Penelope Athena Richmond Is Tina Feys Talented Daughter

Posted by Lorie Orum on Friday, May 17, 2024

Penelope Athena Richmond is Tina Fey's daughter with Jeff Richmond and has appeared in two TV series, with a more prominent role in "Girls5Eva." She displayed an inheritance of her mother's comedic ability when she disrupted an important "Late Night With Seth Meyers" interview.

Tina Fey, 52, is an "SNL" alum who paved a career for herself as a writer, actress, and producer of some of the funniest shows between 1999 and 2022. Tina is best known for being the creator and lead actress of the popular comedy TV series, "30 Rock."

She married composer and producer Jeff Richmond, 62, in 2001 and welcomed two daughters. The youngest of their two children, Penelope Athena Richmond, has caught the acting bug and follows her mother's iconic comedic footsteps in Hollywood.

Tina Fey as Liz Lemon on "30 Rock: A One-Time Special" on July 16, 2020. | Source: Getty Images

Penelope Athena Richmond Is Tina Fey's Younger Daughter from Her Relationship with Composer Jeff Richmond

Before the release of an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 2011, Tina's publicist broke the news of her second pregnancy with her daughter, Penelope. The "30 Rock" star, who was already a mother to her five-year-old daughter, Alice Zenobia Richmond, confirmed the information on the talk show.

Tina released a memoir on April 5, 2011, titled "Tina Fey: Bossypants." In the memoir, Tina spoke about getting pregnant with Penelope after feeling off about leaving her younger daughter without a family as she and her Jeff were at an advanced point in life. Alice was the only child in her classroom without a sibling.

The comedian felt the second pregnancy would interrupt her career but decided to prioritize her family over the success of "30 Rock." Deciding to have a second child was an ongoing dialogue in her mind that chipped away at her mental health and sleeping habits. At 40, she decided she could no longer delay her second pregnancy.

Tina Fey and Penelope Athena Richmond at an "Admission" filming location in Princeton, New Jersey, on July 2, 2012. | Source: Getty Images

Penelope Has Inherited Her Mother's Amazing Sense of Humor

During a Zoom call interview with Seth Meyers on "Late Night With Seth Meyers" in 2020, Tina was gracefully interrupted by Penelope, who walked into the room untimely. The comedian paused her interviewer, saying, "Please hold, there's a colonial lady coming in," before Penelope appeared in the shot.

Penelope, eight years old at the time, felt the interview was uncool and silently raised her fingers to her forehead in the shape of an L, hilariously signifying that Tina and Seth were losers. The moment was well received and suggested that Penelope inherited her mother's comedic nature.

Penelope accompanied Tina to "Mean Girls: The Musical" rehearsals in the theater. Tina mentioned that the then-comic-like five-year-old "learned all the wrong lessons" watching on. She returned to school with a new-found mean girl aspiration, but Tina did not allow this to get out of hand and stopped her in her tracks.

Penelope Has Already Made Her TV Debut

Penelope has been learning from the essential black-and-white comedy classics. Throughout a summer break, she binge-watched "The Andy Griffith Show" starring Andy Griffith, "The Dick Van Dyke Show" starring the now-97-year-old Dick Van Dyke, and "The Office" starring Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak, who share a special relationship off-screen.

She finally got a prominent role when a 9-year-old cast in "Girls5Eva" could not make it to set because of the COVID-19 lockdown. Penelope successfully auditioned and got the part in the series executive produced by her mother. Either way, Tina mentioned that Penelope would've killed her had she denied her the chance to audition.

Despite being the boss's daughter, Penelope performed admirably and earned her mother's approval. "She did a great job, and she was super professional, and for kind of a grim year of like distance learning and stuff, it was a little treat for her," said a proud Tina.

Penelope's mother confirmed on the "TODAY" Show that "Girls5Eva" would return for a second season, and it did, with the first episode released on May 5, 2022. The series shows the revival of a has-been 90s girl band that got a second wind in their career after a rapper sampled their song.

The Peacock original performed well and ended up being nominated in the Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series category at the Emmy Awards.

Penelope, rising starlet that she is, started on television when she appeared in an episode of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" as an Olsen twin lookalike.

In the episode, Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne's head was replaced by Penelope's during Ellie Kemper's (who plays Kimmy Schmidt in the series) trip to a plastic surgeon to reset her identity.

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