Jennifer Anniston Biography

Jennifer Aniston was born on February 11, 1969 in Sherman Oaks, California. Jennifer’s parents were Nancy, an ex-model and John Anniston, a television actor. John Anniston was an actor of some repute, he played the parts of Eric Richards and later Victor Kiriakis in Days of Our Lives. He also appeared in Love of Life, Star Trek and West Wing. Aniston's godfather is the late Telly Savalas.

The Anniston family spent a year in Greece which is the country of their ancestors. They later moved to New York, Jennifer continued to live with her mother in New York after her parents divorced when she was nine years old. John Anniston had remarried, this time to actress Sherry Rooney. This was a crucial period for Jennifer because she had decided that she was going to become an actress after watching the play "Children of A Lesser God."

Jennifer started at a young age; she enrolled into the Rudolf Steiner School's drama club. Most actors are passionate about another art. Jennifer was considered to be one of the better painters in her age group. By the time she was eleven years old her paintings were already being selected for display in exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Four years later Jennifer joined the High School for the Performing Arts in New York. After graduating from high school she showed no inclination to go to college. Instead she worked as a waitress in Manhattan.

Simultaneously she began doing the rounds of plays, studios and television casting agencies. Before she got her first feature film she had already appeared in Dancing On Chequer's Grave, Quantum Leap, Muddling Through, Herman's Head, For Dear Life, Molloy and The Edge. After going through a lot of frustration because of the lack of any big screen opportunity, she got her lucky break in a bit role in Leprechaun.

1994 is the watershed year in the career of Jennifer Anniston. Along with Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry and Courtney Cox, Anniston starred in the first season of Friends. Jennifer played the role of Rachel Green. The serial ran for ten seasons and won her the Golden Globe and Emmy. Suddenly the media spotlight fell upon her. Her hairstyle received rave reviews. It was copied by women all over the country. The "Rachel Green attitude" became the coolest thing in America. Jennifer Anniston’s life had become fodder for tabloid columns and television across the country. The entire Friends cast is one of the highest paid set of actors in the world. By the time the show came to a grand finale, each of them was earning close to $1 million per episode.

Jennifer has been in a few relationships with actors. Her boyfriends in the past have included Daniel McDonald, Tate Donovan, Charlie Schlatter and the Counting Crows singer Adam Durvitz. In 2000, Jennifer went on to marry Hollywood’s perennial heart throb, Brad Pitt. The couple has however filed for divorce. Her feature films include Picture Perfect, Bruce Almighty, The Iron Giant, Rock Star, The Good Girl and Along Came Polly.

Anniston’s dedication to her craft is very impressive. She has lost more than thirty pounds for her various roles. She originally tested for Courtney Cox’s role in Friends but managed to convince the producers that she was perfect for the role of Rachel Green. She has also directed some episodes. Amongst her movies, her most refined performance came in The Good Girl. Her role in was that of a cashier at Retail Rodeo. Bored of her mundane existence with her couch potato husband played by John Reilly, she embarks on an affair with the much younger Jake Gyllenhaal. It was a role that was a complete turn around from her regular light hearted comedies. She was nominated for the Independent Spirit award.

In the early 2000’s her popularity was at its peak. Jennifer and Brad Pitt had exclusive wedding bands designed for their wedding with Damiani. The bands were then later mass produced and sold to all comers for $ 1000 each. The Pitts sued and won a unique settlement where Brad would design the jewellery for the company and Jennifer would model it. Jennifer Anniston was voted Number One on Forbe’s Global Celebrity List in 2003. She had beaten Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Tiger Woods and even Brad Pitt.

Apart from acting Anniston is an avid biker, trekker and traveler. Jennifer Anniston reckons that her inability to do any of these because of the risk of being mobbed is too high price to pay for fame.