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These are the biographies of the six main stars.
Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry is an only child. His mother Suzanne, a former Canadian TV anchor, is married to Canadian anchorman Keith
Morrison and has four children, and his father, John Bennet Perry, has also remarried and has a daughter. The elder Perry
is perhaps best known to TV viewers as the guy in the "Old Spice" commercials.
Perry, when growing up, was orginally supposed to become a pro tennis player and was good enough to become the #2 ranked
junior player in Canada for a time. However, a disasterous debut match in the US ended that dream and launched him into his
father's profession: acting.
Perry auditioned for the movie "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon" and won a part beside the late River Phoenix.
Perry, like many of his co-stars, Perry has done his share of failed TV sitcoms such as "Boys Will Be Boys", "Home
Free" or "Second Chance". He has also appeared on shows like "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Growing
Pains".
Before he got the part of Chandler, Matthew Perry had been disgusted by the lack of good parts on TV and had attempted
to write a sitcom pilot with a friend of his for NBC called "Maxwell's House". The show's premise (a bunch of twentysomething
friends hanging out together) was interesting enough that NBC expressed interest, but decided to pass on the show in favor
of something called "Friends". The rest, as they say, is history.
Matt LeBlanc
Matt LeBlanc (aka Joey Tribbiani on "Friends"), at age 8, enjoyed a brief career as an amateur motorcycle racer
with aspirations of becoming a pro. However, his mother put the kibosh on that and redirected his talents elsewhere. Matt
was trained in carpentry and tried to do it with an artistic flair.
After high school graduation, Matt travelled to New York City to make his fortune. By 1987 he had appeared in several
national TV commercials, including ones for Levi's 501s, Coca-Cola, and Doritos. He appeared in a Heinz catsup ad that won
the1987 Cannes Film Festival's Gold Lion Award.
Matt began formal acting training in 1988 and within a year found work as one of the stars of the TV series "TV 101".
He moved to L.A. and subsequently has appeared in several TV series ("Top of the Heap", "Vinnie & Bobby"),
the TV movie "Anything to Survive" (with Robert Conrad), and a guest appearance on cable's "Red Shoe Diaries".
Matt appeared in his first feature film in 1994, a movie entitled "Lookin' Italian" He is also scheduled to
star in the last installment of "Rebel Highway", a series of remakes of famous 'teen angst' movies shown on cable.
Over the last 10 years, Matt has developed a passion for photographing landscapes which has taken him to various parts
of the world including Amsterdam, Switzerland, Germany, & Vancouver, as well as to many places in the U.S.
Matt's birthday is July 25, 1967. He currently lives in L.A., with one of the first friends he made after arriving in
Los Angeles: his dog Lady.
David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer, son of two lawyers, was born on November 12 (year ?) in Queens/NY and raised in Los Angeles. As a teenager
attending Beverly Hills High, he portrayed Otto Frank in "The Diary of Anne Frank." After studying Speech/Theatre
at Northwestern University (he received a B.S.), he co-founded (along with seven classmates from Northwestern University)
the Lookingglass Theater, an ensemble of actors, writers and directors. There, he acted in "West," "The Odyssey,"
"Of One Blood," "In the Eye of the Beholder" and in "The Master & Margarita." Additionally,
he directed "The Jungle" (6 Joseph Jefferson Awards), "The Serpent" and "Alice in Wonderland"
(performed at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland).
On television, he appeared in "L.A. Law," "Blossom," and as host in "13th Annual Jost For Laughs
Festival" and "Saturday Night Live." In "The Wonder Years," David Schwimmer portrayed Michael, the
boy who married Kevin's sister Karen.
Courtney Cox-Arquette
Courteney Cox, who as we all know plays Monica Geller on "Friends", is originally from Birmingham, Alabama.
She moved to New York City after graduating from high school and did some time with the Ford modeling agency, where she appeared
in such glamorous roles as TV commercials for Noxema, Maybelline, and even the New York phone company.
Courteney made her acting debut in 1984 on the daytime soap "As the World Turns", and later that same year,
she was in Bruce Springsteen's video for "Dancing in the Dark" (she was the girl pulled from the audience to dance
with 'The Boss'). Her most familiar TV series role was as Michael J. Fox's (or rather Alex P. Keaton's) girlfriend Lauren
on "Family Ties". Her other TV appearances include being a regular on "Misfits of Science" & "The
Trouble with Larry", guest-starring appearances on "Murder, She Wrote", "Seinfeld" (where she played
Jerry's pretend wife), and HBO's "Dream On", several TV movies including "Prize Pulitzer", "Battling
for Baby", and "Curiosity Kills", and even a mini-series, Judith Krantz's "Till We Meet Again".
Courteney has appeared in several movies, including the wildly successful "Ace Ventura: Pet Dectective" with
Jim Carrey, and some not as successful films including "Down Twisted", "Masters of the Universe", "Cocoon:
The Return", "Shaking the Tree", "Mr. Destiny", "The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them",
and "Blue Desert". Her stage work includes "King of Hearts" at the Tiffany Theatre in L.A., where she
starred with Michael Spound.
When Courteney is not working (and it doesn't seem like there's much of that), she enjoys decorating and remodeling homes.
Her birthday is June 15, 1964, and she lives in Los Angeles.
Courteney dated Michael Keaton (of "Batman" fame; not to be confused with the character Alex P. Keaton played
by Michael J. Fox) for a couple of years. They broke up and Courteney began dating (and later married) her Scream costar,
David Arquette. In 2004 they had a baby, Coco Riley (Arquette? Cox-Arquette? Geller-Willick-Bunch?)
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Kudrow was born on July 30, 1963 in Encino, California, (Yes, she too is a Valley girl! Oh-My-God) and was raised Tarzana,
CA. She attended Vassar College in New York and graduated with a B.S. in Biology. She planned to follow in her father's footsteps
(a famous headache expert) and moved back to L.A. to do medical research. She would most likely be doing research now, if
not for the encouragement/inspiration of her brother's friend, Jon Lovitz (of Saturday Night Live fame).
Lisa tried out for The Groundlings, a famous improvisational theater group in L.A., but was initially rejected due to
her lack of experience. She was referred to a well-known comedy instructor, Cynthia Szigeti, to learn the improvisational
trade. While attending this training, she met and became friends with Conan O'Brien, an unknown at the time. In 1989 she went
back to The Groundlings and was accepted as a member of the troop, thus fulfilling her dream of being a writer/performer.
In addition to Phoebe on "Friends", Lisa has played other roles on TV including Ursula, the ditzy waitress,
on "Mad About You"; a recurring role on "Bob"; and guest appearences on "Cheers", "Coach",
"Newhart", and "Flying Blind".
Lisa spends her free time performing with the improv group Transformers and with The Groundlings, where she also teaches.
She also played tennis in high school and college, and is known as a pool shark. She apparently grew up with a pool table
and has mastered many different trick shots.
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston, who plays Rachel on Friends, was born in CA (the Valley, so yes she's a Val!), and raised mostly in New
York. Herfather, John Aniston, is an actor on "Days of Our Lives", so young Jennifer was around acting from an early
age. Her godfather was Telly Savalas.
Jennifer has Greek ancestors, and actually spent some time in Greece as a child, before settling in New York because of
her father's acting career (specifically he landed a role on "Love of Life"). Her family name was originally Anastassakis
(yes, that name was used for the Greek wedding in episode [7.24]). She first started acting around age 11, as part of the
Rudolf Steiner School's drama club. Jennifer says that she was always interested in acting, but it Rudolf Steiner's free-spirited
atmosphere that encouraged her to make it her career.
Jennifer started her professional training at New York's High School for the Performing Arts as a drama student. She graduated
in 1987. She appeared in Off-Broadway productions of "For Dear Life" and "Dancing on Checker's Grave",
before her first TV role on "Molloy". Other TV shows graced with her presence include "The Edge", "Ferris
Bueller" (the TV version), a recurring role on "Herman's Head", and even some guest appearances on "Quantum
Leap" and "Burke's Law".
Jennifer is also an artist. At age 11 (busy year), one of her paintings was selected for display in the New York Metropolitan
Museum of Art. She still spends much time on art projects, including charcoal drawings, clay sculptures, and paintings.
Jennifer was born on February 11, 1969. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, camping, and getting closer to nature. She
currently lives in Los Angeles. In Summer 2000 she married Brad Pitt.
The following additional information was taken from the January 13, 1995 edition of the Blade-Citizen Preview, page 3
article titled, "Jennifer Aniston having fun with NBC's 'Friends,'" Written by Cheryl Lavin, Tribune Media. (Yes,
some of this is out of date, since the article was written in 1995. But since I'm quoting someone else's work, I cannot change
it.)
1995 Vital statistics on Jennifer Aniston (yes! these are out of date now!):
* Occupation: Actress
* Birthday: Feb. 11
* Birthplace: Sherman Oaks and raised in NYC
* Current home: LA
* Marital status: single
* Working on: "Friends," on NBC-TV
* The last good movie I saw was: Quiz show
* I stay home to watch: Seinfeld, MAY, and ER
* The book I've been reading is: The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
* Favorite pigout food: Give me a giant bowl of tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole and forget it.
* Prized possession: My dog Katchina. She's a mix, a golden shepherd.
* Personal heroes: Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett.
* Every New Year's I resolve: to be completely healthy, especially inwardly.
* Nobody know's I'm: Greek
* I wish I could stop: The violence in this country.
* I've never been able to: Get back to my art work. I draw, paint and sculpt.
* I'm better than anyone else when it comes to: Putting on makeup.
* I'd give anything to meet: Barbra Streisand. She's a strong chick.
* My fantasy is: I get on a plane, fly to San Francisco, see a show, have a great dinner and fly back.
* The one thing I can't stand is: People who are overly protective of me. I want them to trust my judgment.
* If I could change one thing about myself, I would: Finish the things I start.
* People who knew me in high school thought I was: Bitchy.
* I knew I was a grown-up when I: Forgave my parents.
* The price I've paid for my success: A lot of hurt and rejection.
* If I weren't an actress, I'd be: A therapist.
* Major accomplishment: Getting my career started.
* My most humbling experience: Every time I'm with my family; they ground me.
* Three words that best describe me: Curious, caring and fun.
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