Tina Fey pays tribute to late father, calls him 'a great American'

Actress, producer, and author Tina Fey recently suffered the loss of her father, Donald Fey, who passed on Oct. 18 due to heart failure at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Pennsylvania, People reports. His funeral was held on the 23rd.

The former Saturday Night Live writer and star released a statement in honor of her late father. She told Philly.com, "He was a great dad and a talented artist and writer, but I also think of him as a Great American."

Fey wrote about her relationship with her father in her best-selling memoir released in January 2012, in a chapter titled "That's Don Fey," chronicling moments from her childhood and the moment Saturday Night Live head honcho Lorne Michaels met her father. Don Fey served in the Korean War, returned home and became a Philadelphia firefighter, and a fund-raising writer.

Fey said, "He served his country in Korea, he served his city as a fireman, he took his kids regularly to art museums and historical sites. When he taught me how to play baseball he would say to me, 'If you throw like a girl again, we're going in.' (I took it in the spirit it was intended.)."

The multi-hyphenate and mother of two also said, "He read poetry and history and newspapers. He was an informed patriot. The Republican Party should have tried to clone him."

Meanwhile, Fey is gearing up for her upcoming film with Saturday Night Live co-star and good friend, Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler, with whom she graces the cover of Entertainment Weekly.

The two star in Sisters, a comedy about two siblings who come home to find that the house they grew up in is to be sold by their mother. Poehler said, "Neither Tina or I have sisters in real life. We are each other’s chosen sister.ike most sisters, we've never dated the same guy and we're great in photo shoots and fittings because we know what will look good on one another."

"We’re kind of like sisters and our parents are show business," Poehler explained. "We call each other to complain about how mom and dad have treated us at Thanksgiving."

E! Online reports that Fey originally signed on to produce and star in "Sisters," but when it came to casting her on-screen sister, screenwriter Paula Pell thought it was a no-brainer to pick Poehler.

Fey said, "It just wouldn't make sense playing sisters with anyone else. There's an ease that we have with each other."

In the Jason Moore-directed film, Fey plays the former out-of-control Katie, whole Poehler plays the more subdued, responsible Maura. Sisters will be released in theaters on Dec. 18.