Detailed Biography

Courteney Bass Cox , also known as Courteney Cox Arquette, is an American actress, best known for her role as Monica Geller on the sitcom, Friends. Courteney has also starred in Dirt and the Scream series, and has guest-starred in Scrubs. She is currently starring in Cougar Town.

Early life

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Cox is the daughter of businessman Richard Lewis Cox and his wife Courteney . She has two older sisters, Virginia and Dottie and an older brother, Richard Jr. Her parents divorced in 1974 and her mother was remarried to businessman Hunter Copeland . After graduating from Mountain Brook High School in Mountain Brook, Alabama, Cox left for Mount Vernon College in Washington DC but did not complete her architecture course, opting instead to pursue a career in modelling and acting.

Career

Early career

Cox studied architecture at Mount Vernon College for Women in Washington, DC, which is now part of George Washington University, before she dropped out. She first came to prominence in the 1984 music video for Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" . 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. Her early film roles include Masters of the Universe and Cocoon: The Return . Her early television work includes a starring role in the short-lived television series Misfits of Science , and later a recurring role on the TV series Family Ties as Lauren Miller, the girlfriend of Alex P. Keaton . She had a supporting role as Jewel, the hard-as-nails assistant to James Belushi's character, in the 1990 fantasy film Mr. Destiny. In 1994, shortly before the debut of sitcom, Friends, Cox appeared with Jim Carrey in the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and on Seinfeld in The Wife episode as Jerry's girlfriend named 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 , Lisa Kudrow , Matt LeBlanc , Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer for what would become her most famous role, lasting for 10 seasons until 2004. According to the Guinness World Book of Records , Cox became the highest paid TV actress of all time with her $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.

Between seasons five and six, Cox married David Arquette and changed her name to Courteney Cox Arquette. An in-joke reference to this is made in the opening credits of the episode 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.

Later career

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 Studios , to star in her own series. Since Friends, Cox has primarily concentrated on her family but has starred in the independent film November , 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. She supplied her voice for the animated film Barnyard. A Friends reunion film was rumored to be in production; following the success of Sex and the City: The Movie but this has been denied by Warner Bros. and others.

In 2007, Cox starred as Lucy Spiller, a cynical tabloid editor, in Dirt, a television drama for the FX network. Cox and her husband, David Arquette, were the executive producers of the series. According to Cox, the series was canceled after the second season in 2008. In July 2008, Entertainment Weekly announced that Cox had signed on to star in a three-episode arc for the television series Scrubs. In her first episode, she makes a reference to the name of the character Dr. Cox, which in real life is her own. 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. 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 from Bill Lawrence. Cox plays a newly single 40-year-old mother on the hunt for new experiences. Her co-stars include actresses Busy Philipps and Christa Miller. Cox filmed the pilot on March 19, 2009. In June 2009, Scream director Wes Craven confirmed that Cox and her husband would both be returning for Scream 4.

Film career

During her time on Friends, Cox appeared in the high-profile Hollywood films Scream , Scream 2 and Scream 3 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 Scream film. Both Cox and her husband Arquette will reprise their respective roles from the Scream trilogy in 2010's Scream 4.

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. Has also appeared as the children's mother in "Bedtime Stories"

Personal life

Cox Arquette's previous significant others include her step-cousin, the rock promoter Ian Copeland and a long-term relationship with actor Michael Keaton from 1989 to 1995. Cox Arquette also dated singer Adam Duritz of Counting Crows and appeared in their music video for song "A Long December" in 1997.

Cox married David Arquette on June 12, 1999. On June 13, 2004, she gave birth to their first child, daughter Coco Riley Arquette. Jennifer Aniston is the baby's godmother.