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Courteney Cox
Occupation : Actress, Producer, Model
Birth Date : June 15, 1964
Birth Place : Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Birth Name : Courteney Bass Cox
Nationality : American
Height : 5' 5''
Sex : F
Education : Mountain Brook High School
Mount Vernon College, Washington D. C. (majored in Architecture; dropped out within a year)
Relationship : Ian Copeland (manager; brother of musician Stewart Copeland of the rock band the Police; Cox's stepcousin), Michael Keaton (actor; together from 1989 to July 1995) , David Arquette (actor; meeting on the set of their 1996 movie Scream; married on June 12, 1999)
Father : Richard Cox (contractor; divorced Cox's mother 1974; remarried 1975)
Mother : Courteney Copeland (remarried 1976)
Sister : Virginia Cox (older), Dottie Pickett (n�e Cox; born 1962)
Brother : Richard (older)
Step Father : Hunter Copeland (businessman)
Sister in law : Rosanna Arquette, Richmond Arquette, Patricia Arquette and Alexis Arquette
Daughter : Coco (born on June 13, 2004)
Claim to fame : As Monica Geller in Friends
Courteney Bass Cox was born in Birmingham, Alabama on June 15, 1964. The youngest of four children, Courteney was closest with her father, Richard, who was a contractor (he passed away in 2001). Her parents were divorced in 1974 -- her mother Courteney remarried Hunter Copeland, a businessman, in 1976, while her dad remarried in 1975. Courteney remained in Alabama with her mother and stepfather.
Courteney attended Mountain Brook High School and kept busy with activities like tennis, swimming and cheerleading.
In 1982, Courteney graduated from high school and began studying architecture at Mount Vernon College in Washington. She dropped out after a year to pursue a modeling career as a Ford model. Her portfolio includes magazine covers like Tiger Beat and Little Miss, as well as commercials for Maybelline, Noxzema and Tampax -- as a matter of fact, she was the first person in American TV history to utter the word "period" on the air.
While living in New York in the early '80s, Courteney met Ian Copeland, her stepfather's nephew. The two worked at F.B.I. (Frontier Booking International), a concert booking agency in New York, in 1984. That same year, Courteney gained national exposure when director Brian De Palma selected her from a group of over 300 contenders to star as the girl Bruce Springsteen pulls onstage to dance with him at the end of his "Dancing in the Dark" video.
In 1985, Courteney appeared in the NBC series Misfits of Science, which was canceled several months later. In 1987, she landed the role of Lauren Miller, Michael J. Fox's girlfriend on Family Ties.
When Family Ties ended in 1989, Courteney tried to build a career in the film industry, but she was unsuccessful. The disappointing movies on her resume from 1988 to 1993 include Cocoon: The Return, Mr. Destiny, Blue Desert, Shaking the Tree, and The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them. Courteney claims that her romance with actor Michael Keaton, which lasted from 1989 to 1995, was one of the reasons behind her failed film career, as the relationship was too time-consuming.
That all changed in 1994, when she starred as Jim Carrey's girlfriend, Melissa Robinson, in the hit film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. That same year, she could be seen as Monica Geller on NBC's Friends, which remained her ultimate role until the show ended in 2004. Interestingly enough, Courteney actually auditioned for the role of bratty Rachel Green, which went to real-life best friend, Jennifer Aniston.
While Courteney was enjoying the benefits of Friends' incredible success (each cast member successfully negotiated their way to a $1 million per episode salary), she appeared as journalist Gale Weathers in 1996's Scream, and reprised the role in the film's sequels in 1997 and 2000.
Scream was more than a success -- it was where Courteney met her husband, David Arquette. Arquette starred as geeky Deputy Dwight "Dewey" Riley, and married Courteney on June 12, 1999.
In addition to roles in The Runner (1999), 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), The Shrink Is In (2001), Get Well Soon (2001), Alien Love Triangle (2002), and November (2004), Courteney had a bit part in 2005's The Longest Yard.
In May 2004, millions of viewers tuned in to watch the Friends finale, which couldn't have come at a better time, as she gave birth to daughter Coco Riley Arquette on June 13, 2004.
Courteney has still been keeping busy with her interior design show, Mix It Up, which she co-produces with David, and roles in movies like 2005's Alpha Dog and 2006's Barnyard and Zoom.
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