Hardly the dumb blonde of _Romy and Michele's High School Reunion . 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.
Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.
Attended and graduated from William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California on June 18, 1981.
First played Ursula on "Mad About You" , then played her twin sister, Phoebe, on "Friends" , and has played both characters at once in a few episodes of "Friends".
Was originally cast as Roz Doyle on "Frasier" , but the producers and writers decided they were changing the character too much to fit Kudrows personality. Both parties decided it would be better to recast the role, and Peri Gilpin was chosen instead.
Received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychobiology from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
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 Impulse , but her scenes were deleted before the films release.
Her character Phoebe Buffay on "Friends" became pregnant with her brothers triplets (by artificial insemination) to cover up Kudrows own pregnancy.
Cousin of Thea Mann.
On the day she gave birth to her son Julian, NBC aired the season finale of "Friends" - "The One With Ross Wedding, Parts 1 and 2". She sent these episodes as her Emmy tape submissions and subsequently won the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy.
Filmed all her scenes for Wonderland in three days.
Shes the tallest female cast member and eldest of the six lead actors on "Friends" .
She and Jennifer Aniston both auditioned for regular cast member spots on "Saturday Night Live" prior to their success on "Friends" .
Until 2004, she was the only cast member of "Friends" 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 and "Friends" .
The storyline of Phoebe Buffay having her brothers babies on "Friends" was thought up when Kudrow announced her real-life pregnancy. However, as she was not big enough to be having triplets, and the sitcom was shot in "TV time", the costumers had to pad her to make her look bigger for the sitcom.
She was terrified of the duck which joined the cast of "Friends" in season three.
She has a B.S. in Psychobiology from Vassar College, while Mira Sorvino has a degree in Asian Studies from Harvard University. During production of Romy and Micheles High School Reunion , 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" so that her son would find her work more interesting.
Accepted her role in Hotel for Dogs , as a favor for her son, who at the time was too young to see any of the films or television series she had previously starred in.
Out of the six "Friends" stars, Kudrow was the first to receive an Emmy Award for her performance. She has also been nominated for the Emmy Award more times than any other "Friends" cast member.
She was considered for the role of Joan Baxter in Evan Almighty , which went to Lauren Graham.
Is a vegetarian.
Currently resides in Beverly Hills, California.
Was 7 months pregnant with her son, Julian, when she completed filming of the fourth season of "Friends" .
Returned to work 2 months after giving birth to her son, Julian, in order to begin filming the fifth season of "Friends" .
Lisas paternal grandparents, David Kudrow and Gertrude Farberman, were Jewish emigrants (David from Mogilev, Belarus, and Gertrude from Ilya, Vilna Province, Belarus). Lisas maternal grandfather, Henry Stern, was from a Hungarian Jewish family, and Lisas 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 "Who Do You Think You Are?" , 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.
Meryl Streep politely asked Kudrow if she could make a guest appearance on Kudrows show "Web Therapy" . Kudrow was admittedly star-struck and surprised by the approach.
Gave birth to her only child at age 34, a son Julian Murray Stern on May 7, 1998. Childs father is her husband, Michel Stern.
Although her "Friends" character Phoebe Buffay 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 first 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" , "The Comeback" and as the role as a rock star in Hotel for Dogs .
As of 2016, shes 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 on "The Comeback" , 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" .
Matt LeBlanc was the one who informed her about her Emmy nomination for the second season of "The Comeback" . LeBlanc was also nominated the same year.
Was a guest at the wedding of Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux.
She has an Erds-Bacon-Sabbath number of only 15.
She speaks French fluently, as does her "Friends" co-star, Matt LeBlanc.
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.
[on "Friends" (1994) ] It was the best experience, an unusually,good one in television. 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,"The Amazing Race" (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.
[on becoming famous] 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.
I wanted to be the kind of woman who would attract a certain kind of man that I could respect. That was my thinking. It had to do with the kind of couple I would be a part of. .
