*Lisa Kudrow
(53 years old)
30 July 1963
Encino, California, USA
5' 8" (1.73 m)
(53 years old)
30 July 1963
Encino, California, USA
5' 8" (1.73 m)
Hardly the dumb blonde of Romy y Michele (1997), Lisa was born in Encino, California on July 30, 1963. Her mother, Nedra S. (Stern), was a travel agent, and her father, Lee N. Kudrow, was a physician. Her parents are both from Jewish immigrant families (from Belarus, Russia, and Hungary). 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.
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 y Michele (1997). Lisa garnered more praise for her film work when she got the New York Film Critics Award for her starring role in Lo opuesto al sexo (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. - IMDb Mini Biography By: kdhaisch@aol.com
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.Attended William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California. She graduated on June 18, 1981.
First played Ursula on Loco por ti (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 as Roz Doyle on Frasier (1993), but the producers and writers decided they were changing the character too much to fit Kudrow's personality. Both parties decided it would be better to recast the role, and Peri Gilpin was chosen instead.
Graduated with a B.S. in Psychobiology from Vassar College.
Convinced to quit her job as a Medical Researcher to become a full-time actress by Jon Lovitz.
Her motion picture debut was set to be in the film Impulso (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, she was the only cast member of Friends (1994) to have a child. Matt LeBlanc's daughter, Marina Pearl, was born February 8, 2004, and Courteney Cox's daughter, Coco Riley, was born June 13, 2004.
Is a huge 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 storyline of Phoebe Buffay having her brother's babies in Friends (1994) was thought up when Kudrow 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 which joined the cast of Friends (1994) in season three.
She has a B.S. in Psychobiology from Vassar, while Mira Sorvino has a degree in Asian Studies from Harvard. During production of Romy y Michele (1997), they nicknamed each other "Smart and Smarter".
Even though her son was only 6 months old at the time, she chose to voice Aphrodite in Hercules (1998) so that her son would find her work more interesting.
Accepted her role in Hotel para perros (2009), as a favor for her son, who at the time was too young to see any of the films or television shows she had previously starred in.
Out of the 6 Friends (1994) stars, Kudrow was the 1st 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 Sigo como Dios (2007).
Is a vegetarian.
Lives in Beverly Hills, California.
Was 7 months pregnant with her son, Julian, when she completed filming of the 4th season of Friends (1994).
Returned to work 2 months after giving birth to her son, Julian, in order to begin filming the 5th season of Friends (1994).
Lisa's paternal grandparents, David Kudrow and Gertrude Farberman, were Jewish immigrants (David from Mogilev, Belarus, and Gertrude from Ilya, Vilna Province, Belarus). Lisa's maternal grandfather, Henry Stern, was from a Hungarian Jewish family, and Lisa's maternal grandmother, Johanna Sand, was born in Germany, to Russian Jewish parents. 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 Quién te crees que eres? (2010), 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.
Eldest of the 6 lead actors on Friends (1994).
Meryl Streep politely asked Kudrow if she could make a guest appearance on Kudrow's show Web Therapy (2011). Kudrow was admittedly star-struck and surprised by the approach.
Frequently collaborates with Don Roos.
Gave birth to her only child at age 34, a son Julian Murray Stern on May 7, 1998. Child's father is her husband, Michel Stern.
Although her Friends (1994) character Phoebe was the only female lead not to become a mother on the series (albeit she acted as a surrogate for her brother and his wife), Kudrow was actually the 1st to become a mother in real life. Kudrow had a son in 1998, while Courteney Cox had a daughter in 2004 and Jennifer Aniston has no children.
Dislikes singing. Publicly, she has only done it in order to gain laughs, including some memorable musical moments on Friends (1994), The Comeback (2005) and as the role as a rock star in Hotel para perros (2009).
She's the only female cast member on Friends not to star in a movie opposite Jim Carrey.
Her real-life middle name Valerie has been used for two of her characters. It was the name of her lead role in The Comeback (2005), and it was the nickname that Phoebe gave herself when briefly she changed her name to 'Princess Consuela Bananahammock' on the tenth season of Friends (1994).
Personal Quotes*
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, El gran reto (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]
[on working with Courteney Cox in 'Friends'] There's a code with actors. Actors don't give each other notes under any circumstances. She was giving us permission to give her notes, and we all agreed that that would be great. Why not? She was the one who set that tone and made it a real group. And I thought that was a real turning point.
Before you are famous you think, Oh, if you're famous you're loved and adored. Then, when you really experience that attention and everyone cares what you're doing and wants pictures of you, it doesn't feel like a warm hug. It really feels like an assault.
