Lisa Kudrow.html |
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| Lisa Kudrow | |
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 Vassar College, 2004 |
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| Born | Lisa Diane Marie Kudrow July 30, 1963 Encino, California |
| Occupation | Actor/Voice Actor |
| Spouse(s) | Michel Stern (1995-present) |
Lisa Diane Marie Kudrow1 (born July 30, 1963) is an Emmy Award- and SAG-winning American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as Phoebe Buffay in the popular television sitcom Friends and as Valerie Cherish in the HBO series The Comeback,2 which she produced and co-created.
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Biography
Early life
Kudrow was born in Encino, California, the daughter of Nedra (née Stern), a travel agent, and Lee Kudrow, a headache specialist and physician.3 She was raised in an upper-middle class Jewish family4 and has an older sister, Helene Marla, and an older brother, neurologist David Kudrow. She is the niece of composer/conductor Harold Farberman. She took guitar lessons as a child and is left-handed.
After attending Portola Middle School in Tarzana, California, she graduated from Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California. She received her B.S. in Biology from Vassar College, intending to follow in her father's footsteps and research headaches.
Career
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. She was also the only regular female member of The Transformers Comedy Troupe, a group directed by Stan Wells that currently plays at the Empty Stage Comedy Theatre. She played a role in an episode of Cheers opposite Woody Boyd. She tried out for Saturday Night Live in 1990, but the show chose Julia Sweeney instead. She had a recurring role in Bob, Bob Newhart's third CBS outing, but her character was eliminated at the end of the first season. She was hired to play the role of Roz in Frasier, but the part was re-cast during the filming of the pilot episode because producers didn't think she was right for the part. However, one of the people working on Frasier also worked on Friends and suggested Kudrow audition for the show. Her first major television role was Ursula Buffay, the eccentric waitress on Mad About You (this character would later appear in Friends as Phoebe's twin sister). She is also the oldest of all the "friends."
The role of Ursula Buffay led to her starring role on Friends from 1994 to 2004 as Phoebe Buffay, a role for which she won 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 total nominations. The program was hugely successful and Kudrow, along with her co-stars, gained wide renown among television viewers. According to the Guinness Book of World Records (2005), Kudrow (along with her female co-stars) became the highest paid TV actresses of all time with their $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.
Her film credits include comedic roles in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Hanging Up, Marci X, Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That. However, Kudrow has also starred in dramatic roles including the biopic Wonderland about the late porn star John Holmes. She has garnered critical acclaim in mostly dramatic roles for writer-director Don Roos in the films The Opposite of Sex and Happy Endings. After Friends, Kudrow portrayed Valerie Cherish, the main character on the HBO original series The Comeback. The series premiered on HBO on June 5, 2005. She also served as co-creator, writer, and executive producer. The show, about a has-been sitcom star trying for a comeback, was not renewed for a second season. 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 lent her voice to a number of animated series, including Hercules, as Aphrodite and during a cameo on The Simpsons as Alexandra Whitney, a student at Springfield Elementary School. Her most recent work is in the movie adaptation of the bestselling novel, PS, I Love You alongside Hilary Swank, in which she plays a supporting role as Denise. Also, she was the voice of the female grizzly bear 'Ava' in the 2001 film sequel Dr. Dolittle 2, starring alongside Steve Zahn (voice) and Eddie Murphy. She also starred, alongside her niece, in the commercial for Nintendo's Personal Trainer: Cooking, making Kung Pao Chicken.
Kudrow is also in the upcoming movie Bandslam (formerly titled Rock On), co-starring alongside Gaelan Connell, Vanessa Hudgens and others. She will be playing the role of Karen Burton, Will's mother. Shooting has started in Austin, Texas.
She is currently starring as the lead role in Web Therapy, an online show which she helped write and produce, on the online entertainment channel LStudio.com5
Personal life
Kudrow had a relationship with Conan O'Brien until he moved to New York to host his TV show beginning in 1993. On May 27, 1995, Kudrow became the first "Friend" to marry when she wed Michel Stern, a French advertising executive. They have one son, Julian Murray (born May 7, 1998), and live in the hills above Beverly Hills, California.6
Kudrow's pregnancy was written into Friends with her character Phoebe having triplets as a surrogate parent for her brother. Kudrow is bilingual, speaking English and French fluently. This was used in an episode of Friends when Phoebe taught Joey to speak French for an audition, and on several other occasions she speaks French.
Web Series
- Web Therapy (2008)
Awards and nominations
- 2008 - Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical, "Kabluey" - (Nominated)
- 1995 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
- 1997 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
- 1998 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, "Friends" - (Won)
- 1999 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
- 2000 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
- 2001 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
- 2006 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, "The Comeback" - (Nominated)
- 1996 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, "Friends" (Nominated)
- 1996 - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
- 1999 - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
- 2000 - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, "Friends" - (Won)
- 2004 - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
- 1996 - Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
- 1999 - Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
- 1999 - Funniest Female Guest Appearance in a TV Series, "Mad About You" - (Nominated)
- 1999 - Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, "The Opposite of Sex" - (Nominated)
- 2000 - Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series, "Friends" - (Won)
- 2000 - Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special (Leading or Supporting) Network, Cable or Syndication, "1999 MTV Movie Awards" - (Nominated)
- 2000 - Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, "Analyze This" - (Nominated)
- 2001 - Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series, "Friends" - (Nominated)
References
- ^ According to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com
- ^ Entertainment Weekly voted Phoebe Buffay on Friends as Lisa Kudrow's best performance and Valerie Cherish on The Comeback as Kudrow's second best performance. The magazine ranked the domestic chef in the DS commercial third with Web Therapy and Marci X listed as "other votes. See "The EW Office Poll: Lisa Kudrow Dishes It Out," Entertainment Weekly 1026 (December 19, 2008): 12.
- ^ Lisa Kudrow Biography (1963-)
- ^ Zaslow, Jeffrey. Balancing friends and family, USA Weekend, October 8, 2000. Accessed June 8, 2008.
- ^ "Lisa Kudrow Debuts Improv Comedy Series on L Studio". MarketWatch, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-09-24.
- ^ Where in the world is….? Celebrity #9: actress Lisa Kudrow, who quietly paid $1.9M in August 1996 for her 6,397-square-foot house in Beverly Hills, CA’s postal area
External links
| Preceded by Samuel L. Jackson |
MTV Movie Awards host 1999 |
Succeeded by Sarah Jessica Parker |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joan Cusack for In & Out |
Best Supporting Actress for The Opposite of Sex 1998 |
Succeeded by Catherine Keener for Being John Malkovich |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Kudrow, Lisa Diane Marie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 30, 1963 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Encino, California |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |