Jennifer Aniston

February 2, 3:30 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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JENNIFER ANISTON

Jennifer Joanna Aniston was born on February 11th, 1969 -- she is an American actress known for her work in television (especially as Rachel Green on NBC’s long-running Friends) and film (Office Space, Along Came Polly, The Break-Up).

Born in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, Jennifer is the daughter of actress Nancy Dow, and actor John Aniston (best known as Victor Kiriakis on Days Of Our Lives).  John’s best friend, the late Telly Savalas, was Jennifer’s godfather.

After spending a year in Greece as a child, Jennifer’s family moved back stateside, landing in New York.  She attended the Rudolf Steiner School and later graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan.  While acting in small roles off-Broadway (Dancing on Checker’s Grave and For Dear Life), Jennifer juggled a few part-time jobs (bike messenger, telemarketer), before moving back to Los Angeles in 1989.

While Jennifer did find acting work in the early 1990s, most of it was middling fare that barely made a blip on the screen.  She was cast in several series, Molloy, Ferris Bueller, The Edge and Muddling Through, all of which were canceled after only a few episodes.  Guest spots on Quantum Leap, Herman’s Head and Burke’s Law didn’t do much to put a shine on her rising star.  After starring in the 1992 horror film (spoof?) Leprechaun, Jennifer was so discouraged, she thought about returning home and leaving acting to those who didn’t get stuck acting opposite little green Gaelic monsters.  And then ...

... in 1994 she auditioned for an NBC comedy entitled Friends.  Series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman initially wanted Jennifer for the role of Monica -- but after Courteney Cox came in with her porcelain-doll skin and obsessive-compulsive neurosis, they knew they had their Monica, and that Jennifer was better suited to play Rachel, a spoiled Jewish American Princess who becomes a New York coffee peddler.  The show ran for ten smash seasons, and turned all six of its stars into household names.  Jennifer’s hairstyle nearly became the seventh Friend due to its enormous popularity -- it was called, of course, “The Rachel.”

Jennifer did find film work -- but like all of her costars from Friends, cinematic success would be spotty, especially while the show was still on the air.  Through the late nineties and early ‘aughties,’  Jennifer was featured in the films Picture Perfect, The Object of My Affection, Office Space (which would later become a huge cult hit), voicework in The Iron Giant, and Rock Star.

Jennifer did win critical raves for her understated performance in the 2002 indie, The Good Girl.  Following that, were roles in Bruce Almighty, Along Came Polly, Derailed, Rumor Has It, Friends With Money, The Break-Up, Marley and Me, and He’s Just Not That Into You.

In 2007, Forbes Magazine placed Jennifer at number 10 on their list of the richest women in the entertainment business -- those ahead of her included Oprah (duh,) J.K. Rowling and Madonna.

During the Friends phenomenon, Jennifer dated musician Adam Duritz, and was briefly engaged to actor Tate Donovan -- yet it was Jennifer’s relationship with Brad Pitt that sold gazillions of tabloids.  After dating for a couple of years, Jennifer and actor Brad Pitt got married on July 29th, 2000.  During this time, Brad even guest-starred on an episode of Friends, playing an old schoolmate of Rachel with a grudge to settle.  While for a few years, theirs was seen as that rarest of rarities, a successful Hollywood marriage, they separated and divorced in 2005 (... this after Brad Pitt’s much publicized, and much denied, hookup with Angelina Jolie on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith -- we all know how that turned out).

Since then, Jennifer has been linked romantically to Vince Vaughn (her costar in The Break-Up ... which is exactly what they did after finishing the movie), and musician John Mayer -- so far, so good.

Jennifer’s BFF is former-costar, Courteney Cox -- Jennifer is also godmother to Courteney’s daughter CoCo.

Up next for the talented actress: Traveling, a romantic drama with Aaron Eckhart.