Early life

Lisa Kudrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Nedra S. (née Stern, born 1934), a travel agent, and Dr. Lee N. Kudrow (born 1933), a physician who specialized in the treatment of headaches. She has an older sister, Helene Marla (born 1955), and an older brother, Santa Monica neurologist David B. Kudrow (born 1957). Kudrow was raised in a middle-class Jewish family and had a Bat Mitzvah ceremony. Her ancestors emigrated from Belarus, Germany, Hungary and Poland. some of them lived in the village of Ilya, in the Minsk area. Her paternal great-grandmother, Mera Mordejovich, was murdered in Ilya during the Holocaust. Her paternal grandmother, Grunya Farberman, immigrated to Brooklyn, where her father grew up.

Kudrow attended Portola Middle School in Tarzana, California. In 1979, at the age of 16, she underwent rhinoplasty to reduce the size of her nose. She graduated from Taft High School in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Kudrow received her Bachelor of Science degree 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.

Career

1989-1994: Early career

At the urging of her brother's childhood friend, comedian Jon Lovitz, Kudrow began her comedic career as a member of The Groundlings. 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. She had a recurring role as Kathy Fleisher in three episodes of season one of the Bob Newhart sitcom Bob (CBS, 1992-1993), a role she played after taking part in the memorable series finale of Newhart's previous series Newhart. 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 cast to play the role of Roz Doyle in Frasier, but the role 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". 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.

1994-2004: Breakthrough

For her starring role as Phoebe on Friends (NBC, 1994-2004) Kudrow won the 1998 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. 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 seasons of Friends. During her tenure on Friends Kudrow appeared in multiple comedic films such as Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Hanging Up, Marci X, Dr. Dolittle 2, Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That, and dramatic films, such as Wonderland and The Opposite of Sex.

She also guest starred on numerous television series during Friends, including, The Simpsons, Hope and Gloria, King of the Hill, and hosting Saturday Night Live.

2004-present: Post-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. The series was cancelled by HBO before being renewed for a second season nearly a decade after being originally cancelled. Kudrow received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on The Comeback.

Kudrow served as the executive producer for the American version of the UK television series Who Do You Think You Are? for NBC, in which celebrities trace their family trees. The subjects of the first series included Kudrow herself, in which it was discovered her great-grandmother died in the Holocaust. On March 19, 2010, Kudrow’s search for her roots in eastern Europe was broadcast. Kudrow co-created an improvised comedy web series, Web Therapy on Lstudio.com. The improv series, which launched online in 2008, has earned several Webby nominations and one Outstanding Comedic Performance Webby for Kudrow, who plays therapist of unspecified credentials Fiona Wallice. She offers her patients three-minute sessions over iChat. In July 2011, a reformatted, half-hour version of the show premiered on Showtime, before being cancelled in 2015 after four seasons. Kudrow has guest starred on multiple television series such as Cougar Town, BoJack Horseman, Angie Tribeca, and Scandal.

Following Friends, Kudrow has also appeared in films such as Easy A, Hotel for Dogs, Happy Endings, and Neighbors. She reprised her role as Carol Gladstone in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, and will appear in the upcoming thriller film The Girl on the Train.

Personal life

On May 27, 1995, Kudrow married Michel Stern, a French advertising executive. They have one son, Julian Murray Stern, who was born on May 7, 1998. Kudrow's pregnancy was written into Friends (seasons 4 and 5), with her character Phoebe having triplets as a surrogate mother for her brother Frank and his wife Alice because they were not able to have children.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1983	Overdrawn at the Memory Bank		Extra
1989	L.A. on $5 a Day	Charmer
1991	To the Moon, Alice	Friend of Perky Girl	Short film
1991	The Unborn	Louisa
1992	Dance with Death	Millie
1992	In the Heat of Passion	Bank Teller
1994	In the Heat of Passion 2: Unfaithful	Bank Teller
1995	The Crazysitter	Adrian Wexler-Jones
1996	Mother	Linda
1997	Romy and Michele's High School Reunion	Michele Weinberger
1997	Clockwatchers	Paula
1997	Hacks	Reading Woman
1998	The Opposite of Sex	Lucia DeLury
1999	Analyze This	Laura MacNamara Sobel
2000	Hanging Up	Maddy Mozell
2000	Lucky Numbers	Crystal
2001	All Over the Guy	Marie
2001	Dr. Dolittle 2	Ava	Voice
2002	Bark!	Dr. Darla Portnoy
2002	Analyze That	Laura Sobel
2003	Marci X	Marci Field
2003	Wonderland	Sharon Holmes
2005	Happy Endings	Mamie
2007	Kabluey	Leslie
2007	P.S. I Love You	Denise
2009	Hotel for Dogs	Lois Scudder
2009	Powder Blue	Sally
2009	Paper Man	Claire Dunn
2009	Bandslam	Karen Burton
2010	Easy A	Mrs. Griffith
2011	The Other Woman	Dr. Carolyn Soule
2014	Neighbors	Carol Gladstone
2016	El Americano: The Movie	Lucille	Voice
2016	Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising	Carol Gladstone
2016	The Girl on the Train	Monica	In post-production
2017	Table 19		In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Married to the Mob		Pilot
1989	Cheers	Emily	Episode: "Two Girls for Every Boyd"
1989	Just Temporary	Nicole	Television film
1990	Newhart	Sada	Episode: "The Last Newhart"
1990	Life Goes On	Stella	Episode: "Becca and the Band"
1991	Murder in High Places	Miss Stich	Television film
1992	Room for Two	Woman in Black	Episode: "Not Quite... Room for Two"
1992-1999	Mad About You	Ursula Buffay	24 episodes
1993	Flying Blind	Amy	Episode: "My Dinner with Brad Schimmel"
1993	Bob	Kathy Fleisher	3 episodes
1993-1994	Coach	Lauren / Nurse Alice	2 episodes
1994-2004	Friends	Phoebe Buffay / Ursula Buffay	236 episodes
1996	Hope & Gloria	Phoebe Buffay	Episode: "A New York Story"
1996	Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man	Female Beta Maxians (voices)	Episode: "The One with Lisa Kudrow in a Small Role"
1996	Saturday Night Live	Host	Episode: "Lisa Kudrow/Sheryl Crow"
1997	Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist	Lisa (voice)	Episode: "Reunion"
1998	The Simpsons	Alex Whitney (voice)	Episode: "Lard of the Dance"
1998-1999	Hercules: The Animated Series	Aphrodite (voice)	4 episodes
2001	King of the Hill	Marjorie Pittman (voice)	Episode: "The Exterminator"
2001	Blue's Clues	Dr. Stork (voice)	Episode: "The Baby's Here!"
2005	Father of the Pride	Foo-Lin (voice)	2 episodes
2005, 2014	The Comeback	Valerie Cherish	21 episodes; also co-creator, writer and executive producer
2005	Hopeless Pictures	Sandy (voice)	2 episodes
2006	American Dad!	The Ghost of Christmas Past (voice)	Episode: "The Best Christmas Story Never"
2008-Present	Web Therapy	Fiona Wallice	67 episodes; also co-creator, writer and executive producer
2010	Cougar Town	Dr. Amy Evans	Episode: "Rhino Skin"
2010-present	Who Do You Think You Are?	Herself	Executive producer; Episode: "Lisa Kudrow"
2011-2015	Web Therapy	Fiona Wallice	43 episodes; also co-creator, writer and executive producer
2011	Allen Gregory	Sheila (voice)	Episode: "Mom Sizemore"
2013	Wendell and Vinnie	Natasha	Episode: "Swindel & Vinnie"
2013	Scandal	Congresswoman Josephine Marcus	4 episodes
2015	Bojack Horseman	Wanda Pierce (voice)	7 episodes
2016	Angie Tribeca	Monica Vivarquar	Episode: "Pilot"
2016	Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows	Herself
2016	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Lori-Ann Schmidt	Episode: "Kimmy Finds Her Mom!"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title of work	Result
1995	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Mad About You	Nominated
1996	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series	Friends	Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Friends	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Won
1997	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
1998	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Friends	Won
	New York Film Critics Circle	Best Supporting Actress	The Opposite of Sex	Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion	Nominated
1999	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series	Friends	Nominated
	American Comedy Award	Funniest Female Guest Appearance in a TV Series	Mad About You	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	The Opposite of Sex	Nominated
	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	The Opposite of Sex	Nominated
	Independent Spirit Award	Best Supporting Actress	The Opposite of Sex	Nominated
2000	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series	Friends	Nominated
	American Comedy Award	Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special	Friends	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series	Friends	Won
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Analyze This	Nominated
2001	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series	Friends	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	Satellite Award	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Friends	Won
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
2002	Satellite Award	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Friends	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
2003	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
2004	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
2006	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	The Comeback	Nominated
	Gracie Award	Outstanding Female Lead in a Comedy Series	The Comeback	Won
	Satellite Award	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	The Comeback	Nominated
2008	Satellite Award	Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Kabluey	Nominated
2009	Streamy Award	Best Female Actress in a Web Comedy Series	Web Therapy	Nominated
	Webby Award	Special Achievement: Outstanding Comedic Performance	Web Therapy	Won
2010	Streamy Award	Best Female Actor in a Comedy Web Series	Web Therapy	Nominated
	Webby Award	Best Individual Performance	Web Therapy	Nominated
2011	Webby Award	Best Individual Performance	Web Therapy	Won
2012	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Special Class - Short-format Live-action Entertainment Program	Web Therapy	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Reality Program	Who Do You Think You Are	Nominated
2014	Dorian Award	TV Performance of the Year - Actress	The Comeback	Won
2015	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actress in a Comedy Series	The Comeback	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	The Comeback	Nominated

Charities

Lisa Kudrow supports the following charitable causes: AIDS, Breast Cancer, Children, Multiple Sclerosis, Cancer.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]