Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox | |
|---|---|
 Cox meets fans at the rehearsal for the 1995 Emmy Awards, September 9, 1995 | |
| Born | Courteney Bass Cox |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, Film Producer, Model |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65m) |
| Spouse | David Arquette (1999-present) |
Courteney Bass Cox Arquette (born June 15, 1964), also known as Courteney Cox, is an American actor, film producer and former model, known for her role as Monica Geller in the popular television sitcom Friends, as Gale Weathers in the Scream film series and as Lucy Spiller in the television drama Dirt.
Early life
Cox was born Courteney Bass Cox in Birmingham, Alabama to a wealthy Southern family. Her parents were Courteney (née Bass) and the late Richard Lewis Cox, a contractor.[1] Cox has two older sisters (Virginia McFerrin and Dottie Pickett), an older brother (Richard, Jr.) and nine half-brothers and half-sisters. Her parents divorced in 1974, and her father eventually settled in Panama City, Florida, where he opened a company called Cox Pools, while Cox grew up with her mother and her stepfather, New York businessman Hunter Copeland.
Cox was raised in a wealthy suburb of Birmingham, Mountain Brook, Alabama where she was known as CeCe. She attended Mountain Brook High School, where she was a cheerleader, tennis player and swimmer. Upon graduation, Cox went to study architecture and interior design at Mount Vernon College for Women. She dropped out after a year to pursue a modeling career, after being signed by the Ford modeling agency in New York City. While modeling, she also took acting classes and worked to lose her southern accent.
Career
Early career
Cox first came to prominence in the 1984 music video for Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" (in which she was the pulled-on-stage girl who danced onstage with Springsteen). Cox is also notable for being the first person to use the word "period" on U.S. television in its physiological sense, in a 1985 advertising campaign for Tampax brand tampons.[2] Her early film roles include Masters of the Universe (1987) and Cocoon: The Return (1988). Her early television work includes a starring role in the short-lived television series Misfits of Science (1985), and later a recurring role (1987 - 1989) on the television series Family Ties as the girlfriend of Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox). She had a supporting role as Jewel, the hard-as-nails assistant to Jim Belushi's character, in the 1990 fantasy film Mr. Destiny.
In 1994, shortly before the debut of Friends, Cox appeared with Jim Carrey in the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and on Seinfeld in The Wife episode, as Jerry's girlfriend Meryl.
Friends
Later in 1994, Cox was asked to audition for the part of Rachel Green on a new sitcom called Friends, but she was instead cast as the character Monica Geller. At first the most famous cast member of the new show, Cox joined fellow castmates Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt Le Blanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller) for what would become her most famous role, lasting for 10 seasons until 2004. According to the Guinness World Book of Records (2005), Cox (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.
Between seasons 5 and 6, Cox married David Arquette, becoming Courteney Cox Arquette. An in-joke reference to this is made in the opening credits of the episodes The One After Vegas, where the rest of the cast and executive producers have "Arquette" added to their names. The dedication "To Courteney and David, who did get married" appears during the fade out to the tag scene. [3]
Film career
During her time on Friends, Cox appeared in the highly successful and high-profile Hollywood films Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), and Scream 3 (2000) as the determined and driven reporter Gale Weathers. She met her husband, David Arquette who played her on-screen love interest Dwight "Dewey" Riley, while filming the first of this trilogy.
Although she starred in several other films during her time on Friends, none achieved the same level of success as the show. Such films include The Runner, 3000 Miles to Graceland and The Shrink Is In. In late 2003, Cox and Arquette produced one season of the reality television series Mix It Up. The lifestyle show, which aired on the We cable channel, struggled with low ratings and was not renewed for a second season.
After Friends
After her Friends role, Cox was producer Marc Cherry's first choice to be offered a starring role as Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives. However, Cox was unavailable due to her pregnancy and the role went to Teri Hatcher. A couple of years later, Cox signed a deal with ABC Television Studio (formerly Touchstone Television), to star in her own series.
Since Friends, Cox has primarily concentrated on her family but has starred in the independent film November (2005), which had a limited theatrical release, co-starred with Tim Allen in the critically derided Zoom and cameoed in the big budget remake of The Longest Yard, as the girlfriend of Adam Sandler's character. Cox later said her breasts were digitally enhanced to portray her role as the wife of a quarterback. She has recently supplied her voice for the animated film Barnyard. A Friends reunion film was rumored to be released within the next 18 months following the success of Sex and the City: The Movie [4] but this has been denied by Warner Brothers and others.
Since 2007, Cox has starred as Lucy Spiller, a cynical tabloid editor, in Dirt, a television drama for the FX Network. Cox and her husband, David Arquette, are the executive producers of the series.[5] According to Cox, the series was canceled after the second season in 2008.[6]
In July 2008, Entertainment Weekly announced that Cox had signed on to star in a three episode arc for the television series Scrubs.[7] In August 2008, it was announced that there will be a fourth film in the Scream series, and that they want the original actors to reprise their roles.[8]
On October 30, 2008, TV Guide reported that Cox will be starring in a pilot for a new single-camera comedy series on ABC called Cougar Town. Cox will be playing a newly single 40-year-old mother.[9]
Personal life
Cox's previous significant others include Ian Copeland and a long-term relationship with actor Michael Keaton from 1989 to 1995. Cox also dated singer Adam Duritz of Counting Crows and appeared in their music video for song "A Long December" in 1997. (Duritz has also dated Cox's Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston.)
Cox married David Arquette on June 12, 1999. On June 13, 2004, she gave birth to their first child, daughter Coco Riley Arquette. The child was originally to be named after her mother as Courteney Cox Arquette.[2] However, Arquette's family objected to this on the grounds that naming a child after a living relative goes against Ashkenazi Jewish tradition (David Arquette is Jewish). Coco is a nickname Cox's friends gave her mother when she was a child. Jennifer Aniston is the baby's godmother.[10]
In June 2007, Cox announced plans to expand her family. The actress said she hopes to have a child through in vitro fertilisation despite battling post-partum depression after Coco's birth.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
- 1999: Nominated, "Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series" — Friends
Blockbuster Entertainment Award
- 1998: Nominated, "Favorite Actress - Horror" — Scream 2
- 2001: Nominated, "Favorite Actress - Horror" — Scream 3
- 1995: Won, "Female Discovery of the Year"
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
- 1997: Nominated, "Favorite Television Actress" — Friends
- 2000: Nominated, "Favorite Television Friends" — Friends (shared w/Jennifer Aniston & Lisa Kudrow)
- 2002: Nominated, "Worst Screen Couple" — 3000 Miles to Graceland (shared w/Kurt Russell & Kevin Costner)
- 2002: Nominated, "Worst Supporting Actress" — 3000 Miles to Graceland
- 1998: Nominated, "Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture" — Scream 2
- 1999: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
- 2000: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
- 2001: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
- 2002: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
- 2003: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
- 2004: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
- 2000: Won, "Film - Choice Chemistry" — Scream 3
- 2002: Nominated, "Choice TV Actress, Comedy" — Friends
- 2003: Nominated, "Choice TV Actress, Comedy" — Friends
- 2005: Nominated, "Choice Movie Hissy Fit" — The Longest Yard
TV Guide Awards
- 2000: Won, "Editor's Choice" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
- 2006: Nominated, "Most Wonderful Wedding" — Friends (shared w/Matthew Perry)
- 2007: Nominated, "Break Up That Was So Bad It Was Good" — Family Ties (shared w/Michael J. Fox)
References
- ^ Courteney Cox Biography (1964-)
- ^ a b "IMDB.com". Courteney Cox - Biography.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Amazon.co.uk: Friends - Series 6 - Episodes 1-4: Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matt Le Blanc, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Gary Halvorson: Video
- ^ Friends: The Movie on the cards? - Telegraph
- ^ "IMDB.com". "Dirt" (2007) - Full cast and crew.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Courteney Cox's Show 'Dirt' Canceled""FoxNews.com" June 10, 2008 Retrieved June 10, 2008
- ^ "Exlcusive: Courteney Cox Checks into Scrubs""EW.com" July, 9 2008 Retrieved July 9, 2008
- ^ Scream 4 Retrieved on 31-8-08
- ^ Courteney Cox Bringing Sexy Back to Cougar Town" TV Guide. October 30, 2008. Retrieved on October 31, 2008.
- ^ "Moono.com". Jennifer Aniston is Coco Arquette's godmother.
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External links
- Courteney Cox at IMDb
- Courteney Cox at People.com
- collection of interviews (1995-1999)
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