30 July 1963, Encino, California, USA
Birth Name
Lisa Marie Diane Kudrow
Nickname
Smart
Height
5' 8" (1.73 m)
Mini Biography
Kudos for Kudrow! Hardly the dumb blonde of Romy and Michele's High School Reunion(1997), Lisa Kudrow was born in Encino, California, on July 30, 1963. Her father, Lee, was a physician and her mother, Nedra, was a travel agent. Lisa was raised in Tarzana and played varsity-level tennis in high school and college, and is a pool shark who has mastered some of the more difficult trick shots (so beware). She graduated from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychobiology. At first, she wanted to pursue a career in research, so she returned to Los Angeles to begin working with her father. However, Lisa got inspired to perform by one of her brother's friends, comedian Jon Lovitz, and so the tall (5' 8") blond-haired, green-eyed beauty entered show biz. Lisa auditioned for the improv theater group, The Groundlings, based in Los Angeles. Cynthia Szigeti, a well-known improv teacher, took Lisa under her wing. In that class, Lisa became a friend of Conan O'Brien. Graduating with honors in 1989, Lisa became a full-fledged member of The Groundlings. Breaking into TV, she got a recurring role as Ursula, the ditsy waitress on "Mad About You" (1992). This led to her starring role on "Friends" (1994). In the debut season (1994-95) of "Friends" (1994), Lisa earned an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series; in 1998, she won that award for her role as Phoebe, the ditsy but lovable folk singer. Lisa has also been nominated for Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and American Comedy Awards for her performances. Lisa made the transition to the big screen with a lot of success. In 1997, she starred opposite Oscar winner Mira Sorvino in the above-mentioned Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997). Lisa garnered more praise for her film work when she got the New York Film Critics Award for her starring role inThe Opposite of Sex (1998). Lisa married Michel Stern, an advertising executive, on May 27, 1995. On May 7, 1998, they were blessed with a son, Julian Murray; they live in Los Angeles.
Spouse
Michel Stern | (27 May 1995 - present) 1 child |
Trade Mark
Frequently plays funny, ditzy characters
Trivia
Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. [1997]
Attended William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, CA. She graduated June 18, 1981.
First played Ursula on "Mad About You" (1992), then played her twin sister, Phoebe, on "Friends" (1994), and has played both characters at once in a few episodes of "Friends" (1994).
Was originally cast for the role of Roz Doyle on "Frasier" (1993) but producers and writers decided that they were changing the character too much to fit Lisa's personality. Both parties decided it would be better to recast the role.
Graduated with a B.S. in Psychobiology from Vassar College. [1985]
Convinced to quit her job as a medical researcher to become a full-time actress by Jon Lovitz.
Her motion picture debut was supposed to be in the film Impulse (1990) but her scenes were cut before the film's release.
Her character Phoebe Buffay in "Friends" (1994) became pregnant with her brother's triplets (by artificial insemination) to cover up Kudrow's own pregnancy.
Cousin of Thea Mann.
On the day she gave birth to her son Julian, NBC aired the season finale of "Friends" (1994) - "The One With Ross' Wedding Parts 1 & 2". She sent these episodes as her Emmy tape submissions and subsequently won the Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Emmy.
Filmed all her scenes for Wonderland (2003) in three days.
Tallest female member of the cast of "Friends" (1994).
She and Jennifer Aniston both auditioned for regular cast member spots on "Saturday Night Live" (1975) prior to their success on "Friends"(1994).
Until 2004 was the only cast member of "Friends" (1994) to have a child. Matt LeBlanc's daughter Marina Pearl was born February 8, 2004, andCourteney Cox's daughter Coco Riley was born June 13, 2004.
Is a major fan of Diane Keaton.
Attended grade school with Daniel Pearl, the journalist who was murdered in Pakistan.
She supported the WGA strike, which started in 2007 and ended in 2008.
Teri Garr has played her mother twice: in Kabluey (2007) and "Friends" (1994).
The story line of Phoebe Buffay having her brother's babies was thought up in "Friends" (1994), was when she announced her real-life pregnancy. However, as she was not big enough to be having triplets, and the show was shot in "TV time", the costumers had to pad her to make her look bigger for the show.
She was terrified of the duck that showed up in Season 3 of "Friends" (1994).
She has a B.S. in psychobiology from Vassar, and Mira Sorvino who'd has a degree in Asian studies from Harvard, so during production ofRomy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), they nicknamed each other "Smart" and "Smarter".
Even though her son was only 6 months old, she choose to voice 'Aphrodite' in "Hercules" (1998) so her son would find her work more interesting.
She took the role in Hotel for Dogs (2009), so her son could see some of her work, because she think he is to young to see her other movies, like Powder Blue (2009), P.S. I Love You (2007) and The Opposite of Sex (1998).
Out of the six "Friends" (1994) stars she was the first to win an Emmy Award for her performance. She has also been nominated for the Emmy Award more times than any other "Friends" (1994) actor.
Was considered for a role in Evan Almighty (2007).
Is a vegetarian.
Lives in Beverly Hills, California.
Was seven months pregnant with her son Julian when she completed filming on the fourth series of "Friends" (1994).
Returned to work two months after giving birth to her son Julian in order to begin filming the fifth series of "Friends" (1994).
Lisa knew her paternal great-grandmother Mera Mordejovich had been murdered by the Nazis during World War II, but in March 2010, on an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? (2010) (TV), she visited Ilya, Belarus and was shocked when she was shown the records that reported how Mera had been 'killed and burned' with 900 other Jews in the town.
Oldest cast member of the four friends in ''Friends (1994)''.
Personal Quotes
For me, doing Wonderland (2003) wasn't about strategy. The story was compelling, it was written really well, I thought I understood the characters, and I just wanted to be in it. I've never gone wrong whenever I've done that, and I haven't done that a lot of times"
We treat sex so casually and use it for everything but what it is - which is ultimately making another human being with thoughts and feelings and rights who will grow up to be an adult.
There are some issues I'm more conservative on. As a parent, I'm concerned that there are so many young, young, young kids - like 12 years old - that are starting to have sex.
[4/06] I think, on network TV, I'm still Phoebe to people and it would be hard to convince them otherwise in the bright lights of a sitcom.
[about "Friends" (1994)] It was the best experience, an unusually good one in TV. We all got along. The producers were great. It was wonderful being involved. I was extraordinarily lucky.
I started watching reality shows and being horrified at people signing up to be humiliated in front of the entire country. I saw one show, "The Amazing Race" (2001), in which people were eating spicy soup and vomiting and crying. Why would you do that? Also, I was fascinated by these actors and actresses who would sign up to be followed around by cameras in their life. You become a celebrity, not because of your work or what you do, but because you have no privacy. I've been careful to keep my life separate because it's important to me to have privacy and for my life not to be a marketing device for a movie or a TV show. It's worth more than that. I'm worth more than that.
To me it was like being on a roller coaster and making that climb. I spend a lot of time bracing myself for the drop. [on becoming famous]
Salary
"Friends" (1994) | $1,000,000 / episode (2001) |
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