Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress. She gained worldwide recognition in the 1990s for portraying the role of Rachel Green in the television sitcom Friends, which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career after appearing in several Hollywood productions. She gained critical acclaim for her performances in the independent films She's the One (1996), Office Space (1999) and The Good Girl (2002). Her most commercially successful big screen projects have been in the comedies Bruce Almighty (2003) and Marley & Me (2008), as well as the romantic comedies Along Came Polly (2004) and The Break-Up (2006).
Jennifer Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, and grew up in New York City. She is the daughter of actor John Aniston and actress Nancy Dow. Aniston's Greek American father was born Yannis Anastassakis on the island of Crete, Greece, while her mother is of Scottish and Italian descent and was born in New York City. Her father has appeared in the soap operas Days of our Lives, Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow. Aniston has two half-brothers, John Melick (older) and Alex Aniston (younger). Aniston's godfather was the actor Telly Savalas, her father's best friend. She lived in Greece for one year as a child with her family, and they later relocated to New York City. Aniston attended the New York Rudolf Steiner School and graduated from Manhattan's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. She worked in Off Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave. She supported herself with several part-time jobs, including working as a telemarketer, waitress, and bike messenger. In 1989, she moved to Los Angeles, California.
Aniston moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and was cast in her first television role in 1990, starring as a regular on the short-lived series Molloy and in the TV movie Camp Cucamonga. She also co-starred in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 hit movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The series, however, was quickly canceled. Aniston then appeared in two more failed television comedy shows, The Edge and Muddling Through, and guest-starred on Quantum Leap, Herman's Head, and Burke's Law. After the string of canceled shows, along with her appearance in the critically derided 1992 horror film, Leprechaun, Aniston considered giving up acting.
Aniston's plans changed, however, after auditioning for Friends, a sitcom that was set to debut on NBC's 1994–1995 fall line-up. The producers of the show originally wanted Aniston to audition for the role of Monica Geller, but Courteney Cox was considered to be better suited to the role. Thus, Aniston was cast as Rachel Green. She played the character of Rachel from 1994 until the show ended in 2004.
The program was successful and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained awide renown reputation among television viewers. Aniston received a salary of one million dollars per episode for the last two seasons of Friends, as well as five Emmy nominations (two for Supporting Actress, three for Lead Actress), including a win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. According to the Guinness World Book of Records (2005), Aniston (along with her female costars) became the highest paid TV actress of all time with her $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.
In 2007, Aniston guest starred in an episode of Courteney Cox Arquette's series Dirt, playing Arquette's rival, Tina Harrod. Aniston appeared in the third episode of Season 3 of NBC's 30 Rock playing Liz Lemon's old college roommate who stalks Jack Donaghy. On July 16, 2009, Aniston received an Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on 30 Rock.
While she appeared on Friends, Aniston also started segueing into film roles. She made her film debut in 1992's Leprechaun which was negatively reviewed by critics at the time, but was commercially successful and gained a cult following. She stayed away from cinema for nearly 4 years before starring in two 1996 independent films: She's the One alongside Edward Burns and Cameron Diaz, and Dream for an Insomniac. Her first starring vehicle was Picture Perfect (1997) opposite Kevin Bacon and Jay Mohr, and while the film received mixed reviews, most critics suggested she possessed film star quality. During the second half of the 1990s she starred in several films such as the ensemble romantic film Til There Was You (1997) with Dylan McDermott and Sarah Jessica Parker, The Thin Pink Line (1998), the animated feature The Iron Giant (1999), and the critically acclaimed comedy Office Space (1999). She gained critical acclaim for her performances in The Object of My Affection (1998), a comedy-drama about a woman who falls for a gay man (played by Paul Rudd), and in the low-budget 2002 film, The Good Girl, directed by Miguel Arteta, playing an unglamorous cashier in a small town. The latter film opened in relatively few theaters—under 700 in total—taking $14M in the U.S. box office.
Aniston's biggest box office success to date was her appearance in 2003's Bruce Almighty, in which she played the live-in girlfriend of Jim Carrey's title character. Aniston then starred in the 2004 film, Along Came Polly opposite Ben Stiller. In late 2005, Aniston appeared in two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has It.
In 2006, Aniston appeared in the low-budget drama, Friends with Money, which was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival, received a limited release. Aniston's next film, The Break-Up opposite Vince Vaughn, which was released on June 2, grossed approximately $39.17 million during its opening weekend, despite lukewarm reviews. In 2006, Aniston directed a hospital emergency room-set short film called Room 10, starring Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson. Aniston has noted that she was inspired to direct by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also directed a short film in 2006.
On December 25, 2008, Marley & Me, in which Aniston starred alongside Owen Wilson, was released. It set a record for the largest Christmas Day box office ever with $14.75 million in ticket sales. It earned a total of $51.7 million over the four-day weekend and placed #1 at the box office, a position it maintained for two weeks. The total worldwide gross was $242,717,113. Her next film in wide release, He's Just Not That into You, where she starred opposite Ben Affleck, opened in February 2009. The movie made $27.5 million, ranking #1 at the box office in its opening weekend. While the film received mixed reviews, Aniston, along with Affleck, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Jennifer Connelly, are often praised by critics as being the stand-outs in the film.
In March 2010, Aniston released The Bounty Hunter, which costarred Gerard Butler. While the film received scathing reviews from critics, it was a modest box office success. She also has The Switch with Jason Bateman set for release in August 2010.
As of June 20, 2010, Aniston's movies have grossed more than $1,016,722,043 in the United States and over $1,770,237,186 worldwide.
Aniston recently finished filming Just Go With It with Adam Sandler, which is set for release on Valentine's Day weekend in 2011. The story is about a plastic surgeon, played by Sandler, who asks his office manager, played by Aniston, to pose as his wife to prove his honesty to his much younger girlfriend, played by Brooklyn Decker, after having told her he's married to avoid committing to her. Nicole Kidman also appears as an old college rival of Aniston's character.
Aniston will also join a comedy movie with Colin Farrell, Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jamie Foxx, titled Horrible Bosses, directed by Seth Gordon. The film focuses on a trio of employees who plot to murder their titular tyrannical supervisors. Aniston will play one of the bosses, a sexually aggressive dentist who harasses Charlie Day's character. Aniston has signed up to star in Wanderlust with Paul Rudd, who she co-starred with in 1998 movie The Object of My Affection. The script, which has been bought by Universal Pictures, was written by Rudd, Ken Marino, and David Wain with the latter also directing the film and will be produced by Judd Apatow. The movie tells the story of a married couple who join a commune after losing their money and deciding modern life is not for them.
Aniston has appeared in various commercials and music videos. In 1996, she was in Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers music video for "Walls". In 2001, Aniston was in Melissa Etheridge's music video for "I Want To Be In Love". She was cast in a Heineken commercial which was later banned due to branding issues. Aniston has also been in commercials for L'Oreal hair products. In 1994, Microsoft invited Aniston, along with Friends co-star Matthew Perry, to shoot a 30-minute promotional advertisement for their new operating system, Windows 95.
Along with Brad Pitt and Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, Aniston founded the film production company Plan B Entertainment in 2002, although she and Grey withdrew in 2005. In 2008, she and partner Kristin Hahn formed the production company Echo Films.
Since 2007 she has been working with the company Smart Water as to their image of publicity. Aniston was working for over a year on a perfume and it’s going to be released in June 2010 in the UK first. The perfume is called Lolavie, and it means “laughing at life”.
Forbes listed Aniston as the 10th richest woman in the entertainment industry for the year 2007. She was behind such powerhouses as Oprah Winfrey, J. K. Rowling, Madonna, and Celine Dion, and is ahead of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the Olsen twins. Aniston was also included in the annual Star Salary Top 10 of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter for 2006. According to Forbes, in October 2007, Aniston was the top-selling celebrity face of the entertainment industry, beating out Britney Spears and Angelina Jolie. She was also Hollywoods most profitable actress. Aniston has been on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list, based on "earnings and fame", every year since 2001, topping the list in 2003. For the year of 2008, Forbes listed Aniston's earnings as $27 million. In 2005, Jennifer became the first-ever GQ Woman of the Year. She has appeared on Peoples annual list of The Most Beautiful every year since 1995, and came in at #1 in 2004. In 2006, Jennifer also topped Peoples Best Dressed List.
Aniston supports many charity foundations. She is a supporter of Friends of El Faro, a grassroots non-profit organization that helps raise money for Casa Hogar Sion, an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico. She has appeared in many TV commercials for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, which she supports. She made a guest appearance on "Oprah's Big Give" to support the cause. Aniston hosted September 2008's Stand Up to Cancer show. In the "It Can't Wait" campaign to free Burma, Aniston directed and starred in a video. On April 14, 2007, Aniston received GLAAD's Vanguard Award for her contributions to increased visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. On Earth day 2010, Aniston joined Courteney Cox, Woody Harrelson, Ben Stiller and other Hollywood stars in "The Cove PSA: My Friend is... " an effort to stop the slaughter of dolphins and protect the Japanese population from the toxic levels of mercury found in dolphin meat. Other charities that Aniston has supported include AmeriCares, Clothes of Our Back, Feeding America, EB Medical Research Foundation, Project A.L.S., OmniPeace, and Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
Aniston donated $500,000 to Doctors Without Borders, Haitian health care provider Partners in Health and AmeriCares, also participated Friday's megastar-studded Hope for Haiti Now telethon.
She dated her Ferris Bueller TV costar Charlie Schlatter in 1990, and briefly dated musician Adam Duritz in 1995. From 1995 to 1998, she was romantically involved with actor Tate Donovan and the couple were reportedly engaged.
In May 1998, she began dating actor Brad Pitt. They married on July 29, 2000, in a lavish Malibu wedding. For a few years, their marriage was considered the rare Hollywood success. However, the couple announced their separation on January 6, 2005. Pitt and Aniston were seen together publicly after announcing their separation, even at a dinner party for Aniston's 36th birthday, and friends of the couple had declared they were reconciling. Aniston, however, filed for divorce on March 25, 2005. It was finalized on October 2, 2005. Their divorce was seen, and is still noted to be, the most shocking celebrity divorce in history. Pitt was allegedly cheating on Aniston with his Mr. and Mrs. Smith co-star, Angelina Jolie.
In the following months, the public's reaction towards the divorce was reported in the press. The story became the headline news of media shows such as Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood, and made the front-pages of tabloid magazines for years, still continuing till this day. 'Team Aniston' and 'Team Jolie' T-shirts were made, with the 'Team Aniston' shirts out-selling the 'Team Jolie' shirts 4:1.
Aniston revealed that her divorce prompted her to reach out to her mother, Nancy, from whom she was estranged for nearly a decade. They initially became estranged when Nancy talked about her daughter on a television show and later wrote a book entitled, From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir (1999). Aniston has also stated she was devastated by the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped make her separation from Pitt easier. Aniston said her relationship with Pitt, which she does not regret, was "seven very intense years together" and that "it was a beautiful, complicated relationship."
Following her divorce, Aniston began a relationship with actor Vince Vaughn, with whom she costarred in The Break Up, but relationship troubles were reported in September 2006, followed by a confirmed split in December of that year. She dated model Paul Sculfor for a few months in 2007. In February 2008, she began dating singer John Mayer. The couple broke up in August, but they resumed the relationship in October before splitting again in March 2009.
Aniston has had two septoplasties to correct her deviated septum—one which was incorrectly done in 1994 and the second in January 2007. Septoplasty is a surgical operation that helps alleviate a common condition that can lead to breathing difficulty and trouble sleeping. She is the godmother of Coco Riley Arquette, the daughter of her good friends, actors Courteney Cox and David Arquette.
All information above is taken from Wikipedia. Perhaps when I read her biography I will write my own essay on her life; but for now, I think this sums up her fame years fairly well.
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