Lisa Marie Diane Kudrow (born July 30, 1963) is a Jewish American actress who was born in Encino, California, USA to Lee Kudrow and Nedra Stern. She went to Portola Middle School, in Tarzana, California and graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. She began her comedic career as a member of The Groundlings. Her first major television role was Ursula Buffay, the eccentrically silly waitress on Mad About You. This led to her starring role on Friends as Ursula's sister, Phoebe Buffay, a role for which she won an Emmy Award in 1998 for Best Actress In A Comedy Series.

She is married to Michel Stern and has one son, Julian Murray (born May 7, 1998). Kudrow has spoken publicly about having saved her virginity until marriage. Her mother taught her from an early age that her virginity was a special gift and she wanted to save it for her husband.

Her film credits include Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, The Opposite of Sex, Hanging Up, Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That. She has also starred in the biopic Wonderland about the late porn star John Holmes.

Kudrow portrays Valerie Cherish, the main character on the HBO original series, The Comeback. The series premiered on HBO on June 5, 2005. She also serves as co-creator, writer and executive producer.

Trivia

• She dated Conan O'Brien for a short while during the late 1980's.
• She met her husband, Michel Stern, when he visited the set of Friends.
• She tried out for Saturday Night Live in 1990, but the show chose Julia Sweeney instead.
• She was hired to play the role of Roz in the TV show Frasier, but was fired during the filming of the pilot episode.