Lisa Kudrow

Lisa Valerie Kudrow is an American actress and writer who gained worldwide recognition for her role as Phoebe Buffay on the television sitcom Friends. She is also widely known for portraying Valerie Cherish in the mockumentary series The Comeback. Throughout her career, her performances have earned her a Primetime Emmy Award along with two Actor Awards.

Born on July 30, 1963, in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, Kudrow grew up in a middle-class Jewish family. Her mother worked as a travel agent and her father was a doctor specializing in headache treatment. Her ancestral background traces to present-day Belarus, where multiple relatives, including her paternal great-grandmother, died in the Holocaust. Kudrow completed her secondary education at Taft High School before obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Vassar College. Intending to follow her father's medical field, she spent eight years working for his practice and received a research credit on a study analyzing cluster headaches.

At the suggestion of comedian Jon Lovitz, Kudrow turned to improv comedy, training with the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings under instructor Cynthia Szigeti. She briefly performed with additional comedic groups, auditioned for Saturday Night Live, and appeared on network pilots as well as series like Cheers and Bob. Her early television breakthrough came with a recurring role playing waitress Ursula Buffay on the NBC series Mad About You.

In 1994, Kudrow was cast as masseuse Phoebe Buffay—the twin sister of her Mad About You character—on Friends. Her performance earned critical acclaim, making her the first cast member on the series to win an Emmy Award. By the show's final seasons, she and her female co-stars became the highest-paid television actresses of all time. During her ten-year tenure on the program, she also starred in films such as Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Analyze This, The Opposite of Sex, and Wonderland.

After Friends ended in 2004, Kudrow co-created, wrote, and starred in HBO's comedy series The Comeback. She also co-created the online comedy Web Therapy, which later aired on Showtime. Through her production company, Is or Isn't Entertainment, she has served as an executive producer for the genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? and the game show 25 Words or Less. Her later television roles include appearances on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Feel Good, Space Force, Time Bandits, and No Good Deed.

Kudrow's subsequent film credits include roles in P.S. I Love You, Easy A, Neighbors, The Girl on the Train, Booksmart, and The Boss Baby. In 2021, she reunited with her former castmates for the special Friends: The Reunion. She married advertising executive Michel Stern in 1995, with whom she has one son and lives in Beverly Hills, California.