Lily Tomlin grows up in stages

For someone who became famous on the eve of the 1970s, time has been kind to Lily Tomlin, who has continued to work and earn acclaim even after her days on Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-In.”

Just lately, she has starred alongside Jane Fonda in the Netflix series “Grace and Frankie” and in the movie “Grandma,” and received Golden Globe nominations for both of them. She has such a long list of accolades for television, big screen and stage work that it stacks up with any woman of her generation.

Still active at 76, Tomlin comes to Portland for a night of stand-up comedy, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (tickets starting at $30, www.OrSymphony.org), during which she will surely play her well-known characters — Edith Ann, the little girl in the big chair, and Ernestine, the nosy telephone operator, among the many that have delighted fans for years. It was Dec. 29, 1969, when Tomlin made her debut on “Laugh-In,” and introduced America to herself and her Ernestine character — more than 46 years ago.

“Yeah, I still do them, as long as they’re relevant,” Tomlin says. “I do new material with the characters, and occassionally a bit that is sort of classic.

“Ernestine is working for a health care company now. Edith Ann is sort of a kid of the times, more hip and current with technology and certain subjects that would be on a kid’s mind.”

Tomlin, who lives in Los Angeles, enjoys doing stand-up. It helps keep her sharp in a show business that has changed quite a bit since her breakthrough in 1969. There are opinions galore out there now, reviews everywhere online — “it’s why I don’t Google my name,” she quips — and social media such as Twitter for instant praise or negativity. Well, if and when she does see her name in print (or online), it’s really positive.

Critics have taken to “Grace and Frankie,” about two women who relate to each other when their husbands (played by Martin Sheen and Sam Waterson) leave them, expressing their long love for each other — yes, it’s quite a progressive topic.

“A lot of young people like ‘Grace and Frankie,’ they love the humor,” says Tomlin, who begins filming the show’s third season in April.

She enjoys working with “old pal” Fonda, 78.

“Jane and I don’t like each other (in the show); I’m easy going, she’s tight and structured,” Tomlin says. “We’re always at each other. ... The whole first year was about us regaining our composure after (the husbands’ revealation) knocked us for a loop. The second year we go on with our lives.”

In “Grandma,” Tomlin plays a lesbian and feminist poet, whose lover dies and her character seeks money to help her granddaughter terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Again, it’s a progressive topic.

“We shot it in 19 days for a low budget — $600,000,” Tomlin says. “It’s gotten great reviews.”

Tomlin has a lot to reflect on, starting with “Laugh-In,” maybe the preeminent variety show back in the day, and its content stood the test of time.

“It was thoughtful in terms of the intelligence,” she says. “I don’t think anybody wants to hear an evening of stupid stuff.”

She would land her own special, “The Lily Tomlin Show” on CBS, which she recalls, fondly, earned a very lofty share of the market on its debut, and it led to a second special. But NBC countered with a Johnny Carson roast at the same time, and her numbers went way down, although still impressive.

“I was devastated,” she says. “I was ready to quit the business.”

She would win three Emmys for her “Lily” specials, among her many awards, including a Grammy for the comedy album “This is a Recording,” a collection of Ernestine routines.

She appeared in scores of other television shows. She would make movies, starting with “Nashville” by Robert Altman, which earned her Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and then “9 to 5” with Fonda and Dolly Parton in 1980, followed by notable roles in “The Incredible Shrinking Woman,” “All of Me,” “Flirting with Disaster,” “Tea with Mussolini,” “I Heart Huckabees” and “Grandma.” She received an Emmy for voice-over work as science teacher Ms. Frizzle in “The Magic School Bus.”

She was the first woman to appear solo in a Broadway show with “Appearing Nitely” in 1977. She won a Tony Award for her role in “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe” on Broadway, written by her wife, Jane Wagner.

“I liked it all, but I wish I had more serious roles,” she says. “Everything to me is comedy and tragedy.”

Doing stand-up brings her back to her childhood in Detroit, where she used to perform dance, magic and comedy — “whatever I could think of. I was a child doing an act, even when I didn’t realize I was doing an act.”