From NBC.com
Two-time Emmy Award nominee Jennifer Aniston re-connected
with her Greek roots by spending a year of her childhood living
in Greece -- and no doubt the influence of noted Greek-American
actor Telly Savalas as her godfather further augmented her
cultural appreciation. Ultimately, however, she was raised
in New York City when her father, actor John Aniston (NBC’s
"Days of Our Lives”), landed a featured role on
the daytime drama “Love of Life.”
Aniston – who recently earned glowing reviews for her
performance in the feature film “The Good Girl”
-- had her first taste of acting at age 11 when she joined
the Rudolf Steiner School’s drama club. Her experience
there also helped her develop a passion for art. When she
was 11, one of her paintings was selected to be displayed
in an exhibit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Aniston began her professional training as a drama student
at New York’s High School of the Performing Arts. After
her graduation in 1987, she won roles in such off-Broadway
productions as “For Dear Life” at New York’s
Public Theatre and “Dancing on Checker’s Grave.”
In 1989, she landed her first television role as a series
regular on “Molloy.” Her other television credits
include regular roles on “The Edge” and “Ferris
Bueller,” a recurring part on “Herman’s
Head” and guest-starring roles on such series as “The
Larry Sanders Show,” “Partners,” “Burke’s
Law” and “Quantum Leap.”
In addition, Aniston has starred in a number of other films,
including “The Object of My Affection,” “Picture
Perfect,” “She’s the One,” “‘Til
There Was You” and “Office Space.” She also
starred with Quentin Tarantino in the interactive tutorial
CD-ROM directed by Steven Spielberg, “Movie Maker.”
Last year, she appeared opposite Mark Wahlberg in “Rock
Star.”
In 2001 and 2002, Aniston has been nominated for an Emmy
as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her
“Friends” role. As three-time nominee for the
People’s Choice Award as Favorite Female Television
Performer, she won the award in 2001 and 2002. She also received
her first Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations
in 2002 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting
Role and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy
Series, respectively.
Currently, Aniston resides in Los Angeles with her husband,
actor Brad Pitt. She enjoys painting in her spare time, as
well as hiking, camping and virtually anything that brings
her closer to nature. Her birthday is February 11.
From IMDB.com
Born in Sherman Oaks, California, Jennifer Aniston spent
a year of her childhood living in Greece with her family.
Her family then relocated to New York City where her parents
divorced when she was 9. Jennifer was raised by her mother
and her father landed a role, as Victor Kiriakis, on the daytime
soap "Days of Our Lives" (1965).
Jennifer had her first taste of acting at age
11 when she joined the Rudolf Steiner School's drama club.
It was also at the Rudolf Steiner School that she developed
her passion for art. She began her professional training as
a drama student at New York's High School of the Performing
Arts. In 1987, after graduation, she appeared in such Off-Broadway
productions as "For Dear Life" and "Dancing
on Checker's Grave".
In 1989 she landed her first television role,
as a series regular on "Molloy" (1990). She also
appeared in "Edge, The" (1992), "Ferris Bueller"
(1990), and had a recurring part on "Herman's Head"
(1991). By 1993, she was floundering. Then, in 1994, a pilot
called "Friends Like These" came along.
Originally asked to audition for the role of
Monica, Aniston refused and auditioned for the role of Rachel
Green, the suburban princess turned coffee peddler. With the
success of the series "Friends" (1994), Jennifer
has become famous and sought-after as she turns her fame into
movie roles during the series hiatus.
From Biography.com
Actress. Born Jennifer Aniston (original family
name was Anastassakis), on February 11, 1969, in Sherman Oaks,
California. Daughter to actors Nancy and John Aniston, and
the goddaughter of Telly Savalas, Jennifer was exposed to
acting at an early age.
Of Greek descent, she spent a year of her childhood
living in Greece. Her family eventually returned to the U.S.,
settling in New York when her father landed the role of the
villainous Victor Kiriakis on the NBC soap opera Days of Our
Lives.
After her parents divorced in 1980, Aniston
lived primarily with her mother. Two years later, she enrolled
at the Rudolf Steiner School, where she was a member of the
drama club. She went on to attend New York City’s renowned
High School of Performing Arts, where she was educated in
theater and fine arts.
Although she was an artist of considerable talent
(one of her paintings was chosen to be exhibited at New York’s
Metropolitan Museum of Art), Aniston opted for a professional
acting career.
After her graduation in 1987, Aniston appeared
in a number of TV commercials and off-Broadway productions,
including For Dear Life at New York’s Public Theater,
and Dancing on Checker’s Grave. During this time, the
struggling actress often supplemented her income by waitressing.
In an attempt to find more lucrative work, she moved to Los
Angeles, where she was featured in her first television role
on the short-lived sitcom Molloy (1990).
During the early 1990s, Aniston landed a succession
of supporting roles in failed television sitcoms, including
Ferris Bueller (1990), Herman’s Head (1991), The Edge
(1992), and Muddling Through (1994). She also managed to make
her feature acting debut in the poorly received horror film
Leprechaun (1993).
Still determined, the actress auditioned for
yet another TV pilot called Friends (1994), which focused
on a group of 20-something New Yorkers. Impressed with her
delivery, the producers cast Aniston in the role of suburban
princess turned waitress Rachel Green. The series met with
both critical and commercial acclaim when it premiered, making
household names of Aniston and her costars — Matthew
Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox Arquette, David Schwimmer,
and Lisa Kudrow.
The success of the show was followed by a wealth
of media attention. Aniston’s popularity was confirmed
when she was listed among People magazine’s “Most
Intriguing People” of 1995 and 1996. Furthermore, the
layered hairstyle that she adopted in the early years of the
show became such an overwhelming trend with American women
that Rolling Stone named her “America's First Hairdo.”
Aniston has since tried to translate her TV
stardom into success on the big screen. She has appeared in
several lighthearted films, including the well-received romantic
comedy She’s the One (1996) with Edward Burns and Cameron
Diaz, and Picture Perfect (1997) which brought Aniston her
first leading role as well as a $2 million paycheck. In 1998’s
screen adaptation of Stephen McCauley's novel The Object of
My Affection, she delivered a commendable performance as a
pregnant social worker who falls for her gay friend.
In 1999, Aniston provided the voice of Annie
Hughes in the animated fantasy feature The Iron Giant. She
is set to join a stellar cast, including Susan Sarandon, Sally
Field and Angelica Huston, in 2000’s Time of Our Lives.
In September 2001, she starred as the girlfriend-manager of
heavy metal singer Mark Wahlberg in Rock Star. A year later,
she earned critical film acclaim for The Good Girl, where
she starred as a dispirited store clerk searching for a more
meaningful life.
Friends remains one of the most popular sitcoms
on television. In 2000, after a widely publicized battle with
NBC, Aniston and her fellow cast members negotiated a salary
of $750,000 per episode. The show won its first Emmy for its
8th season in 2002. That same year, Aniston received a Best
Actress Emmy for her role as Rachel.
In addition to her professional strides, she
has remained in the headlines for her high-profile personal
relationships. In 1995, she dated Counting Crows band member
Adam Duritz, before starting a three-year relationship with
actor Tate Donovan, which ended in 1998. Later that year,
she began a serious romance with actor Brad Pitt. Aniston
and Pitt were married July 29, 2000, in Malibu, California.
From AllMovieGuide.com
The daughter of actor John Aniston (a star of
the NBC soap Days of Our Lives) and an actress/model, Jennifer
Aniston was raised in a show business environment (her godfather
is noted actor Telly Savalas), but she did not really find
her niche as an actress until she was cast as the sexy and
feisty waitress Rachel on the NBC sitcom Friends, which began
airing in 1994.
Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, CA, but she spent her youth
in New York. She also lived in Greece for a year with her
family. After joining the Rudolf Steiner School drama club
at age 11, Aniston discovered a lifelong fascination with
acting that was encouraged by Steiner himself. His was an
alternative school that provided children with an extensive
background in the creative arts, and in addition to acting,
Aniston also studied painting. The same year that the acting
bug bit, one of her paintings was displayed at the New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In her teens, Aniston attended New York's prestigious
High School of the Performing Arts and graduated in 1987.
She then began working off-Broadway, and she made her television
debut in 1989 on the series Molloy; from there, she had regular
roles in several short-lived series including Ferris Bueller,
The Edge, and Herman's Head. She also made guest appearances
in a few series, including Quantum Leap. In 1994, Aniston
landed her role on Friends, and when the show became a smash
hit, she became a major star and sex symbol; her distinctive
hairstyle inspired a national fad. With Aniston's sudden popularity
came movie offers, and she went on to appear in a number of
romantic comedies, including Ed Burns' She's the One (1996),
Picture Perfect (1997), and 'Til There Was You (1997). In
1998, she starred as a woman in love with a gay man (Paul
Rudd) in the comedy The Object of My Affection (1998).
From AskMen.com
Jennifer Aniston, one sixth of the ensemble
cast of NBC's stellar sitcom Friends, has practically become
a friend to the millions of viewers tuning every Thursday
night. Born on February 11, 1969 in Sherman Oaks, California
and raised in New York, Aniston was no stranger to the world
of acting. She was the daughter of John, a regular on the
daytime soap Days of Our Lives and Nancy, an actress and model,
as well as goddaughter of the late Telly Savalas. In high
school, Aniston was a member of the drama club, which sparked
her decision of pursuing a career as an actress. Among her
acting talent, one of Aniston's passions is painting, and
one of her creations was even displayed in New York's Metropolitan
Museum of Art when she was 11.
A graduate of New York's High School of Performing
Arts, Aniston worked in the off-Broadway productions For Dear
Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave. Her first television
break finally came in 1989, when Aniston got a part as a regular
on Molloy. It took a while for Aniston to get roles, until
her agent suggested she lose some weight. Unfortunately, none
of her television gigs were anything worth catching, as most
of the shows were not big hits. Does anybody remember catching
The Edge and the television adaptation of Ferris Bueller on
the boob tube? Among the more successful shows that featured
Aniston included a recurring role on Herman's Head, as well
as an appearance on The Larry Sanders Show, Partners, Burke's
Law, and Quantum Leap.
Aniston's big break came in 1994, when she was
cast as Rachel Green on the sitcom Friends, part of NBC's
"Must See TV" line-up. The always fashionable, sometimes
ditzy and loyal friend, Rachel became a household name, as
viewers (mostly female) would anxiously watch to see if Ross
and Rachel would finally get together. Aniston became known
for her hairstyle, which eventually became known as the Rachel
'do and became practically the standard hairstyle among women.
Jennifer Aniston web sites and shrines cropped
up all over the Internet, dedicated to the actress who was
even revered by Beavis and Butt-head. Aniston's other "digital"
role include a role on an interactive CD-ROM directed by Steven
Spielberg and co-starring Quentin Tarantino, titled Movie
Maker.
Joining the trend of Friends' cast members working
on the big screen (Aniston boasts the most movie roles of
the cast), she starred in small low-budget films, including
She's the One, co-starring Cameron Diaz and which required
Aniston to work on the film on weekends off from taping Friends;
'Til There Was You; Dreams for an Insomniac; and Picture Perfect,
co-starring Kevin Bacon. Paul Rudd was Aniston's gay roommate
and the object of Aniston's affection in 1998's The Object
of My Affection, which was her first lead role, and to date
her most successful among moviegoers. She most recently starred
in the comedy Office Space, directed by the creator of Beavis
and Butt-head and King of the Hill.
Joining the ranks of fellow beauties Tyra Banks
and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Aniston and fellow Friend Lisa
Kudrow proved they Got Milk by showing off their milk moustaches
for the famous milk ad campaign, promoted education in a public
service announcement for NBC, and joined the rest of the cast
of Friends to promote Diet Coke. Aniston has been romantically
linked to Tate Donovan and is presently the envy of many women
as Brad Pitt's new wife.
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Two-time
Emmy Award nominee Jennifer Aniston re-connected with her Greek
roots by spending a year of her childhood living in Greece --
and no doubt the influence of noted Greek-American actor Telly
Savalas as her godfather further augmented her cultural appreciation.
Ultimately, however, she was raised in New York City when her
father, actor John Aniston (NBC’s "Days of Our Lives”),
landed a featured role on the daytime drama “Love of Life.”