 Fey was born on May 18 , 1970 , in Upper Darby , Pennsylvania , a suburb of Philadelphia . Her mother , Zenobia " <unk> " ( née <unk> ) , is a <unk> employee ; her father , Donald Henry Fey ( died 2015 , age 82 ) , was a university grant proposal writer . She has a brother , Peter , who is eight years older . Fey 's mother , who was born in <unk> , Greece , is the daughter of Greek immigrants : <unk> <unk> , Fey 's maternal grandmother , left <unk> , <unk> , Greece on her own , arriving in the United States in February 1921 . 
