Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham (born March 16, 1967) is an American actress and author.

As a girl, Graham rode horses competitively, but soon switched to acting, honing her talent at Langley High School, where she took part in the drill team and graduated in 1984.

She earned her actor's Equity Card in 1988 after two years in summer stock at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan.

went to New York University, then transferred to Barnard College.

She graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature.

After moving to Texas in 1992, Graham earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting Performance from Southern Methodist University.

After completing her education, Graham moved back to New York City where she earned her living as a waitress and as a tutor teaching SAT test prep for The Princeton Review.

While she aspired to become an actress, she made publicity appearances wearing the costume of Striker, the dog mascot of the US-based 1994 FIFA World Cup.

In 1995, she relocated to Hollywood.

She appeared in various commercials for products such as Cascade dishwasher detergent, Dimetapp, AT&T and Lean Cuisine and hosted free preview weekends on The Movie Channel.

Between 1996 and 1997, Graham became a regular guest star on several NBC shows.

She played a graduate student who caught the eye of Dick on 3rd Rock from the Sun; Richard's overly optimistic girlfriend on Caroline in the City; and Jerry's speed-dial ranking girlfriend on Seinfeld. She played a Hollywood producer who had a love interest in Detective Rey Curtis in a three-part episode of Law & Order, where she acted opposite Scott Cohen, who later played one of Graham's love interests (Max Medina) on Gilmore Girls. She also portrayed an antagonizing but friendship-starved efficiency expert on NewsRadio.

In addition to her many guest starring and co-starring roles on prime-time television, Graham starred in four failed sitcoms, Townies (with Molly Ringwald and Jenna Elfman); Good Company; Conrad Bloom; and M.Y.O.B, which was burned off by NBC in the summer before the premiere of Gilmore Girls.

She is best known for her roles as Lorelai Gilmore on The WB/CW television series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007), for which she received nominations for Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe and Satellite Awards, and as Sarah Braverman on the NBC television drama Parenthood (2010–2015).

In 2000, Graham landed her breakthrough role on Gilmore Girls as Lorelai Gilmore—a witty "thirty-something" raising her teenage daughter in small-town Connecticut.

Graham said she felt "really connected to the material" and the script for the series resonated with her due to its complexities: "To me, this was one of the first times that I looked at something and I was like, 'It's serious and it's funny! It's deep and it's light,' especially then, I had never seen before."

Graham's film work includes roles in Sweet November (2001), Bad Santa (2003), The Pacifier (2005), Because I Said So (2007), and Evan Almighty (2007).

For her work she received a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series (Drama) at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards and nominations at the 2001 and 2002 SAG Awards.

Beginning with Season 7 episode "To Whom It May Concern" and continuing throughout the rest of the season, Graham served as a producer on Gilmore Girls. TV Guide reported that she received the position in an attempt to persuade her to sign for an eighth season.

By the series' end, Graham wanted to move on.

"I didn't feel we had anything without our creators," she said.

Graham returned to her guest-starring roots when she portrayed herself in two episodes of NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

She also appeared in the second season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, co-hosted by Dave Foley of Newsradio.

After winning her preliminary match, she came in second to another former Newsradio star, Maura Tierney, in the championship game.

Graham's film roles encompass several NYU student films and multiple major studio releases, including Sweet November, Bad Santa, The Pacifier, Because I Said So, and Evan Almighty.

Graham has said that she enjoys playing in short films, and acting in the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

She has performed in numerous short films, including the 15-minute-long Gnome.

Her mother left to pursue a music career and lived in London until her death in 2005, at the age of 61.

Graham was raised by her father and they had a close relationship.

She said, "I thought I kind of had it best. My dad has a very mellow way about him and I was a self-starter as a kid. I liked a certain amount of being on my own. It just worked great for me."

Graham also spent a few of her childhood years in Southampton, New York.

Graham has a half-sister and a half-brother from her father's second marriage.

Her British half-sister from her mother's second marriage, Shade Grant, works at a talent agency.

She published her debut novel with Ballantine Books in 2013, Someday, Someday, Maybe.

In 2016, Graham reprised her role as Lorelai Gilmore on Netflix's reunion miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and published a memoir, Talking as Fast as I Can.

Graham was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Her mother, Donna Grant, was a fashion buyer, and her father, Lawrence Graham, a candy industry lobbyist who was president of the National Confectioners Association.

Graham was raised in her father's Catholic faith (her maternal grandfather was a Baptist minister); she is of Irish descent.

When Graham's father worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Vietnam, Graham lived for a few years in Japan (her mother also grew up there, as the daughter of a missionary).

Graham was five years old when her parents divorced, and she moved to the Virginia suburbs of the Washington, DC metropolitan area with her father, who became a congressional staffer.