Jennifer Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning
American film and television actress.
Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, California, and grew up in New York City, and
began appearing in stage productions in the late 1980s. After several lesser-known
film and television roles during the early 1990s, Aniston came to fame playing Rachel
Green on the highly popular television sitcom Friends for which she won a
Golden Globe and an Emmy Award.
She has since focused heavily on her film career, having starred in several Hollywood
films, including Bruce Almighty and Rumor Has It. Aniston has also
become known for her marriage to, and eventual divorce from, actor Brad Pitt, and
for her relationship with actor Vince Vaughn.
Biography
Aniston is the daughter of actor John Aniston (originally Ioannis Anastassakis)
and his then-wife Nancy Dow, who was also an actress; she has two half-brothers,
John Melick (older) and Alex Aniston, who is younger. Aniston`s Greek father was
born in Crete, while her maternal grandfather, Gordon McLean Dow, was of Scottish
and English descent and her maternal grandmother, Louise Grieco, was of Italian
ancestry. Aniston`s godfather was the late Greek American actor Telly
Savalas, who was her father`s best friend, and Aniston spent some of her childhood
in Greece, but most of it in New York City, where her father appeared in the soap
operas Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow. In 1985, the family moved
to Los Angeles, where Aniston`s father starred on the soap opera Days of our
Lives.
Aniston attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing
Arts, and was a member of the drama club; among her high school friends was future
human rights activist Chastity Bono. Aniston`s desire to become an actress grew
as she worked in Off-Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing
on Checker`s Grave. During this time, she supported herself with several part-time
jobs, including working as a telemarketer and bike messenger.
Career
Aniston appeared as a "Nutri-System" girl on The Howard Stern Radio Show in the
late 1980s and early 1990s. She moved to Hollywood and was cast in her first television
roles in 1990, starring as a regular on the short-lived series Molloy and
in the TV movie Camp Cucamonga. She also co-starred in Ferris Bueller,
a television adaptation of the 1986 teen movie Ferris Bueller`s Day Off,
the same year; the series was quickly cancelled. Aniston then appeared in two more
failed television comedy shows, The Edge and Muddling Through, and
guest-starred on Quantum Leap, Herman`s Head and Burke`s Law.
After this string of canceled shows, along with her appearance in the critically
derided 1993 horror film, Leprechaun, Aniston seriously considered giving
up acting.
Aniston`s plans changed, however, after auditioning for Friends, a sitcom
that was set to debut on NBC`s 1994-1995 fall line-up. The producers of the
show originally wanted Aniston to audition for the role of Monica Geller, but she
persuaded them that she was better suited for the role of Rachel Green. She was
cast in the role and played the character from 1994 until the show ended in 2004.
The program was very successful and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained wide
renown among television watchers. Her hairstyle at the time, which became known
as the "Rachel", was widely copied (see also Dido flip). Aniston received
a salary of one million dollars per episode for the last three seasons of Friends
[ citation needed], as well as five Emmy nominations, including a win
for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series".
Aniston has starred in several theatrical films, including the cult hit Office
Space. She gained the most critical acclaim for her role in the low-budget 2002
film, The Good Girl, directed by Miguel Arteta, playing an unglamorous cashier
in a small town. The film opened in just four theatres - under 700 in total - taking
$14M in the U.S. box office. Jennifer`s biggest box office success was her appearance
in 2003`s Bruce Almighty, in which she played the girlfriend of title character
( Jim Carrey); the film grossed $243M at the United States box office and almost
twice that worldwide. Aniston`s 2004 film, Along Came Polly (opposite Ben
Stiller), also did well at the box office after opening at the #1 spot. In late
2005, Aniston headlined two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has
It, both of which performed fairly at the box office, grossing over $35 million
each. Derailed earned her much praise for taking a di fferent role and doing
it well. In the same year, she appeared in a European Heineken television commercial
frequently aired before UEFA Champions League matches.
In 2006, Aniston appeared in the low-budget drama, Friends with Money,
which was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival, received a limited release, and
grossed over $13 million. Aniston`s next film, The Break-Up, which was released
on June 2, grossed approximately $39.17 million during its opening weekend, despite
lukewarm reviews. It has currently grossed over $118M at the U.S. box office
and over $200 million worldwide.
Aniston has been linked to the upcoming films The Senator`s Wife, Wanted,
and Diary, but none have yet begun filming. She will also co-direct a hospital
emergency room-set short film named Room 10, starring Robin Wright Penn and
Kris Kristofferson; Aniston has noted that she was inspired to direct by actress
Gwyneth Paltrow, who directed a short film in 2006.
Personal life
Aniston has previously dated musician Adam Duritz and was engaged to actor Tate
Donovan. Her high-profile relationship with personality Brad Pitt was frequently
publicized in the press. She married Pitt on July 29, 2000, in a lavish Malibu wedding.
The two separated on January 7, 2005, and Aniston officially filed for divorce on
March 25, 2005. The divorce was finalized on October 2, 2005.
Media reports have speculated that the split was due to an affair on Pitt`s part
(with actress Angelina Jolie) or due to Aniston`s refusal to have children. Aniston
vehemently denied this in an August 2005 Vanity Fair interview, stating,
"I`ve never in my life said I didn`t want to have children I`ve always wanted to
have children, and I would never give up that experience for a career. I want to
have it all."
She has also stated that the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped
to make the separation from Pitt easier, more than a year ago was "devastating."
Summing up her relationship with Pitt, Aniston has said that their relationship,
which she does not regret, was "seven very intense years together" and that "it
was a beautiful, complicated relationship."
Since the couple`s divorce, Aniston has been romantically linked with well-known
actor Vince Vaughn. Aniston blamed Vaughn`s smoking habit for her own inability
to quit. . In August of 2006, Aniston denied rumors that the two were engaged
or that Vaughn had proposed. In October 2006, gossip magazine US Weekly quoted sources
from Vaughn that the couple had split. Vaughn was said to have seen Aniston as "needy
and controlling." A friend said: "Vince eventually saw how needy she is, and it
scared him. Jen lives in a crazy world with all the press. It`s just not his world."
In October 2006, during a guest appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show,
Aniston denied rumours that she and Vaughn broke up. Aniston also shot down rumors
of breast implants, chalking it up to having a "couple cheese plates too many" and
putting on ten well-placed pounds.
She supported John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, along with then-husband
Pitt.
She owns a house in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, in the same town as Brad Pitt.
Awards
1995: Screen Actors Guild Award: Outstanding Ensemble Performance
in a Comedy Series, Friends
2001: People`s Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer,
Friends
2001: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality-
Female, Friends
2002: Emmy Award: Best Actress in a Comedy Series, Friends
2002: People`s Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer,
Friends
2002: Hollywood Film Festival: Actress of the Year
2002: Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actress- Comedy, Friends
2002: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality-
Female, Friends
2003: Golden Globe Award: Best Actress in a Comedy Series, Friends
2003: People`s Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer,
Friends
2003: Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actress- Comedy, Friends
2003: Teen Choice Award: Choice Movie Actress- Drama/Action Adventure,
The Good Girl
2003: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality-
Female, Friends
2004: Logie Awards: Most Popular Overseas Star, Friends
2004: People`s Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer,
Friends
2004: Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actress- Comedy, Friends
2004: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality-
Female, Friends
2006: Teen Choice Award: Choice Movie Chemistry (shared with Vince
Vaughn), The Break-Up