Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress. She became famous in the 1990s for her role as Rachel Green in the popular US sitcom Friends, a role for which she won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

She has starred in several Hollywood films. While most of her film roles have been in comedies such as Bruce Almighty, Office Space, Rumor Has It, and the romantic comedies Along Came Polly and The Break-Up, she has also appeared in films from other genres, such as the comedy-horror Leprechaun and the crime thriller Derailed. The most recent films that she has starred in are Marley & Me and He's Just Not That into You.

Early life

Jennifer Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, California, and grew up in New York City. She is the daughter of the actor John Aniston and actress Nancy Dow. Aniston's father is a Greek American, born Yannis Anastassakis, on the island of Crete, Greece, while her mother is of Italian-Scottish descent and was born in New York City. Aniston has two half-brothers, John Melick (older) and Alex Aniston (younger). Aniston's godfather was the actor Telly Savalas, her father's best friend. She lived in Greece for one year as a child with her family, and they later relocated to New York City. Her father has appeared in the soap operas Days of our Lives, Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow. Aniston attended the New York Rudolf Steiner School and graduated from Manhattan's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. She worked in Off Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave. She supported herself with several part-time jobs, including working as a telemarketer and bike messenger. In 1989, she moved to Los Angeles, California.

Career

200px|thumb|left|Aniston, with Steve Zahn, at the premiere of Management, in which she starred. Aniston moved to Hollywood and was cast in her first television role in 1990, starring as a regular on the short-lived series Molloy and in the TV movie Camp Cucamonga. She also co-starred in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 hit movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The series, however, was quickly canceled. Aniston then appeared in two more failed television comedy shows, The Edge and Muddling Through, and guest-starred on Quantum Leap, Herman's Head, and Burke's Law. After the string of canceled shows, along with her appearance in the critically derided 1992 horror film, Leprechaun, Aniston considered giving up acting. Aniston's plans changed, however, after auditioning for Friends, a sitcom that was set to debut on NBC's 1994–1995 fall line-up. The producers of the show originally wanted Aniston to audition for the role of Monica Geller, but Courtney Cox was discovered to be best suited for the part of Monica. Thus, Aniston was cast as Rachel Green. She played the character of Rachel from 1994 until the show ended in 2004.