About Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( KOO-droh; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress and writer. She is best known for her roles as Phoebe Buffay in the television sitcom Friends (1994–2004) and Valerie Cherish in the HBO mockumentary series The Comeback (2005–2026). Her accolades include two Actor Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In late 1980s, Kudrow began her career in improv comedy and performed with The Groundlings in Los Angeles. Her early television credits include portraying Ursula Buffay in the NBC sitcom Mad About You, a role she later reprised on Friends after it was written in her character Phoebe's storyline. After Friends, Kudrow's television career progressed with roles in the comedy series The Comeback, Web Therapy (2011–2015), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2016–2019), Feel Good (2020–2021), Space Force (2020–2022), HouseBroken (2021–2023), Time Bandits (2024), and No Good Deed (2024). She also produced the reality program Who Do You Think You Are? (2010–2022) and the game show 25 Words or Less (2018–present). In film, Kudrow earned praise for her performances in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), The Opposite of Sex (1998), and Kabluey (2007). She has also appeared in several success comedies, including Analyze This (1999), P.S. I Love You (2009), Easy A (2010), Neighbors (2014), The Boss Baby (2017), and Booksmart (2019). Kudrow, the oldest actor of the main cast, reprised the character of Ursula on the NBC sitcom Friends, in which she co-starred as massage therapist Phoebe Buffay, Ursula's twin sister. Praised for her performance, Kudrow was the first Friends cast member to win an Emmy Award with her 1998 honor as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her starring role as Phoebe on Friends (NBC, 1994–2004). 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. The series earned her Primetime Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, Satellite, American Comedy and TV Guide awards. Phoebe has since been named one of the greatest television characters of all time and is considered to be Kudrow's breakout role, spawning her successful film career.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.