin, Modern Scream, And That's the Truth, and On Stage; and two Peabody Awards--the first for the CBS television special, J.T., and the second for the ABC television special, Edith Ann’s Christmas: Just Say Noël.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

The Incredible Shrinking Woman poster
5.4

After being exposed to a bizarre mixture of household chemicals, Pat Kramer begins to shrink. This baffles scientists, makes parenting difficult, warms the hearts of Americans, and captures the attention of a group of people who want to take over the world. This evil group plots to kidnap Pat and perform experiments on her so that they can eventually shrink everyone.

The Incredible Shrinking Woman

1981

J.T. poster
8.0

J. T. Gamble, a shy, withdrawn Harlem youngster, shows compassion and responsibility when he takes on the care of an old, one-eyed, badly injured alley cat days before Christmas and secretly nurses it back to health.

J.T.

1971

Appearing Nitely poster
8.0

Lily Tomlin's Tony Award-winning show "Appearing Nitely" features a repertoire of over 20 zany characters--from Edith Ann and Ernestine to Crystal "the terrible tumbleweed." Tomlin was the first woman to appear solo in a Broadway show with her premiere at the Biltmore theatre in April 1977.

Appearing Nitely

1979

Edith Ann: Homeless Go Home poster
9.0

A young quirky girl finds her way in a crazy world.

Edith Ann: Homeless Go Home

1994

Moment by Moment poster
3.6

Trisha Rawlings, a Beverly Hills socialite suffering from loneliness following the separation from her womanizing husband, develops a May–December romance with a young drifter named Strip.

Moment by Moment

1978

Moment by Moment poster
3.6

Trisha Rawlings, a Beverly Hills socialite suffering from loneliness following the separation from her womanizing husband, develops a May–December romance with a young drifter named Strip.

Moment by Moment

1978

Edith Ann: A Few Pieces of the Puzzle poster
10.0

Edith Ann is NOT your average 6-year-old. She sees the world unlike any other child her age. Created by the multi-talented Lilly Tomlin, Edith Ann does her best to do the right thing at the right time. The fun happens when she does the WRONG thing and then must work out her resolutions. Resolutions by a 6-year-old...sounds almost existential but all Edith Ann wants is the truth...AND THAT'S THE TRUTH.

Edith Ann: A Few Pieces of the Puzzle

1994

Lily poster
NR

TV special starring Lily Tomlin

Lily

1973

Lily poster
NR

TV special starring Lily Tomlin

Lily

1973

Edith Ann's Christmas (Just Say Noël) poster
9.0

Drama engulfs the household of Edith Ann and her family during the holidays.

Edith Ann's Christmas (Just Say Noël)

1996

Lily: Sold Out poster
6.5

After taking her successful Broadway show to Las Vegas, Lily Tomlin is faced with a tough decision: soften her act for mass appeal, or keep her material the way she originally intended?

Lily: Sold Out

1981

Lily for President? poster
NR

Comedian Lily Tomlin stars in this comical farce which deals with her experiences running for the office of President of the United States.

Lily for President?

1982

Juke and Opal poster
NR

“WINTER, 1973. Late afternoon: the entr'acte between dusk and darkness, when the people who conduct their business in the street -- numbers runners in gray chesterfields, out-of-work barmaids playing the dozens, adolescents cultivating their cigarette jones and lust, small-time hustlers selling ‘authentic’ gold wristwatches that are platinum bright---look for a place to roost and to drink in the day's sin. Young black guy, looks like the comedian Richard Pryor, walks into one of his hangouts, Opal's Silver Spoon Café. A greasy dive with a R & B jukebox, it could be in Detroit or in New York, could be anywhere. Opal's has a proprietor -- Opal, a young and wise black woman, who looks like the comedian Lily Tomlin -- and a little bell over the door that goes tink-a-link, announcing all the handouts and gimmes who come to sit at Opal's counter and talk about how needy their respective asses are.” — Hilton Als

Juke and Opal

1973

An Apology to Elephants poster
7.9

Elephants are among the most majestic and intelligent creatures on Earth--but for hundreds of years, they have suffered at the hands of humans. Narrated by Lily Tomlin, this documentary short traces our long history with elephants and explores the many problems that arise when they are brought to live in captivity in zoos and circuses.

An Apology to Elephants

2013

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe poster
8.2

The filmed version of the one-woman stage show written by Jane Wagner and starring Lily Tomlin, which won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. The film stays true to the original stage performance. For her efforts on film and stage, Tomlin received a Tony Award, and Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture in the American Comedy Awards.

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe

1991