Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox (born June 15, 1964)[5][6] is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller in the NBC sitcom Friends (1994–2004). Cox received further recognition for starring as Gale Weathers in the horror film franchise Scream (1996–present).[7]
For other people with similar names, see Courtney Cox (disambiguation).
Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox Arquette
- Actress
- filmmaker
1984–present
Michael Keaton (1989–1995)[1]
Johnny McDaid (2013–present)[2][3][4]
1
Cox starred as Lauren Miller in the NBC sitcom Family Ties (1987–1989), Lucy Spiller in the FX drama series Dirt (2007–2008), and Jules Cobb in the ABC/TBS sitcom Cougar Town (2009–2015), the lattermost of which earned her nominations at the Golden Globe Awards and the Critics' Choice Awards. She also starred as Patricia "Pat" Phelps in the Starz horror comedy series Shining Vale (2022–2023).
Cox's other film credits include the action fantasy Masters of the Universe (1987), the comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), the animated comedy Barnyard (2006), the fantasy comedy Bedtime Stories (2008), and the independent drama Mothers and Daughters (2016). She owns the production company Coquette Productions, which was created by Cox and her then-husband David Arquette. She also worked as a director on her sitcom Cougar Town, the television drama film TalhotBlond (2012), and the black comedy drama film Just Before I Go (2014).
Early life[edit]
Cox was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. She is a daughter of businessman Richard Lewis Cox and Courteney Copeland (née Bass).[8][9] Cox has two older sisters, Virginia and Dorothy, and an older brother, Richard Jr. Her parents divorced in 1974 and her mother then married businessman Hunter Copeland (uncle to music promoter and business manager Ian Copeland and The Police drummer Stewart Copeland).[10]
After graduating from Mountain Brook High School, Cox left for Mount Vernon College in Washington, D.C. (now part of George Washington University), but did not complete her architecture course, opting instead to pursue a career in modeling and acting.[11] Cox has English and Norman ancestry; researching her family tree for the series Who Do You Think You Are?, Cox discovered she was a direct descendant of William the Conqueror and Edward I of England.[12][13][14]
Career[edit]
1984–1993: Beginnings and early roles[edit]
Cox worked at video game publisher Bethesda Softworks briefly in the 1980s.[15] She was chosen from a casting call by director Brian De Palma to appear in the 1984 music video for Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark", as the young woman pulled onstage at the St. Paul Civic Center to dance with Springsteen.[16] Her early television work includes a starring role as Gloria Dinallo in the short-lived NBC science-fiction fantasy series Misfits of Science (1985),[17] and guest-starring roles in the ABC comedy-drama series The Love Boat (1986) and the CBS crime drama series Murder, She Wrote (1986). She later had a recurring role as Lauren Miller, the girlfriend of Michael J. Fox's character Alex P. Keaton in the NBC comedy series Family Ties (1987–1989).[18]
Cox's early film roles include Masters of the Universe (1987), Cocoon: The Return (1988), and I'll Be Home for Christmas (1988).[19][20] She also played Jewel Jagger, the tough-as-nails assistant of Larry Burrows (James Belushi), in Mr. Destiny (1990). In 1993, she co-starred in the short-lived CBS sitcom The Trouble with Larry, alongside Bronson Pinchot and Perry King.[21] The following year, shortly before the debut of the sitcom Friends, Cox starred alongside Jim Carrey in the comedy film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,[22] and as Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend, Meryl, in the Seinfeld episode "The Wife".[23] In 1995, she was cast in Toad the Wet Sprocket's music video "Good Intentions". The song was also featured on the Friends soundtrack.[24]
Personal life[edit]
Cox dated actor Michael Keaton from 1989 to 1995.[1]
Cox married her Scream co-star David Arquette on June 12, 1999, at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.[74][75][76] The couple have a daughter, born in June 2004.[77][78] Jennifer Aniston is the godmother.[79] Cox revealed that she suffered from postpartum depression six months after the birth of her child.[80] On October 11, 2010, Cox and Arquette announced that they had separated, although they still maintain a close friendship and ongoing business relationship in Coquette Productions.[81][82][83] In June 2012, Arquette filed for divorce after nearly two years of separation from Cox.[84] The divorce became final in May 2013.[85]
Cox began dating Snow Patrol band member Johnny McDaid in late 2013.[86] The couple announced their engagement in June 2014.[87] Soon afterward they called off the engagement, but they have remained a couple.[88]
In 2020, Cox said that she did not remember much about the episode plots of Friends and that she had begun binge-watching the show.[89][90] In the same year she launched her line of home products, named Homecourt.[91] Cox is a practitioner of Budokan karate.[92][93]