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Lisa Kudrow
Name: Lisa Kudrow
DOB: 30 July 1963
Birth Place: Encino, CA, USA
Claim to fame: Former Friend
Star Facts
- Lisa’s great-grandmother was murdered in the Holocaust
- She has a nose job at age 16
- Lisa waited until she was married to lose her virginity, at age 32
- She is a seriously talented pool player
Biography
Friends star Lisa was hoping to become a doctor like her dad before she caught the acting bug. Working as a news reporter for a while on TV in Texas, she was encouraged into comedy by her friend Jon Lovitz and joined the famous Groundlings improv troupe, where stars like Phil Hartman, Janeane Garofalo and Kathy Griffin learned the ropes.
Her big break almost came with Frasier when she was cast as Roz Doyle, but the producers changed their mind at the last minute! She then starred as kooky waitress Ursula Buffay in hit sitcom Mad About You before going on to win the role of kooky Phoebe (and evil twin Ursula) Buffay in Friends in 1994.
She was the first member of the cast to win an Emmy, playing Phoebe for a decade as the show became number 1 in America, eventually netting Lisa and her co-stars a whopping $1 million per episode. Each.
Comedy roles in Hollywood hits followed, including Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and Analyze This. Lisa landed dramatic roles in edgier films like Wonderland and The Opposite of Sex too.
She’s since starred in the HBO series The Comeback about a has-been sitcom star trying for a comeback. She was nominated for an Emmy for her performance but the show was dropped after one season. She now stars in her own online comedy web series Web Therapy and has popped up alongside old Friends co-star Courtney in her hit show Cougar Town.