Lisa Kudrow

Lisa Kudrow was born on July 30, 1963, in Encino, California, and grew up in a Jewish family in the Los Angeles area. She earned a biology degree from Vassar College, then initially worked with her father, physician Lee Kudrow, on medical research into headaches. Comedy ultimately became her profession after she joined Los Angeles improvisational circles and performed with The Groundlings. Her early television work included a recurring part as waitress Ursula Buffay on the sitcom Mad About You. Ursula's unusual speaking style and detached manner later became important to Kudrow's best-known role, because the character was introduced as Phoebe Buffay's twin sister on Friends. The crossover made both series part of a notable NBC sitcom connection. Friends premiered in 1994, and Kudrow played Phoebe through its 2004 finale. Phoebe was a masseuse and musician whose songs included "Smelly Cat," a deliberately simple tune that became one of the show's enduring comic signatures. Kudrow gave Phoebe an offbeat warmth while sustaining jokes about the character's chaotic upbringing, twin sister, vegetarianism, and unorthodox beliefs. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1998, becoming the first Friends cast member to receive an acting Emmy for the program. She also received multiple additional Emmy nominations for the role. Kudrow returned to Phoebe for the 2021 special Friends: The Reunion, which brought the six principal cast members back together. After Friends, Kudrow created, produced, and starred in HBO's The Comeback. The 2005 series cast her as Valerie Cherish, a former sitcom actor attempting a career revival while a reality program records her humiliations and professional compromises. The show was initially short-lived, but HBO revived it for a second season in 2014. Kudrow's performance earned Primetime Emmy nominations in the lead-actress comedy category. She co-created the genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? and served as an executive producer on its American version. Her work on the program brought her a Primetime Emmy Award in 2011 for outstanding reality-program hosting. Her film credits include Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, The Opposite of Sex, Analyze This, Wonder, and Book Club. Kudrow played Dr. Fiona Wallice in the web therapy comedy Web Therapy, adapting a character she developed with collaborators. Across comedy, film, and nonfiction television, her career is marked by distinctive character work and sustained creative roles behind the camera over several successful decades.