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Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American film and television actress. She became famous in the mid 1990s for playing the role of Rachel Green in the popular US sitcom Friends, a role for which she won both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

She has starred in several Hollywood films, often alongside a member of the Frat Pack. While most of her film roles have been in comedies such as Bruce Almighty, Office Space, Rumor Has It, and the romantic comedies Along Came Polly and The Break-Up, she has also appeared in films from other genres, such as the crime thriller Derailed.

Aniston's marriage to actor Brad Pitt and their subsequent divorce received widespread media coverage.

Biography

Early life

Jennifer Aniston was born on February 11, 1969 in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, and grew up in New York City.^[3] She is the daughter of the actor John Aniston and actress Nancy Dow.^[4] Aniston's father is a Greek American, born Yannis Anastassakis, on the island of Crete, Greece, while her mother was born in New York City of English and Scottish descent.^[3] Aniston has two half-brothers, John Melick (older) and Alex Aniston (younger).^[4][3] Aniston's godfather was the actor Telly Savalas, her father's best friend.^[4][3] She lived in Greece for one year as a child with her family, and they later relocated to New York City.^[4] Her father has appeared in the soap operas Days of Our Lives, Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow.^[4] Aniston attended the New York Rudolf Steiner School^[5] and graduated from Manhattan's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.^[3] She worked in Off Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave.^[4] During this time, she supported herself with several part-time jobs, including working as a telemarketer and bike messenger.^[4] In 1989, she moved to Los Angeles, California.^[6]

Career

Aniston moved to Hollywood and was cast in her first television role in 1990, starring as a regular on the short-lived series Molloy and in the TV movie Camp Cucamonga.^[7] She also co-starred in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 hit movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.^[7] The series, however, was quickly canceled.^[4] 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.^[7] After the string of canceled shows, along with her appearance in the critically derided 1992 horror film, Leprechaun,^[8] Aniston considered giving up acting.^[4] Aniston's plans changed, however, after auditioning for Friends, a sitcom that was set to debut on NBC's 1994-1995 fall line-up.^[3][9] The producers of the show originally wanted Aniston to audition for the role of Monica Geller,^[9] but she persuaded them that she was better suited for the role of Rachel Green.^[9] She was cast in the role and played the character from 1994 until the show ended in 2004.^[10][11]

The program was successful and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained wide renown among television viewers.^[3] Her hairstyle at the time, which became known as the "Rachel", was widely copied.^[3][4] Aniston received a salary of one million dollars per episode for the last two seasons of Friends, as well as five Emmy nominations (two for Supporting Actress, three for Lead Actress),^{[12][13][14][15]} including a win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.^[16] According to the Guinness World Book of Records (2005), Aniston (along with her female costars) became the highest paid TV actress of all time with her $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.^[17]

In 1994, Microsoft invited Aniston, along with Friends co-star Matthew Perry, to shoot a 30-minute promotional advertisement for their new operating system, Windows 95.^[18] She gained critical acclaim for her performances in The Object of My Affection (1998), a comedy drama about a girl who falls for a gay man,^[19] and in the low-budget 2002 film, The Good Girl, directed by Miguel Arteta, playing an unglamorous cashier in a small town. The latter film opened in relatively few theaters - under 700 in total - taking $14M in the U.S. box office.^[20] In late 2005, Aniston appeared in two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has It.^[21][22]

In addition to her career as a TV actress, Aniston has enjoyed a successful film career. Her biggest box office success to date was her appearance in 2003's Bruce Almighty, in which she played the girlfriend of title character Jim Carrey.^[23] Aniston then starred in the 2004 film, Along Came Polly opposite Ben Stiller.^[24] In 2006, Aniston appeared in the low-budget drama, Friends with Money, which was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival, received a limited release.^[25] 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.^[26]

In 2007, Aniston guest starred in an episode of Courteney Cox Arquette's series Dirt. Aniston played Arquette's snobby rival Tina Harrod.^[27] In addition to acting, Aniston has also directed a hospital emergency room-set short film named Room 10, starring Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson;^[28] Aniston has noted that she was inspired to direct by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who directed a short film in 2006.^[29]

Forbes listed Aniston as the 10th richest woman in the entertainment industry for the year 2007. She is behind such powerhouses as Oprah Winfrey, J. K. Rowling, Madonna, Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez and is ahead of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the Olsen twins. Aniston's net worth is approximately $110 million.^[30] Aniston was also included in the annual Star Salary Top 10 of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter for 2006.^[31] According to Forbes in October 2007, Aniston was the top-selling celebrity face of the entertainment industry.^[32] In 2008, Aniston landed the seventeenth spot on Forbes Celebrity 100 list based on "earnings and fame."^[33] Forbes listed Aniston's earnings as $27 million.^[34] In august 2008 she had dinner in a Beverly Hills' restaurant with Woody Allen and his wife: he's in fact interested on her for a romantic film that'll be released in autumn 2009.

Jennifer Aniston will be appearing in the third episode of season 3 of NBC's 30 Rock.^[35]

Personal life

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston at Sundance festival 2002

Aniston has previously dated musician Adam Duritz,^[4] and was engaged to actor Tate Donovan.^[36] Her high-profile relationship with actor Brad Pitt was frequently publicized in the press.^[4][37] She married Pitt on July 29, 2000, in a lavish Malibu wedding.^[38] For years their marriage was considered the rare Hollywood success.^[4] However, when Pitt showed up to the Ocean's Twelve premiere without Aniston, rumors that their relationship was on the rocks began.^[39] In early January 2005, the couple was seen vacationing in the Caribbean with her Friends co-star Courteney Cox and her husband, actor David Arquette,^[40] and photos on the beach showed them kissing and affectionate. On January 7, 2005 they announced their separation.^[41]

Rumors that Pitt had fallen for actress Angelina Jolie began when they were shooting the film Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Jolie and Pitt both denied any claims of adultery, with Jolie declaring in an interview in 2005, "To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn't be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife."^[42] Pitt and Aniston were seen together publicly after announcing their separation, even at a dinner party for Aniston's thirty-sixth birthday in February, and friends of the couple had declared they were reconciling.^[43] Aniston, however, filed for divorce on March 25, 2005.^[2] A divorce was finalized on October 2, 2005.^[44]

Media reports speculated that the split was due to Aniston's refusal to have children; t-shirts were sold after their separation with the phrase "I'll Have Your Baby, Brad!". Aniston denied that this was the cause of their split 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." Aniston also revealed that her divorce prompted her to reach out to her mother, from whom she was estranged for nearly a decade. They initially became estranged when Nancy talked about her daughter on a television show and later wrote a book titled From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir (1999).^[45][46]

She has also stated that she was devastated by the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped to make the separation from Pitt easier.^[47] Aniston has said that her relationship with Pitt, which she does not regret, was "seven very intense years together" and that "it was a beautiful, complicated relationship."^[48] Since the couple's divorce, Aniston has been romantically linked to actor Vince Vaughn,^[49] British model Paul Sculfor and singer John Mayer.^[50][51]

In August 2006, Aniston denied rumors that she was engaged to Vaughn or that the actor had proposed.^[52] In October 2006, gossip magazine Us Weekly quoted sources from Vaughn that the couple had broken up.^[53] In December 2006, representatives for both Aniston and Vaughn confirmed that they had indeed split up a few weeks before when Aniston visited Vaughn in London.^[54]

The intense media scrutiny of Aniston's private life continued. It was reported in April 2008 that singer John Mayer and Aniston were an item. A few weeks later, Mayer hinted the rumours were true when he told reporters "listen, this is not a scandal, this is not an issue, this is not a problem, this needs no spin control."

On August 13, 2008, the U.K.'s Daily Mirror reported that Aniston was "dumped" by Mayer after the pair initially decided to spend some time apart before making the break official earlier this week. However, according to USmagazine.com, reports that Mayer had dumped Aniston were not true and that it was she who dumped him. A relationship expert tells USmagazine.com that Mayer's pride and ego was the reason he has been telling people he dumped Aniston. ^[55]

Aniston has had two septoplasties to correct her deviated septum; — one which was incorrectly done in 1994 and the second in January 2007. Septoplasty is a surgical operation that helps alleviate a common condition that can lead to breathing difficulty and trouble sleeping.^[56]

Aniston is also a supporter of Friends of El Faro, a grassroots non-profit that helps raise money for Casa Hogar Sion -- an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico.

Filmography

Television

Guest appearances

Awards

• 1996: Screen Actors Guild Award: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble 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: Outstanding Lead 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 Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, 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
• 2007: People's Choice Award: Favorite Female Movie Star
• 2007: GLAAD Media Awards: Vanguard Award

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Jennifer Aniston

• Jennifer Aniston at the Internet Movie Database
• Jennifer Aniston at Allmovie
• Jennifer Aniston at TV.com
• Jennifer Aniston at People.com
• Official Warner Brothers Friends site