Jennifer Tilly Net Worth

What is Jennifer Tilly's Net Worth and Salary?

Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player who has a net worth of $40 million. While she is a world-class poker player and iconic actress who earns $100,000 per episode of "Family Guy," Jennifer's $40 million net worth is uniquely anchored by a 30% stake in "The Simpsons" royalties, which she received as part of a divorce settlement with the late producer, Sam Simon.

Jennifer Tilly got her big break in the 1994 Woody Allen film "Bullets Over Broadway," which earned her an Academy Award nomination. She has gone on to enjoy a highly successful career in film and television, with more than 120 acting credits to her name.

Jennifer is known for appearing in movies like "Bound" (1996), "House Arrest" (1996), "Liar Liar" (1997), and "The Haunted Mansion" (2003). Tilly is perhaps best known for playing Tiffany Valentine in the "Child's Play" horror franchise, and she has been voicing Bonnie Swanson on the Fox animated series "Family Guy" since 1999. She provided the voice of Celia Mae in Disney's "Monsters, Inc." (2001) and reprised her role in the Disney+ series "Monsters at Work." Jennifer has also lent her voice to the films "Stuart Little" (1999) and "Home on the Range" (2004) and the television series "Hey, Arnold!" (2000), "The Simpsons" (2012), and "SuperMansion" (2018).

Outside of acting, Jennifer is known for being a professional poker player. In 2004, Tilly started participating in competitive poker tournaments at the insistence of her boyfriend, professional player Phil "Unabomber" Laak. The following year, she won the World Series Ladies World Poker Championship and the World Poker Ladies Night III.

The Simpsons Royalties

Jennifer was married to "The Simpsons" co-creator/producer Sam Simon from 1984 to 1991. They were officially divorced in 1993. Even though Sam Simon only worked on the first four seasons of the show, his backend equity points as a co-creator/producer would eventually generate enormous royalties. Sam died in 2015. In the last decade of his life, he was earning $20-30 million per year in Simpsons royalties. During his lifetime, Sam donated the vast majority of those royalties, hundreds of millions of dollars, to animal charities.

As part of their 1993 divorce agreement, Jennifer was awarded a 30% cut of the net proceeds generated by Sam's share of "The Simpsons" royalties. As stated a moment ago, Sam was earning $20-30 million per year. Therefore, it is presumable that Jennifer earns approximately $6- 10 million per year.

This arrangement had long been rumored but was officially confirmed following his death when Tilly and Simon's estate agreed to a new payment method for her share of the royalties. When Sam was alive, Jennifer received her royalties from Sam's company, Coconino Inc. The new arrangement allowed Jennifer to receive her cut directly from Fox going forward. From the legal filings:

"Because of Sam's death, it was no longer practical for Jennifer, Sam and Coconino to follow the procedure that Jennifer had been following with Sam and Coconino from 1993 until Sam's death. [The new agreement is] "intended to place Jennifer in substantially the same economic position that she would be in if she had received her percentage of the Fox Payments directly from Fox and had reported income on her income tax returns and paid tax thereon."

Jennifer Tilly: Earnings Timeline

Project / Milestone	Financial Impact
The Simpsons Royalties Annual 30% Stake (Average Yield)	$8.0 Million
Family Guy Voice of Bonnie Swanson (Since 1999)	$100,000 / Episode
Chucky TV Series Lead Role / Tiffany Valentine (2021-2026)	$1.5 Million / Season
WSOP Bracelet Ladies' No-Limit Hold 'em Win	$158,625
Monsters at Work Voice of Celia Mae (Disney+ Series)	$250,000 / Season

(Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Early Life

Jennifer Tilly was born Jennifer Ellen Chan on September 16, 1958, in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Patricia, was a schoolteacher and former actress, and her father, Harry, worked as a used car salesman. Jennifer has three siblings, Steve, Meg, and Rebecca; Meg also went into acting and won a Golden Globe for the 1985 film "Agnes of God." When Tilly was 5 years old, her parents divorced, and Patricia married John Ward, who Meg described as a "sadistic pedophile." Rebecca corroborated Meg's claims, but Jennifer has not publicly commented. Tilly grew up in Texada Island, British Columbia, and when she was 16, her mother divorced Ward and moved the family to Victoria. After graduating from Belmont High School, Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Missouri's Stephens College.

Early Television and Film Career

Jennifer Tilly began her professional acting career in the early 1980s after studying theater and building stage experience. She made her television debut in 1983 with guest appearances on the sitcom "Oh Madeline" and the drama "Boone." These early roles introduced her to television audiences and helped her begin building a steady career in Hollywood.

In 1984, she appeared in the romantic comedy "No Small Affair," starring Demi Moore and Jon Cryer. Around the same time, she secured a recurring role on the critically acclaimed NBC police drama "Hill Street Blues," which helped raise her profile within the television industry.

Throughout the remainder of the 1980s, Tilly became a familiar face on television through guest appearances on several popular series. Her credits during this period included roles on "Remington Steele," "Cheers," "It's Garry Shandling's Show," and "Moonlighting." At the same time, she was developing a parallel career in film, appearing in more than a dozen movies during the decade.

Her film roles included parts in the sports comedy "Johnny Be Good" (1988) and the horse racing comedy "Let It Ride" (1989). One of her most notable early film appearances came in "The Fabulous Baker Boys" (1989), a critically acclaimed drama starring Jeff Bridges, Beau Bridges, and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film's success helped establish Tilly as a recognizable character actress in Hollywood.

Breakthrough and Academy Award Nomination

Tilly's career reached a major turning point in the early 1990s when she began landing more prominent roles in mainstream films. She appeared in the comedy "Made in America" (1993), starring Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson, and also had a role in the action thriller "The Getaway," a remake of the 1972 film starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger.

Her most celebrated performance arrived in 1994 with Woody Allen's crime comedy "Bullets over Broadway." Tilly played Olive Neal, a flamboyant and hilariously untalented mobster's girlfriend who insists on appearing in a Broadway play financed by her gangster boyfriend.

The performance became one of the standout comedic roles of the decade and earned Tilly an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The role also demonstrated her distinctive screen presence, combining comedic timing with an exaggerated, memorable vocal style that became one of her trademarks.

Around the same time, she continued working on television, guest starring on the HBO series "Dream On," appearing on the Fox drama "Key West," and starring in television films such as "At Home with the Webbers" and "Heads."

Critical Acclaim and Major Film Roles

In 1996, Tilly delivered one of the most critically acclaimed performances of her career in the neo-noir thriller "Bound." Directed by the Wachowskis, the film told the story of two women who become romantically involved while plotting to steal millions of dollars from the mob.

Tilly's performance opposite Gina Gershon was widely praised, and the film became a cult classic. "Bound" also won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film and has remained an influential entry in the neo-noir genre.

The following year, Tilly appeared in one of the biggest box office hits of her career when she co-starred with Jim Carrey in the comedy "Liar Liar." The film grossed more than $300 million worldwide and became one of the most successful comedies of the 1990s.

(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

"Child's Play" Franchise and Cult Fame

In 1998, Tilly joined the long-running horror franchise "Child's Play," beginning with the film "Bride of Chucky." She played Tiffany Valentine, the murderous girlfriend of the possessed doll Chucky.

Her character quickly became one of the franchise's most memorable figures and helped revitalize the series with a darker, more comedic tone. Tilly's performance blended horror and humor in a way that resonated with fans of the franchise.

She reprised the role in several sequels, including "Seed of Chucky" (2004), "Curse of Chucky" (2013), and "Cult of Chucky" (2017). Over time, Tiffany Valentine became one of the defining characters in the series and a fan favorite within horror cinema.

Voice Acting, Television, and Broadway

Tilly also built a successful career as a voice actress. One of her most widely recognized voice roles came in the Pixar animated film "Monsters, Inc." (2001), in which she voiced Celia Mae, the receptionist and girlfriend of Billy Crystal's character Mike Wazowski. The film became a massive global hit, earning more than $577 million worldwide.

In addition to film and television, Tilly has maintained a strong connection to theater. In 2001, she appeared on Broadway as Crystal Allen in a revival of the classic comedy "The Women." She later returned to Broadway in 2012 in the farce "Don't Dress for Dinner," earning an Audience Choice Award nomination for her performance.

Her stage work also included starring in the play "Grasses of a Thousand Colors" at the Joseph Papp Theater in 2013.

On television, Tilly continued appearing in sitcoms and guest roles. She starred in the CBS sitcom "Out of Practice" from 2005 to 2006, and later guest starred on the hit ABC comedy "Modern Family" in multiple episodes. She also appeared as a guest judge on the reality competition series "RuPaul's Drag Race" in 2012.

In more recent years, she appeared in films such as "7 Days to Vegas" (2019) and the documentary-style poker film "Poker Queens" (2020). She also provided the voice of Little Red Riding Hood in an episode of the animated series "JJ Villard's Fairy Tales."

Tilly has experienced a major career resurgence in the mid-2020s, largely due to the cult success of the Chucky television series. Playing both herself and the iconic Tiffany Valentine, Tilly's involvement has been central to the franchise's longevity. In 2025, she reprised her voice role as Celia Mae in the third season of Disney's Monsters at Work and continues to be one of the highest-paid voice actors on Family Guy.

Poker Career

Outside of acting, Tilly developed a serious interest in professional poker. Her fascination with the game reportedly began after her father gave her a "World Series of Poker" video game. Later, after moving to Los Angeles, a boyfriend taught her how to play the real-life version of the game.

Tilly quickly became a respected competitor on the professional poker circuit. In June 2005, she won a Ladies' No-Limit Texas Hold'em event at the World Series of Poker, earning $158,625 and a coveted WSOP bracelet.

Just a few months later, she won the World Poker Tour Ladies Invitational Tournament, becoming one of the most recognizable celebrity poker players of the mid-2000s.

She also appeared on Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown," where she finished in third place in 2006, and competed on GSN's "Poker Royale" series. Tilly was even featured in the "World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions 2007 Edition" video game.

In 2008, she announced she was retiring from poker as a professional pursuit in her monthly column for "Bluff Magazine." However, the retirement proved temporary, and she returned to tournament play in 2010.

By 2017, Tilly had accumulated more than $992,000 in live poker tournament winnings and received a Spirit of Poker Living Legend Award nomination from PokerListing, reflecting her unique status as both a successful actress and a respected figure in the professional poker world.

Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images

Personal Life

Jennifer married Sam Simon, who co-created "The Simpsons," in 1984, and they divorced in 1991. The two remained friends after their split, and Sam passed away from colorectal cancer in 2015. After Simon's death, Tilly stated, "Sam was my best friend for thirty years. He was a brilliant man and a great humanitarian. I miss him terribly."

Jennifer has been in a relationship with Phil Laak, a professional poker player and commentator, since 2004, when they met at the 2004 World Poker Tour Invitational (which Laak won).

(Photo by Andreas Branch/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Awards and Nominations

In 1993, Tilly won a Theatre World Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her performance in "One Shoe Off," and her stage work also earned her a Dramalogue Award for "Vanities." In 1995, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for "Bullets Over Broadway," which also earned her nominations from the American Comedy Awards and 20/20 Awards. Jennifer won an Eyegore Award in 1998 and a GLAAD Media Award in 2006. She was named Best Actress at the 2000 Fantafestival for "Bride of Chucky" and won an Achievement in Acting award for "Intervention" at the 2007 San Diego Film Festival.

In 1997, Tilly received an International Fantasy Film Award for "Bound" at the Fantasporto Film Festival, and TheWIFTS Foundation International Visionary Awards honored her with The Barbara Tipple Award for "Intervention" and "Inconceivable" in 2010. Jennifer has also received nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films ("Bound" and "Bride of Chucky"), Behind the Voice Actors Awards ("Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja"), Blockbuster Entertainment Awards ("Liar Liar"), CableACE Awards ("It's Garry Shandling's Show"), and Fangoria Chainsaw Awards ("Bride of Chucky" and "Seed of Chucky"), and she earned MTV Movie Award nominations for Best Kiss for "Bound" (shared with Gina Gershon) and Best Frightened Performance for "Seed of Chucky."

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