Born: 24 March 1971, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Mathilde O’Callaghan Notaro
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women founder Allison Tyra’s book The View from the Hill: Women Who Made Their Mark After 40.
“She was a little-known comedian until a catalogue of tragedies changed her life,” was how The Guardian described Tig Notaro in 2016. The writer was referring to a four-month span in 2012, when, at 40, Notaro was hospitalized with a major infection, followed by the death of her mother and her own breast cancer diagnosis, which led to a double mastectomy. Oh, and a break-up. Notaro had been a working comedian and actor for years, but when she started talking about her cancer onstage, it was a fundamental shift in both her work and her popularity. A recording of one of these sets would go on to be nominated for a Grammy, in addition to immensely popular sales. “With one gig, Notaro had become a bona fide star. Which was all great, of course—except first, she had to deal with possibly dying,” as The Guardian put it.
A documentary about this time in her life, Tig, was released in 2015, the same year she released her first comedy special on HBO, Boyish Girl Interrupted, in which she removed her shirt to show her mastectomy scars to her audience. “It felt awesome,” she later said. “I had the idea in a crazy, maniacal way the day I came home from the hospital when I felt really insecure and damaged and sad. But the thought just kept coming up and, yeah, it’s a political statement but I also wanted to make the statement in a funny way.”
She also earned her second Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album for the special. Notaro created and starred in a television show inspired by her experiences, One Mississippi, which ran for two seasons from 2015 to 2017. Her 2016 memoir, I’m Just a Person, was a New York Times bestseller. She’s also recorded several more popular specials, including Happy to Be Here (Netflix, 2018), the semi-animated Drawn (2021, HBO Max), and Hello Again (2024, Amazon Prime Video). Among her many film and TV credits, Notaro originated a fan favorite character in the Star Trek franchise, with her recurring role of Jett Reno on Discovery and Starfleet Academy. It’s no coincidence that such a well-liked character bears a striking resemblance to Notaro’s own demeanor—or as she puts it, “I always tell people it just feels like ‘Tig in space.’”