Lisa Kudrow has often played ditzy blondes, the most notable being massage therapist Phoebe on the TV superhit Friends (1994-2004). (She was one of the show's troika of females, along with Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston.) In real life Kudrow is brainy enough to have a biology degree from Vassar and to be an alumnus of the comedy troupe The Groundlings. While starring on Friends, she made several feature films, including the surprise hit Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (1997), the off-the-wall comedy The Opposite of Sex (1998, starring Christina Ricci), and the box-office smashes Analyze This and Analyze That (1988 and 2002, both with Billy Crystal). Since the end of her turn as Phoebe, Kudrow has worked in feature films such as Wonderland (2003) and Happy Endings (2005, with Maggie Gyllenhaal), and briefly starred in her own TV series, The Comeback (2005).
For her role on Friends Kudrow earned six Emmy nominations, with one win... Although it lasted only one season, The Comeback brought Kudrow her seventh Emmy nomination.
Career Highlights: The Opposite of Sex, Clockwatchers, Mother
First Major Screen Credit: Friends: Season 01 (1994)
Biography
Lisa Kudrow first made her name playing Phoebe, the ditzy, New Age member of the titular close-knit pals on NBC's highly successful sitcom Friends. Since then, she has bridged the gap between television and film with undeniable success, winning particular acclaim for her role as an uptight school teacher in Don Roos' The Opposite of Sex (1998).
Born in Encino, California on July 30, 1963, Kudrow earned a degree in biology from Vassar College before beginning her acting career. After college, she joined the Los Angeles improvisational group, The Groundlings, at the urging of family friend Jon Lovitz. Improv paved the way for more work, and Kudrow was soon appearing in bit roles in a number of films. Her first real break didn't come until 1993, when she began appearing on the TV sitcom Mad About You as Ursula, the waitress from hell. Real fame came in 1994, when the actress was cast as Phoebe on Friends; the enormous success of the show gave her both wide recognition and a steady day job.
Kudrow's first leading role on the big screen was as one of the titular heroines (alongside Mira Sorvino) of the 1997 comedy Romy and Michele's High School Reunion; unfortunately, her character was little more than a film version of Phoebe. Fortunately, Kudrow got to widen her range a little further that same year with a starring role in the independent drama Clockwatchers, portraying a struggling actress alongside the likes of Toni Collette and Parker Posey. The following year, Kudrow won raves and critical respect for her turn in The Opposite of Sex, a scathing black comedy in which she gave a comic and poignant performance as an embittered woman coping with the death of her brother, the presence of her best friend's malicious little sister (Christina Ricci), and the romantic attentions of Lyle Lovett. The acclaim she received for her portrayal was complemented the same year with an Emmy Award for her work on Friends. In 1999, Kudrow shared the screen with Robert DeNiro in the comedy Analyze This, and later that year she starred with Diane Keaton and Meg Ryan as three sisters dealing with the imminent death of their irritating father (Walter Matthau) in the comedy Hanging Up, directed by Keaton and written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron.
Lisa Kudrow[1] (born July 30, 1963) is an American actress, best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the television sitcomFriends. Throughout her career she has received many accolades for her work in film and television including an Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Kudrow was born in Encino, California, the daughter of Nedra S (née Stern), a travel agent, and Dr Lee N Kudrow (born 1933), a headache specialist and physician.[2] She was raised in a Jewish family[3] and has an older sister, Helene Marla (born 1960), and an older brother, neurologist David B. Kudrow (born 1957). She is the niece of composer/conductor Harold Farberman. She took guitar lessons as a child and is left-handed.
At the urging of her brother's childhood friend, comedian Jon Lovitz,[3] Kudrow began her comedic career as a member of The Groundlings, joining the ranks of those such as Will Ferrell and Janeane Garofalo. Briefly, Kudrow joined with Conan O'Brien and director Tim Hillman in the short-lived improv troupe Unexpected Company.[4] She was also the only regular female member of the Transformers Comedy Troupe.[5] She played a role in an episode of the NBCsitcomCheers. She tried out for Saturday Night Live in 1990, but the show chose Julia Sweeney instead.[6] She had a recurring role as Kathy Fleisher in three episodes of season one of the Bob NewhartsitcomBob (CBS, 1992-1993). Prior to Friends, she appeared in at least two produced network pilots: NBC's Just Temporary (also known as Temporarily Yours) in 1989, playing Nicole; and CBS' Close Encounters (also known as Matchmaker) in 1990, playing a Valley girl.[2]
Kudrow was hired to play the role of Roz Doyle in Frasier, but the part was re-cast with Peri Gilpin during the filming of the pilot episode. Kudrow said in 2000 that when rehearsals started, "I knew it wasn't working. I could feel it all slipping away, and I was panicking, which only made things worse".[3] However, one of the people working on Frasier also worked on Friends and suggested Kudrow audition for the show.[citation needed] Her first recurring television role was Ursula Buffay, the eccentric waitress on the NBC sitcom Mad About You. Kudrow would reprise the character on the NBC sitcom Friends, in which Kudrow co-starred as massage therapistPhoebe Buffay, Ursula's twin sister. As Kudrow explained in 2009, "I did Mad About You first, and then it was pilot season, and I auditioned for this pilot that turned out to be Friends. And once I got that, the time slot we got was right after Mad About You, so the creative folk thought, 'Well, we can't just pretend like it's not her'".[7]
For her ensemble starring role as Phoebe on Friends (NBC, 1994 - 2004) Kudrow would win the 1998 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series; she was the first Friends cast member to win an Emmy, as well as the most frequently nominated of the cast, receiving six nominations. The program was a long-running hit, and Kudrow and her fellow cast-members, gained wide renown among television viewers. According to the Guinness Book of World Records (2005), Kudrow and co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox became the highest paid TV actresses of all time, earning $1 million per episode for the ninth and tenth season of Friends.
After Friends, Kudrow starred as protagonist Valerie Cherish on the single-season HBO series The Comeback (premiered June 5, 2005), about a has-been sitcom star trying for a comeback. She also served as co-creator, writer, and executive producer. Kudrow received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on The Comeback, making her the first Friends cast member to receive a major award nomination since Friends ended. She has also appeared, alongside her niece, in a television commercial for Nintendo'sPersonal Trainer: Cooking,[8] as well as in the Nintendo DS commercial for Professor Layton and the Curious Village with Lynn Brown Kogen. She and Lisa are friends (Lisa was in Lynn's wedding) and who is married to Jay Kogen (writer/producer for Frasier, Tracey Ullman, Simpsons).
Her latest project is as the executive producer for the American version of the hit UK television series Who Do You Think You Are? for NBC, in which celebrities trace their family trees. The release date is April 20, 2009, and will include herself, Susan Sarandon, and Sarah Jessica Parker as well as others.[9]
Personal life
On May 27, 1995, Kudrow became the first "Friend" to marry when she wed Michel Stern, a Frenchadvertising executive.[2] They have one son, Julian Murray (born May 7, 1998), and live near Beverly Hills, California.[10] Kudrow's pregnancy was written into Friends with her character Phoebe having triplets as a surrogate parent for her brother and his wife because they were not able to have children.
Kudrow is bilingual, speaking English and French fluently. This was used in an episode of Friends in which Phoebe attempted to teach Joey (Matt LeBlanc) to speak French for an audition, and on other occasions.
