Emma - Music

Lisa V. Kudrow Born July 30 1963 Is An American Actress Best Known For Her Role As Phoebe Buffay In The Popular Television Sitcom Friends. Throughout Her Career She Has Received Many Accolades For Her Work In Film And Television Including An Emmy Award And Two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Kudrow Was Born In Encino California The Daughter Of Nedra S Née Stern A Travel Agent And Dr Lee N Kudrow Born 1933 A Headache Specialist And Physician. She Was Raised In A Jewish Family And Has An Older Sister Helene Marla Born 1960 And An Older Brother Neurologist David B. Kudrow Born 1957 . She Is The Niece Of Composer/conductor Harold Farberman. She Took Guitar Lessons As A Child And Is Left-Handed. After Attending Portola Middle School In Tarzana California She Graduated From Taft High School In Woodland Hills California. She Received Her B.S. In Biology From Vassar College Intending To Follow In Her Father's Footsteps And Research Headaches. Kudrow Worked On Her Father's Staff For Eight Years While Breaking Into Acting Earning A Research Credit On His Study On The Comparative Likelihood Of Left-Handed Individuals Developing Cluster Headaches. At The Urging Of Her Brother's Childhood Friend Comedian Jon Lovitz Kudrow Began Her Comedic Career As A Member Of The Groundlings Joining The Ranks Of Those Such As Will Ferrell And Janeane Garofalo. Briefly Kudrow Joined With Conan O'Brien And Director Tim Hillman In The Short-Lived Improv Troupe Unexpected Company. She Was Also The Only Regular Female Member Of The Transformers Comedy Troupe. She Played A Role In An Episode Of The NBC Sitcom Cheers. She Tried Out For Saturday Night Live In 1990 But The Show Chose Julia Sweeney Instead. 6 She Had A Recurring Role As Kathy Fleisher In Three Episodes Of Season One Of The Bob Newhart Sitcom Bob CBS 1992-1993 . Prior To Friends She Appeared In At Least Two Produced Network Pilots NBC's Just Temporary Also Known As Temporarily Yours In 1989 Playing Nicole And CBS' Close Encounters Also Known As Matchmaker In 1990 Playing A Valley Girl. Kudrow Was Hired To Play The Role Of Roz Doyle In Frasier But The Part Was Re-Cast With Peri Gilpin During The Filming Of The Pilot Episode. Kudrow Said In 2000 That When Rehearsals Started "I Knew It Wasn't Working. I Could Feel It All Slipping Away And I Was Panicking Which Only Made Things Worse". However One Of The People Working On Frasier Also Worked On Friends And Suggested Kudrow Audition For The Show. Citation Needed Her First Recurring Television Role Was Ursula Buffay The Eccentric Waitress On The NBC Sitcom Mad About You. Kudrow Would Reprise The Character On The NBC Sitcom Friends In Which Kudrow Co-Starred As Massage Therapist Phoebe Buffay Ursula's Twin Sister. As Kudrow Explained In 2009 "I Did Mad About You First And Then It Was Pilot Season And I Auditioned For This Pilot That Turned Out To Be Friends. And Once I Got That The Time Slot We Got Was Right After Mad About You So The Creative Folk Thought 'Well We Can't Just Pretend Like It's Not Her'". For Her Ensemble Starring Role As Phoebe On Friends NBC 1994 - 2004 Kudrow Would Win The 1998 Emmy Award For Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series She Was The First Friends Cast Member To Win An Emmy As Well As The Most Frequently Nominated Of The Cast Receiving Six Nominations. The Program Was A Long-Running Hit And Kudrow And Her Fellow Cast-Members Gained Wide Renown Among Television Viewers. According To The Guinness Book Of World Records 2005 Kudrow And Co-Stars Jennifer Aniston And Courteney Cox Became The Highest Paid TV Actresses Of All Time Earning $1 Million Per Episode For The Ninth And Tenth Season Of Friends. Her Film Credits Include Comedic Roles In Romy And Michele's High School Reunion Hanging Up Marci X Analyze This And Its Sequel Analyze That. However Kudrow Has Also Starred In Dramatic Roles Including The Biographical Wonderland About The Late Porn Star John Holmes. She Has Garnered Critical Acclaim Citation Needed In Dramatic Roles For Writer-Director Don Roos In The Films The Opposite Of Sex And Happy Endings. In 2008 She Commenced Filming On Hotel For Dogs Alongside Emma Roberts And Jake T. Austin. She Has Been A Vocal Performer On Episodes Of Animated Television Series Including As Aphrodite On Hercules The Animated Series And As Springfield Elementary School Student Alexandra Whitney On The Simpsons. She Was The Voice Of The Female Grizzly Bear Ava In The Live Action Movie Dr. Dolittle 2. After Friends Kudrow Starred As Protagonist Valerie Cherish On The Single-Season HBO Series The Comeback Premiered June 5 2005 About A Has-Been Sitcom Star Trying For A Comeback. She Also Served As Co-Creator Writer And Executive Producer. Kudrow Received An Emmy Nomination For Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series For Her Work On The Comeback Making Her The First Friends Cast Member To Receive A Major Award Nomination Since Friends Ended. She Has Also Appeared Alongside Her Niece In A Television Commercial For Nintendo's Personal Trainer Cooking As Well As In The Nintendo DS Commercial For Professor Layton And The Curious Village With Lynn Brown Kogen. She And Lisa Are Friends Lisa Was In Lynn's Wedding And Who Is Married To Jay Kogen Writer/producer For Frasier Tracey Ullman Simpsons . Her Latest Project Is As The Executive Producer For The American Version Of The Hit UK Television Series Who Do You Think You Are? For NBC In Which Celebrities Trace Their Family Trees. The Release Date Is April 20th 2009 And Will Include Herself Susan Sarandon And Sarah Jessica Parker As Well As Others. Kudrow Had A Relationship With Conan O'Brien Until He Moved To New York Citation Needed To Host His Talk Show Late Night With Conan O'Brien Beginning In 1993. On May 27 1995 Kudrow Became The First "Friend" To Marry When She Wed Michel Stern A French Advertising Executive. They Have One Son Julian Murray Born May 7 1998 And Live Near Beverly Hills California. Kudrow's Pregnancy Was Written Into Friends With Her Character Phoebe Having Triplets As A Surrogate Parent For Her Brother And His Wife Because They Were Not Able To Have Children. Kudrow Is Bilingual Speaking English And French Fluently. This Was Used In An Episode Of Friends In Which Phoebe Attempted To Teach Joey Matt LeBlanc To Speak French For An Audition And On Other Occasions. read less