Childhood & Early Life
Courtney Bass Cox was born on 15th June 1964 in Birmingham, Alabama in the US. Her father Richard Lewis Cox was a businessman. Her mother’s name is Courteney Copeland. She has two sisters named Virginia and Dorothy and an older brother Richard Jr.
She studied at Mountain Brook High School and later at Mount Vernon College in Washington, DC, where she majored in architecture. However, she eventually left college to pursue a fulltime career in modeling and acting.
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Career
Courteney Cox began her career with a role in the TV series ‘As the World Turns’ in 1984. She next played a recurring role in the TV series ‘Misfits of Science’. She also appeared in TV movies, such as ‘Sylvan in Paradise’, ‘I’ll Home for Christmas’, and ‘Curiosity Kills’.
She made her big screen film debut in the 1987 thriller film ‘Down Twisted’. She also played a recurring role in the TV series ‘Family Ties’. In the ensuing years, she was seen in films, such as ‘Masters of the Universe’ (1987), ‘Cocoon: The Return’ (1988), ‘Mr. Destiny’ (1990) and ‘Ace Ventura: The Pet Detective’ (1994).
From 1994, she started portraying Monica Geller, one of the main characters, in the TV series ‘Friends’. The series turned out to be a huge success and was loved by the audience and critics.
She received several awards and nominations for her role in ‘Friends.’ According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Cox and her female co-stars became the highest paid TV actresses of all time, as they were paid $1 million per episode for the last two seasons.
She came to popularity as a movie actress with her appearance in the 1996 slasher film ‘Scream’ in an important role. The film was appreciated by critics and was also commercially successful.
In 1997, she appeared in ‘Scream 2,’ the sequel to the horror slasher ‘Scream’. Like its prequel, the film was met with positive reviews and also became a huge success commercially.
After playing a main role in the crime thriller film ‘The Runner’, she reprised her role in the 2000 slasher film ‘Scream 3’, the second sequel to ‘Scream’. Though it was a commercial success, it was met with mixed to negative reviews.
In 2001, she appeared in the action adventure crime film ‘300 Miles to Graceland’, which was directed by Demian Lichtenstein. The film was a critical and commercial failure. The same year, she appeared in two other movies: ‘The Shrink Is In’ and ‘Get Well Soon’. In 2004, she was seen in the psychological thriller film ‘November’.
She served as an executive producer for four episodes of the TV series ‘Mix It Up’ in 2004. She was also the executive producer for four TV movies which included ‘Dirt Squirrel’, ‘Talk Show Diaries’ and ‘The Midnightly News’. She was the executive producer for eight episodes of the TV series ‘Daisy Does America’ as well.
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Cox played the lead role in the American sitcom ‘Cougar Town’ from 2009 to 2015. The show earned mostly mixed reviews and was criticized for being too vulgar. Cox won the Golden Derby Award and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical or Comedy’ and Women's Image Network Award for Actress Comedy Series.
Over the ensuing years, she acted in movies like ‘Bedtime Stories’ (2008), ‘The Butler’s in Love’ (2008), ‘Scream 4’ (2011) and ‘Mothers and Daughters’ (2016). She directed and produced the 2014 black comedy drama film ‘Just before I Go’. It received negative reviews.
She served as the executive producer for the game show ‘Celebrity Name Game’. In 2017, she was a guest judge for the talent show ‘The Gong Show’.
Major Works
The American sitcom ‘Friends’ is undoubtedly Courteney Cox’s most important and successful work so far in her career. The series aired from 1994 to 2004. It was met with critical acclaim. The series revolved around six friends, their career issues, love lives, and comedic adventures. The final episode was watched by more than 50 million American viewers, making it the fifth highest watched series finale in the history of television.
The show has appeared in several lists, such as TV Guide’s list of ‘50 Greatest Shows of All Time’ and Empire Magazine’s list of ‘50 Greatest Shows of All Time’. Courteney Cox’s portrayal of Monica Geller in the series got her nominated for several awards, out of which she won a People’s Choice Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and also a TV Guide Award.
Personal Life
In the past, Courteney Cox has dated Ian Copeland, Michael Keaton, and Adam Duritz.
She married David Arquette on 12th June 1999. The couple had a daughter named Coco Riley Arquette. It was reported in 2010 that they had separated. Their divorce was eventually finalized in 2013.
In 2014, Cox got engaged to Johnny McDaid.
