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Jennifer Coolidge (August 28, 1963) is an American comedic actress. A voluptuous blonde actress who has made a career of playing bimbos despite her more experimental comedy background, Massachusetts native Jennifer Coolidge took her Emerson College degree to New York City and joined the Gotham City Improv group before heading to Los Angeles to become a member of the famed Groundlings. Coolidge was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Paul Coolidge, a plastics manufacturer. She was raised in Boston and has a sister, Suzanne. Coolidge attended Norwell High School and Emerson College in Boston. She has dated actor Chris Kattan and currently dates writer Banks McClintock. In 1985, Jennifer Coolidge graduated from Boston's Emerson College with a bachelor's degree in theater and moved to New York City to study with the Gotham City Improv group. At the time, she also waited tables in a restaurant with an unknown -- at the time -- actress named Sandra Bullock. When L.A. called, Jennifer left Gotham to join the renowned The Groundlings comedy troupe, which introduced her to fellow members Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan. She briefly dated Kattan a few years later. Discovered in the early 1990s, she was cast in her first television series guest role on NBC's "Seinfeld", playing a masseuse who won't offer her professional services to boyfriend Jerry in a 1993 episode. The following year she was a featured regular on the short-lived sketch series "She TV" on ABC. Another short-lived sketch comedy series, "Saturday Night Special" (Fox, 1995-96), featured Coolidge as writer and cast member, though this would-be "Saturday Night Live" (NBC) competitor that first aired in mid-April didn't make it through May. Coolidge is known for her supporting roles in many comedy movies and guest spots on television. She is best known for playing "Stifler's mom", the consummate "MILF", in the American Pie films, though she is also known for supporting parts in other films, including Hilary Duff's stepmother in A Cinderella Story, Paulette, the manicurist in Legally Blonde and its sequel, and the voice of Aunt Fanny in the animated feature Robots. Having appeared on the Showtime-aired Roger Corman horror presentations "Not of This Earth" and "Bucket of Blood" in 1995, Coolidge made her big-screen debut in the inane courtroom comedy "Trial and Error", co-starring "Seinfeld" alum Michael Richards. With TV work looking spotty, Coolidge decided to work on films at the same time. She worked on two films for legendary producer Roger Corman -- Not of This Earth (1995) and A Bucket of Blood (1995) -- before working with Seinfeld star Michael Richards in his 1997 comedy, Trial and Error (1997). Jennifer continued to work steadily in films like A Night at the Roxbury (1998) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), and in TV series such as King of the Hill, but when she signed on for a 1999 low-budget comedy called American Pie, her career changed in a heartbeat. Equally believable as a pampered princess or a frumpy manicurist, Coolidge appeared in films more frequently with several character parts in 1998, including roles in the children's comedy "Slappy and the Stinkers", and a cameo as a sexy traffic cop in "A Night at the Roxbury". She also continued television work, most notably in a recurring part on the animated series "King of the Hill" (Fox) from 1997-1999, and in the more adult comedy "Rude Awakening" (Showtime) in 1998. Coolidge had her breakthrough role in the popular comedy "American Pie" (1999) playing a well-preserved, boozed-up mom who seduces her son's classmate with the admission that she likes her scotch and men the same way: aged eighteen years. Recreating the character with a larger part in the 2001 sequel, “American Pie 2”, wasn't the only time Coolidge played drunk and sultry. "Down to Earth", the 2001 remake of "Heaven Can Wait", co-starred the actress as the scheming wife of an elderly mogul, a gold-digging type she previously visited as a wealthy dog owner more enamored with the trainer than her husband in the improv-based comedy "Best in Show" (2000). As Betty, a mostly silent hairstylist in the warm "The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy" (2000), Coolidge heard the confessions and life lessons of a group of gay friends; as the unlucky but good-natured manicurist Paulette in "Legally Blonde", she was a confidante to Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon), a walking Malibu Barbie-cum-Harvard Law student. She has played comic parts in the mockumentaries Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration directed by Christopher Guest. She also appeared in the 2006 film Date Movie as a spoof of Barbra Streisand's Meet the Fockers character. Epic Movie, the first movie she had a staring role in, released in 2007 and was made by the same people behind Date Movie; in it, she played the "White Bitch" (the White Witch) of Gnarnia (Narnia), a lampoon of the Disney and Walden Media film The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Coolidge had a regular role in the NBC sitcom Joey as Joey's agent, appearing in 37 out of 46 episodes in the series. She originally starred in an episode of Friends in its final season as Amanda, a tactless and uninhibited wannabe whom Phoebe and Monica try to shake off. Prior to her Friends appearance she was a regular on She TV, a very short-lived sketch comedy that also featured Nick Bakay, Elon Gold, Simbi Khali, and Linda Kash. By 2004, Jennifer's film career was flying at full tilt with an award-winning role as the evil stepmother to Hilary Duff in A Cinderella Story. Even with this kind of success, Jennifer continued to pursue TV roles and guest appearances on the side. One of these guest spots was on Friends, where she played a perpetual annoyance to Rachel and Monica. Jennifer nearly landed Felicity Huffman’s role on Desperate Housewives, but the Friends producers came calling again and invited her to audition for a cameo as Matt LeBlanc's over-the-top agent on the spin-off series Joey. Jennifer's terrific audition made the role a permanent fixture on the series and she worked steadily on the show for its two-season run. She also has appeared on According to Jim, playing Jim's sister and in an episode of Sex and the City. Coolidge also appeared in the kiddie comedy Slappy and the Stinkers and as Adam Sandler's wife's friend, Janine, in the 2006 comedy film Click. With roles that showcased the actress' no-holds-barred approach to comedy and her vanity-free comfort with altering both her appearance and manner to be unappealing, Coolidge emerged as a valuable character player and gifted comedienne. Working steadily, she had a brief cameo in the fashion espionage spoof "Zoolander" (2001) and was featured in the police parody "Showtime" (2001) as well as co-starred in the Showtime-aired romantic comedy "Oooph!" (2001), which was set to debut in the 2001-2002 season. In 2003, Coolidge joined with former co-stars once again, as she briefly reprised her manicurist role in "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde", and made another cameo as Stifler's mom in "American Wedding," followed by a turn as Hilary Duff's wicked stepmother in "A Cinderella Story" (2004). In 2008, Jennifer lent her voice to the imaginative animated film Igor and costarred in the offbeat comedy Say Hello to Stan Talmadge. Coolidge made one of her first appearances in the Seinfeld episode "The Masseuse". She also had a recurring role on King of the Hill as Luanne's beauty school teacher, Miss Kremzer. In 2006, she guest starred on an episode of Top Chef. Most recently, Coolidge appeared on the American version of the improvisation show, Thank God You're Here, on NBC. She is 5'10 (1.78 m) In 2005, Coolidge was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. |
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