Lily Tomlin is one of five honorees at the “37th Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” which airs on Tuesday, Dec. 30 (9:00-11:00 PM ET/PT) on CBS. You May Also Be Interested In These Stories ...

Ernestine the Phone Lady, Sister Boogie Woman, Mrs. (Judith) Beasley and Edith Ann are all expected to join Lily at the 5th Avenue Theatre this month as she appears January 29th and 30th.

Mrs. Beasley comes from a middle-America perspective, where she can talk about things that are sort of revelatory to her.

Lily Tomlin is everyone’s favorite comedienne, bringing fans a host of iconic characters including Ernestine, Edith Ann and Mrs. Judith Beasley.

Tomlin has lived with some of her characters for over 40 years and, like real children, they have grown with the times. "Some of them have experienced a level of evolution. Mrs. Beasley started out ...

I would go as Mrs. Beasley [one of her characters], dressed in an old ’40s Red Cross outfit, and pass out coffee and doughnuts to people in line. When did you cross over into movies?

I still see her when I go to Florida.” Her characters are now Tomlin trademarks, the likes Ernestine, Edith Ann, Mrs. Judith Beasley, and the Tasteful Lady.

But many more live inside her. There’s Mrs. Judith Beasley, a housewife from Calumet City, Ill., who always knows the best products to buy. The pugnacious phone company operator Ernestine.

I'll do about 10 or 12 characters. I'll do Lud and Marie and a little bit of Trudy from "The Search," Sister Boogie Woman and Mrs. Judith Beasley. Q. What was your first character? A. That's hard ...

Tomlin made her film debut in “Nashville,” Altman’s 1975 ensemble film about the country and gospel music industries. She plays gospel singer Linnea Reese, loving mother of two deaf children.

I would go as Mrs. Beasley [one of her characters], dressed in an old ’40s Red Cross outfit, and pass out coffee and doughnuts to people in line. When did you cross over into movies?