Jennifer Tilly may be the most visible female poker celebrity in the world. After her 2005 World Series of Poker victory in the Ladies-Only No Limit Texas Hold’em event, the Academy Award nominated actress joined boyfriend and revered poker pro Phil Laak as the only poker couple to combine for a WSOP and WPT victory.
Tilly was born on September 16, 1958 making her 50 years old – a surprising fact for most, since she has been featured as a Hollywood sex symbol as recently as in 2004’s “Seed of Chucky.” She received her big break in the 1989 Bridges Brothers “The Fabulous Baker Boys” where she first developed her sultry on-screen persona.
Her biggest critical success came in the form of an Oscar nomination for her work in the 1994 Woody Allen film “Bullets over Broadway,” while much more notoriety awaited her for performances in Jim Carrey’s “Liar Liar,” the Wachowski Brothers’ “Bound” and the super popular animated show, “The Family Guy” (coincidentally, Tilly was married to “The Simpsons” creator Sam Simon during that show’s inception, making her one of the few people intimately tied to both “Family Guy” and “the Simpsons.”)
She began dating Phil Laak months before actually taking an interest in poker herself. She is often considered amongst the top in the world in terms of female players due to her success not only in the World Series of Poker but also in the World Poker Tour, where she has won a special event and made it to the final table in another.
The knock against Jennifer Tilly is that she has yet to win an open tournament and her performances in the YouTube staple, GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” have left much to be desired for her growing poker audience.
In honor of her co-part’s infamous nickname, “The Unabomber,” Jennifer Tilly will occasionally be referred to as “The Unabombshell” due to her strategically less-than-chaste table attire.
Click here for Jennifer Tilly’s interview with Poker News Daily.
