Courteney Cox

Courteney Bass Cox (born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker.

Cox has two older sisters, Virginia and Dorothy, and an older brother, Richard Jr. Her parents divorced in 1974 and her mother then married businessman Hunter Copeland (uncle to music promoter and business manager Ian Copeland and The Police drummer Stewart Copeland).

After graduating from Mountain Brook High School, Cox left for Mount Vernon College in Washington, D.C. (now part of George Washington University), but did not complete her architecture course, opting instead to pursue a career in modeling and acting.

Cox has English and Norman ancestry; researching her family tree for the series Who Do You Think You Are?, Cox discovered she was a direct descendant of William the Conqueror and Edward I of England.

Cox worked at video game publisher Bethesda Softworks briefly in the 1980s.

She was chosen from a casting call by director Brian De Palma to appear in the 1984 music video for Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark", as the young woman pulled onstage at the St. Paul Civic Center to dance with Springsteen.

Her early television work includes a starring role as Gloria Dinallo in the short-lived NBC science-fiction fantasy series Misfits of Science (1985), and guest-starring roles in the ABC comedy-drama series The Love Boat (1986) and the CBS crime drama series Murder, She Wrote (1986).

Cox starred as Lauren Miller in the NBC sitcom Family Ties (1987–1989), Lucy Spiller in the FX drama series Dirt (2007–2008), and Jules Cobb in the ABC/TBS sitcom Cougar Town (2009–2015), the lattermost of which earned her nominations at the Golden Globe Awards and the Critics' Choice Awards.

She also starred as Patricia "Pat" Phelps in the Starz horror comedy series Shining Vale (2022–2023).

Cox's other film credits include the action fantasy Masters of the Universe (1987), the comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), the animated comedy Barnyard (2006), the fantasy comedy Bedtime Stories (2008), and the independent drama Mothers and Daughters (2016).

She owns the production company Coquette Productions, which was created by Cox and her then-husband David Arquette.

She later had a recurring role as Lauren Miller, the girlfriend of Michael J. Fox's character Alex P. Keaton in the NBC comedy series Family Ties (1987–1989).

Cox's early film roles include Masters of the Universe (1987), Cocoon: The Return (1988), and I'll Be Home for Christmas (1988).

She also played Jewel Jagger, the tough-as-nails assistant of Larry Burrows (James Belushi), in Mr. Destiny (1990).

In 1993, she co-starred in the short-lived CBS sitcom The Trouble with Larry, alongside Bronson Pinchot and Perry King.

The following year, shortly before the debut of the sitcom Friends, Cox starred alongside Jim Carrey in the comedy film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and as Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend, Meryl, in the Seinfeld episode "The Wife".

She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller in the NBC sitcom Friends (1994–2004).

In 1994, Cox was asked to audition for the starring role of Rachel Green on a new sitcom, Friends; she was cast as Monica Geller instead.

In 1995, she was cast in Toad the Wet Sprocket's music video "Good Intentions".

The song was also featured on the Friends soundtrack.

Cox also hosted an episode of the variety sketch series Saturday Night Live in July 1995, and appeared in the crime thriller film The Runner (1999).

Cox's major films during this period include the crime drama 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) and the comedy The Shrink Is In (2001).

Cox received further recognition for starring as Gale Weathers in the horror film franchise Scream (1996–present).

Cox received further recognition and critical acclaim for her starring role as reporter Gale Weathers in the high-profile slasher horror film Scream (1996), and its sequels Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 3 (2000).

The series is one of the highest grossing and critically acclaimed horror franchises of all time.

Cox's character was well known for her "snappy remarks and being brilliantly bossy".

She met her future husband, David Arquette, who played her on-screen love interest, Dwight "Dewey" Riley, while filming the first Scream film.

In late 2003, Cox and Arquette produced one season of the reality television series Mix It Up. The lifestyle series, which aired on the WE cable channel, struggled with low ratings and was not renewed for a second season.

After the conclusion of Friends, Cox was producer Marc Cherry's first choice to be offered a starring role as Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives, but Cox was unavailable due to her pregnancy and the role later went to Teri Hatcher.

A few years later, Cox signed a deal with ABC Studios (formerly Touchstone Television) to star in her own series.

At first the most famous cast member of the new show, Cox joined Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller) for what became her most famous role, lasting for ten seasons until 2004.

The series is commonly referred to as one of the greatest of all sitcoms.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records (2005), Cox (along with her female co-stars) became the highest-paid TV actress of all time, with her US$1 million-per-episode fee for the final two seasons of Friends.

Syndication of the series earned Cox and her co-stars an estimated $20 million in annual residuals.

Between seasons five and six, she married David Arquette and consequently changed her name to Courteney Cox Arquette.

A joke reference to this is made in the opening credits of the episode "The One After Vegas", where the rest of the cast has "Arquette" added to their names.

The dedication "For Courteney and David, who did get married" – a reference to Monica and Chandler's decision not to marry in the episode – appears during the fade out to the tag scene.

She also worked as a director on her sitcom Cougar Town, the television drama film TalhotBlond (2012), and the black comedy drama film Just Before I Go (2014).

Cox was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama.

She is a daughter of businessman Richard Lewis Cox and Courteney Copeland (née Bass).