Poker Babe Jennifer Tilly: Bio & Pics

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Most people recognize Jennifer Tilly from her movie roles in films such as:

Liar Liar
The Fabulous Baker Boys
Bride of Chucky / Seed of Chucky / Curse of Chucky

Others will recognize her as the voice of Celia in the film Monsters, Inc., or as the voice of Bonnie Swanson on the animated series Family Guy. She has also done voices in the films Home on the Range and Stuart Little.

I need these voice-over checks to support my gambling addiction.
Bonnie Swanson (voiced by Jennnifer Tilly) from Family Guy

According to IMDB.com, Tilly has featured in 111 movies or TV shows during an acting career that has spanned 33 years and is still going strong.

Anyone who has watched any amount of televised poker over the past few years will undoubtedly recognize her as the busty beauty frequently gracing the tables with her presence, taking down more than her fair share of pots.

Unlike many of the other beauties we will feature in this series, Jennifer is not just some random hotty who played a poker tournament once. She has cashed in 53 major tournaments, with total winnings of $891,254, which places her 1,346^th on the all-time tournament money list.

Personal Life

Jennifer Tilly was born Jennifer Ellen Chan on 16 Sep, 1958 in Los Angeles, California. That’s right, this stunning beauty is 56 years old! At the age of 5, she moved to British Colombia with her mother and stepfather after her parents divorced. She attended Stephens College in Missouri where she attained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater.

Since 2005, Jennifer has been in a relationship with poker pro Phil Laak, whose nickname is “Unabomber” due to the fact that he frequently wears a hoodie and sunglasses when he plays. Due to this relationship, Jennifer has acquired the nickname “Unabombshell”.

Acting Career

Although she had several small roles previously, her first recurring role was as Gina Srignoli on Hill Street Blues. She continued to get one-time minor roles in TV shows and minor film roles until her breakthrough role in 1989 as a singing waitress in The Fabulous Baker Boys, a role that was specifically written for her by Steve Kloves, the film’s writer and director.

In 1994, Tilly was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as a hopelessly bad actress in Woody Allen’s Bullets over Broadway, but she lost out to her co-star Dianne Wiest.

In 1996, she starred in the movie Bound, heating up the screen with co-star Gina Gershon, with whom her character has a lesbian relationship. In 1997, she played Samantha Cole in the film Liar Liar, and portrayed serial killer Tiffany Ray in Bride of Chucky, Seed of Chucky and Curse of Chucky.

Jennifer Tilly & Poker

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In 2005, Jennifer won the Ladies’ No-Limit Texas Hold’em event at the World Series of Poker. She bested 600 other players, winning $158,335 (which is still her biggest win to date). In September of the same year, she won the third World Poker Tour Ladies Invitational Tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, winning $25,000. At this point in her poker career, she had only cashed twice in major poker events, finishing first both times! In a television interview that same year, she stated that at that point in her career she was more interested in pursuing a poker career than acting.

Although she has continued to cash in major events, she has only had one other six-figure payout. In July 2010, Tilly won a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament at the 6^th Bellagio Cup, winning $124,455.

After failing to achieve the same level of success as she experienced in 2005, Tilly announced her retirement from poker as a career in 2008. She still continues to play regularly, but no longer relies on poker as a primary source of income.

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I love poker but greatness in poker is an elusive dream. There are too many variants.
Jennnifer Tilly

Tilly’s Killer Pair

When playing poker on TV, Jennifer typically wears outfits designed to show the maximum cleavage.

The starlet in me dies hard. I always just want to look cute, so I wear a lot of push-up bras and low-cut tops.
Jennnifer Tilly

However, she realizes that this is hardly the advantage people make it to be:

…if people are really playing poker, they don’t care. Nothing looks better to them than a pair of aces. They’re not looking at your pair. They’re looking at their pair.
Jennnifer Tilly

Jennifer Tilly Pics

Click any of the thumbnails in our Jennifer Tilly picture gallery above to enlarge them. Most of the images of Jennifer Tilly in our gallery are taken at the poker table.