Lisa Kudrow

Lisa Kudrow was born to Jewish parents, Lee Kudrow and Nedra Stern, and has one older sister and two older brothers. After having attended Portola Middle School in Tarzana, California, she went on to graduate from Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, and then later received her A.B. from Vassar College in Biology. She's also fluent in French.

Kudrow originally intended to follow in her fathers footsteps - researching headaches. However, she was 'discovered' and began her career as an actress. Kudrow began her comedic career as a member of The Groundlings, joining the ranks of those such as Will Ferrell and Janeane Garofalo. She tried out for Saturday Night Live in 1990, but the show chose Julia Sweeney instead. She was hired to play the role of Roz in the TV show Frasier, but was fired 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 Lisa auditioned for the show. Her first major television role was Ursula Buffay, the eccentrically silly waitress on Mad About You. Despite the previous lack of success, this role led to her starring role on Friends as Ursula's identical twin sister, Phoebe Buffay, a role for which she won the 1998 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. (Ursula Buffay appeared in a couple of episodes of Friends, making that series arguably a spin-off of Mad About You.) She was the most Emmy-nominated cast member of the show, totalling six nominations. She and Jennifer Aniston were the only two to win. Her film credits include Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, The Opposite of Sex, Hanging Up, Marci X, Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That. She has also starred in the biopic Wonderland about the late porn star John Holmes.

Kudrow portrayed Valerie Cherish, the main character on the HBO original series The Comeback. She also served as co-creator, writer, and executive producer. The show was not renewed for another season. Ironically, "The Comeback" starred famed sitcom star Kudrow who received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on the show. Kudrow was the first "Friends" castmember to receive a major award nomination since being on "Friends". Kudrow also guest starred in The Simpsons episode "Lard of the Dance" as Alex Whitney. In the episode, she tells Lisa Simpson "not to be a Phoebe" referring to her role in Friends.

Since May 27th, 1995, Kudrow has been married to Michel Stern, a French advertising executive, They have one son, Julian Murray (born May 7, 1998). Whilst pregnant, Phoebe also had to be pregnant which is why the storyline of Phoebe being a surrogate for her brother's triplets was introduced. She also dated Conan O'Brien for a short while during the late 1980s.