Courteney Cox played the skinny and motherly Monica on the super-popular sitcom Friends from 1994-2004.
The blue-eyed brunette dropped out of Mount Vernon College for Women in 1983 to sign with the Ford modeling agency, and soon had a splashy cameo in the music video for the Bruce Springsteen single Dancing in the Dark (she's the girl Springsteen pulls onstage to dance). She also had a recurring role as a girlfriend to Alex Keaton (Michael J. Fox) on the show Family Ties. In 1994 she joined the founding cast of Friends, which ran for 10 seasons and made stars out of Cox, Jennifer Aniston and their four co-stars. Cox also was a hit as the harpy reporter Gale Weathers in the Scream series of horror films (Scream in 1996, Scream 2 in 1997 and Scream 3 in 2000). She played a gossip magazine editor in the TV series Dirt (2007-08). Her other films include 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001 with Kevin Costner) and The Longest Yard (2005, with Adam Sandler).
She married actor David Arquette in 1999, and is now sometimes known as Courteney Cox Arquette. Their daughter, Coco Riley Arquette, was born in 2004. David Arquette is the brother of actors Patricia and Rosanna Arquette... Mount Vernon College for Women, located in Washington, D.C., became part of George Washington University in 1998.
Career Highlights: Scream, Scream 2, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
First Major Screen Credit: Masters of the Universe (1987)
Biography
Born on June 15, 1964, Courteney Cox grew up with three older siblings in Mountain Brook, an affluent Alabama town. Though Cox participated in multiple extracurricular activities during her high school years, she did not exercise her taste for acting until she dropped out of the architecture program at Mount Vernon College. Landing a contract with the prestigious Ford Modeling Agency led Cox to several commercial appearances. Her first official role arrived in 1984, when she was cast as a young debutante in one episode of the long-running soap opera As the World Turns.
Her big break, however, was rooted in director Brian De Palma's decision to feature Cox as the girl pulled from the audience in Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" video. Years later, after the actress had gained a great deal more notoriety, this short music-video appearance became a key piece of celebrity trivia in a multitude of magazines and entertainment shows. In 1985, she starred alongside Dean Paul Martin in the forgettable series Misfits of Science. Cox reappeared on the television screen as Michael J. Fox's girlfriend, Psychology major Lauren Miller, in the '80s sitcom Family Ties.
Though Cox landed bit parts in a handful of mediocre films (Mr. Destiny, The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them) after Family Ties wrapped in 1989, her status as an actress officially gelled in 1994, when she co-starred with Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and, most notably, won the role of Monica Geller on the hugely successful sitcom Friends. This role brought her a nomination for an American Comedy Award, as well as a prominent role in Wes Craven's Scream trilogy. Cox's role as the notoriously cutthroat reporter Gale Weathers was significant not only in terms of critical acclaim, but also because the set of Scream was where she met fellow actor David Arquette, whom she married in 1999.
Although she certainly attempted to match the big screen-success of her fellow Friends castmates with such efforts as 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), and The Longest Yard (2005), Cox-Arquette fought a tortuous uphill battle, and never managed to land a part that brought her nearly as much goodwill as the high-strung Monica. She voiced Daisy the Cow in Steve Oedekerk's 2006 animated feature Barnyard, alongside an all-star cast that includes Danny Glover, Kevin James, Wanda Sykes, Sam Elliott and Andie MacDowell. The endeavor became a double-edged sword; on one hand, most critics detested the $50 million picture; on the other, it worked wonders at the box office, as one of the top grossers of its season.
Cox-Arquette's decision to join the cast of the family-friendly superhero story Zoom alongside Tim Allen and Chevy Chase didn't prove nearly as capricious. The picture suffered from relentless (though arguably justifiable) critical drubbings and performed abysmally on a commercial front, grossing just over $4 million in the week that followed its premiere - from an estimated $60 million budget. It also became the latest in Allen's long line of box office stinkers that included Christmas with the Kranks, Joe Somebody, and many others; The New York Times's Jeannette Catsoulis moaned that it "bleeds boredom from every frame," while Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwartzbaum observed, "this lifeless family comedy sucks the joy from every joke it touches."
That same year, the trades indicated Cox's forthcoming producer credit in longtime husband David Arquette's 2007 directorial debut, the slasher picture The Tripper, with Balthazar Getty, Paul Reubens and Lukas Haas. The Hostel-like story involves a group of potheads who travel to a Woodstock-esque concert for indulgence in sensual (and visceral) pleasures, but find themselves stalked by a psychotic. Cox and Arquette each cameo in the film.
Cox and Arquette co-run the L.A.-based production shingle/tax shelter Coquette Films. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
Courteney Bass Cox (born June 15, 1964), also known as Courteney Cox Arquette, is an American actress, best known for her role as Monica Geller on the sitcom, Friends. Courteney has also starred in Dirt and the Scream series, and has guest-starred in Scrubs. She is currently starring in Cougar Town.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama,[1] Cox is the daughter of businessman Richard Lewis Cox and his wife Courteney (née Bass, later Copeland).[2] She has two older sisters, Virginia and Dottie and an older brother, Richard Jr.[3] Her parents divorced in 1974 and her mother was remarried to businessman Hunter Copeland[4] (uncle to Ian Copeland).[5] After graduating from Mountain Brook High School, Alabama, Cox left for Mount Vernon College in Washington DC but did not complete her architecture course, opting instead to pursue a career in modelling and acting.[6]
Later in 1994, Cox was asked to audition for the part of Rachel Green on a new sitcom called Friends, but she was instead cast as the character Monica Geller. At first the most famous cast member of the new show, Cox joined fellow castmates Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller) for what would become her most famous role, lasting for 10 seasons until 2004. According to the Guinness World Book of Records (2005), Cox (along with her female costars) became the highest paid TV actress of all time with her $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.
Between seasons 5 and 6, Cox married David Arquette and changed her name to Courteney Cox Arquette. An in-joke reference to this is made in the opening credits of the episode The One After Vegas, where the rest of the cast and executive producers have "Arquette" added to their names. The dedication "To Courteney and David, who did get married" appears during the fade out to the tag scene.[9]
Later career
After her Friends role, Cox was producer Marc Cherry's first choice to be offered a starring role as Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives. However, Cox was unavailable due to her pregnancy and the role went to Teri Hatcher. A couple of years later, Cox signed a deal with ABC Studios (formerly Touchstone Television), to star in her own series. Since Friends, Cox has primarily concentrated on her family but has starred in the independent filmNovember (2005), which had a limited theatrical release, co-starred with Tim Allen in the critically derided Zoom and cameoed in the big budget remake of The Longest Yard, as the girlfriend of Adam Sandler's character. She supplied her voice for the animated film Barnyard. A Friends reunion film was rumored to be in production; following the success of Sex and the City: The Movie[10] but this has been denied by Warner Bros. and others.
In 2007, Cox starred as Lucy Spiller, a cynical tabloid editor, in Dirt, a television drama for the FX network. Cox and her husband, David Arquette, were the executive producers of the series.[11] According to Cox, the series was canceled after the second season in 2008.[12] In July 2008, Entertainment Weekly announced that Cox had signed on to star in a three-episode arc for the television series Scrubs.[13] In her first episode, she makes a reference to the name of the character Dr. Cox, which in real life is her own. In August 2008, it was announced that there will be a fourth film in the Scream series, and that they want the original actors to reprise their roles.[14] On October 30, 2008, TV Guide reported that Cox will be starring in a pilot for a new single-camera comedy series on ABC called Cougar Town from Bill Lawrence. Cox will be playing a newly single 40-year-old mother.[15] Her co-stars include actresses Busy Philipps and Christa Miller.[16] Cox filmed the pilot on March 19, 2009.[17] In June 2009, Scream director Wes Craven confirmed that Cox and her husband would both be returning for Scream 4.
Film career
During her time on Friends, Cox appeared in the high-profile Hollywood films Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 3 (2000) as the determined and driven reporter Gale Weathers. She met her husband, David Arquette who played her on-screen love interest Dwight "Dewey" Riley, while filming the first Scream film. Both Cox and her husband Arquette will reprise their respective roles from the Scream trilogy in 2010's Scream 4. [18]
Although she starred in several other films during her time on Friends, none achieved the same level of success as the show. Such films include The Runner, 3000 Miles to Graceland and The Shrink Is In. In late 2003, Cox and Arquette produced one season of the reality television series Mix It Up. The lifestyle show, which aired on the We cable channel, struggled with low ratings and was not renewed for a second season. Has also appeared as the children's mother in "Bedtime Stories"
Personal life
Cox Arquette's previous significant others include her step-cousin, the rock promoter Ian Copeland[19] and a long-term relationship with actor Michael Keaton from 1989 to 1995. Cox Arquette also dated singer Adam Duritz of Counting Crows and appeared in their music video for song "A Long December" in 1997. (Duritz has also dated Cox Arquette's Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston.)
Cox married David Arquette on June 12, 1999. On June 13, 2004, she gave birth to their first child, daughter Coco Riley Arquette. The child was originally to be named after her mother as Courteney Cox Arquette.[8] However, Arquette's family objected to this on the grounds that naming a child after a living relative goes against Ashkenazi Jewish tradition (David Arquette is Jewish). Coco is a nickname Cox's friends gave her mother when she was a child, calling her "Mama Coco". Jennifer Aniston is the baby's godmother.[20]
