Courteney Cox

Courteney Bass Cox is an American actress, producer, and director. Born on June 15, 1964, she gained international prominence for her performance as Monica Geller in the NBC sitcom Friends (1994–2004) and as reporter Gale Weathers in the slasher horror film franchise Scream (1996–present). Over the course of her career, she has received an Actor Award, nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Cox was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, as the daughter of Richard Lewis Cox and Courteney Copeland. She grew up with two older sisters and an older brother. Following her graduation from Mountain Brook High School, she attended Mount Vernon College in Washington, D.C., to study architecture before leaving her studies early to pursue modeling and acting.

Her early career included a prominent appearance in Bruce Springsteen's 1984 music video for Dancing in the Dark, as well as a role in a 1985 Tampax commercial. Cox made early television appearances on Misfits of Science, The Love Boat, and Murder, She Wrote, before securing a recurring role as Lauren Miller on the NBC series Family Ties from 1987 to 1989. Her early film credits include Masters of the Universe (1987), Cocoon: The Return (1988), Mr. Destiny (1990), and the 1994 comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

In 1994, Cox was cast as Monica Geller on Friends alongside Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer. The sitcom lasted for ten seasons, becoming one of the highest-grossing television properties in history and earning Cox and her female co-stars record-setting salaries for its final two seasons. During this period, Cox gained critical recognition for starring as Gale Weathers in Scream (1996) and its immediate sequels, Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 3 (2000).

Following the conclusion of Friends, Cox co-founded the production company Coquette Productions alongside her then-husband, David Arquette. She starred in and executive produced the FX drama series Dirt (2007–2008), followed by a lead role in the ABC/TBS sitcom Cougar Town (2009–2015), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Cox expanded into directing with the television drama film TalhotBlond (2012) and the feature film Just Before I Go (2014). She also executive produced the game show Celebrity Name Game from 2014 to 2017, earning a Daytime Emmy nomination.

In the 2020s, Cox reprised her iconic role as Gale Weathers in fifth and sixth Scream films released in 2022 and 2023. She also starred as Patricia Phelps in the Starz horror comedy series Shining Vale (2022–2023), participated in Friends: The Reunion (2021), created the documentary series 9 Months with Courteney Cox, and launched a line of home products called Homecourt.