Tina Fey cashes in on Sarah Palin

American comedienne Tina Fey (pictured) looks set to become rich as a result of her hugely popular spoofs of Sarah Palin on the US satirical show Saturday Night Live. Fey, who is a dead ringer for the Republican vice presidential candidate when she dons the lipstick, hairdo and dinky two pieces, has reportedly received a $6m advance from publisher Little, Brown for a book of comic essays.

It’s been quite an autumn for Fey. In September she won three Emmys for her writing and acting on the sitcom 30 Rock, while her recent impressions of Palin have driven up the ratings for Saturday Night Live 50 per cent year on year. Further evidence of her growing stardom is her rating on Google trends. Searches for Fey have gone through the roof; shortly after her first appearance as Palin she recorded 15 million hits in one day.

Meanwhile, Clint Eastwood appears to have developed a fondness for the real Sarah Palin. Speaking at a New Yorker festival event on Saturday, he decided to bring up the vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Palin. To much laughter, he told the largely liberal arts audience: "One of the candidates the other night seemed more prone to telling the truth than the other." But the laughs dried up when Eastwood went on to talk about how well "she" did - although he stopped short of a ringing endorsement.