Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to a nomination for a Critics’ Choice Award. +more
The daughter of actors John Aniston and Nancy Dow, she began working as an actress at an early age with an uncredited role in the 1988 film Mac and Me; her first major film role came in the 1993 horror comedy Leprechaun. She later rose to international fame for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends (1994-2004), for which she earned Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards. +more
Aniston has been included in numerous magazines' lists of the world's most beautiful women. Her net worth is estimated as $300 million. +more
Early life
Aniston was born on February 11, 1969, in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles to Greek-born actor John Aniston and actress Nancy Dow. One of her maternal great-grandfathers, Louis Grieco, was from Italy. +more
Her family moved to New York City when she was a child. Despite her father's television career, she was discouraged from watching television, though she found ways around the prohibition. +more
Having discovered acting at age 11 at the Waldorf school, Aniston enrolled in Manhattan's Fiorello H. +more
Career
1988-1993: Beginnings
Aniston first worked in off-Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave, and supported herself with part-time jobs including work as a telemarketer, waitress and bike messenger. In 1988 she had an uncredited minor role in the critically panned sci-fi adventure film Mac and Me. +more
She obtained her first regular television role on Molloy in 1990, and appeared in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off; both series were quickly canceled. She starred as a teenager going to summer camp in the made-for-television film Camp Cucamonga (1990), and as a spoiled daughter followed by a vengeful leprechaun in the horror film Leprechaun (1993). +more
Aniston also appeared in the two failed television comedy series The Edge and Muddling Through, and guest-starred in Quantum Leap, Herman's Head and Burke's Law.
1994-2004: Friends and worldwide recognition
Depressed over her four unsuccessful television shows, Aniston approached Warren Littlefield at a Los Angeles gas station asking for reassurance. The head of NBC entertainment encouraged her to continue acting, and a few months later helped cast her in Friends, a sitcom set to debut on NBC's 1994-1995 fall lineup. +more
The program was a massive hit and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained worldwide recognition. Her character was especially popular. +more
After a four-year hiatus, Aniston returned to film work in 1996, when she performed in the ensemble cast of romantic comedy She's the One. Her first starring film vehicle was Picture Perfect (1997), where she played a struggling young advertising executive opposite Kevin Bacon and Jay Mohr. +more
Aniston appeared in the dramedy Rock Star (2001) opposite Mark Wahlberg and Dominic West. She starred in the independent dramedy The Good Girl (2002) as an unglamorous cashier who cheats on her husband. +more
Aniston's biggest commercial success in film has been the comedy Bruce Almighty (2003), where she played the girlfriend of a television field reporter (Jim Carrey) offered the chance to be God for one week. With a worldwide box office gross of $484 million, it was the fifth-highest-grossing feature film of the year. +more
2005-2013: Continued film success
In 2005, Aniston appeared as an alluring woman having an affair with an advertising executive in the thriller Derailed, and as an obituary and wedding announcement writer in the romantic comedy Rumor Has It. Both films were moderate box office hits. +more
Her next film was the romantic comedy The Break-Up (2006), alongside Vince Vaughn, in which she starred as one half of a couple having a complicated split when both refuse to move out of the pair's recently purchased home. It received mixed reviews but grossed approximately $39. +more
In 2006, Aniston directed the short film Room 10, set in a hospital emergency room and starring Robin Wright and Kris Kristofferson, as part of Glamours Reel Moments film series. She noted that she was inspired to direct by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also directed a short film that year. +more
The 2008 comedy drama Marley & Me, starring Aniston and Owen Wilson as the owners of the titular dog, set a record for the largest Christmas Day box office sales ever with $14. 75 million. +more
Aniston appeared as the former wife of a bounty hunter (Gerard Butler) in the romantic comedy action film The Bounty Hunter (2010). The film was panned by critics, with The Hollywood Reporter writing that "the mishmash ends up as a thoroughly unfunny adult cartoon. +more
In 2010, Aniston was also a guest star on the season two premiere of ABC's sitcom Cougar Town, playing a psychiatrist. Her announcement that she would appear on Cougar Town garnered excitement and was dubbed her return to television. +more
Aniston appeared in the comedy Wanderlust (2012) with Paul Rudd, with whom she acted in The Object of My Affection and also Friends, as a married couple who join a commune after losing their money and deciding modern life is not for them. The script for Wanderlust, bought by Universal Pictures, was produced by Judd Apatow. +more
2014-present: Recent roles and return to television
Aniston played the role of a stoic socialite who becomes the target of an ill-planned kidnapping plot in Life of Crime (2014), a film adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1978 novel The Switch. The film was released in limited theaters, to positive reviews. +more
In Cake (2014), Aniston starred as an astringent woman named Claire Simmons who struggles with chronic pain. The film received mixed reviews; nonetheless, Aniston's performance was acclaimed, dubbed by some critics as "Oscar-worthy". +more
In 2015, Aniston starred as a reluctant therapist in the screwball comedy She's Funny That Way, which received mixed reviews and found a limited release in theaters, but her performance was once again noticed. Wesley Morris of Grantland called her "one of the great screen comedians. +more
Aniston starred as the recently divorced mother of two children in the romantic comedy Mother's Day (2016), directed by Garry Marshall, and opposite Julia Roberts and Kate Hudson. The film was panned by critics and a moderate commercial success. +more
In The Yellow Birds, a war drama directed by Alexandre Moors, Aniston portrays the mother of a deceased soldier, alongside Alden Ehrenreich, Tye Sheridan, Jack Huston, and Toni Collette. While she said she does not "normally gravitate toward being in war films", she made an exception because the film was "written so beautifully and in such a way [she] had never experienced". +more
In December 2018, Netflix released the musical comedy Dumplin', with Aniston as executive producer and star-marking her first project for a streaming service. That year, she began work on two more Netflix projects: Murder Mystery, a comedy that reunites her with Adam Sandler, which premiered on June 14, 2019; and First Ladies, a film about the first lesbian president of the United States, with Tig Notaro as her wife.
Aniston made her return to television on November 1, 2019, producing and starring alongside Reese Witherspoon in the Apple TV+ drama The Morning Show. It is her first main television role since the conclusion of Friends in 2004. +more
She reunited with her Friends cast mates for an HBO Max unscripted television special titled Friends: The Reunion in May 2021.
In the media
Wealth
Aniston is one of the world's highest-paid actresses . She has been on the Forbes Top Earning Actresses list for 15 years, every year since 2001-and since then also on its Celebrity 100 list (based on "earnings and fame"), topping it in 2003. +more
The magazine estimated her net worth at $110 million in 2007, $150 million in 2014, and $200 million in 2017. It listed her earnings as $19.5 million in 2018.
Public image
Aniston has been included in various magazine lists of the world's most beautiful women. In 2005, she became the first GQ Woman of the Year. +more
She received a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 22, 2012, located at 6270 Hollywood Boulevard. She was ranked third on Forbes list of the 100 Most Powerful Actresses in Hollywood in 2013.
In July 2016, amidst media speculation over whether she was pregnant, Aniston penned an essay for The Huffington Post condemning the "objectification and scrutiny we put women through". She asserted: "We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. +more
After years of aversion to social media, Aniston joined Instagram on October 15, 2019, causing the app to "break" (for hours the "follow" button became inoperable due to an overload of web traffic to her account) with the first picture of the planned Friends cast reunion for HBO Max (whose release was delayed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Within five hours and sixteen minutes, she broke the Guinness World Record for fastest time to reach one million followers on the platform. +more
Personal life
Aniston practices Hatha yoga and Budokan karate. In 2014, she spoke of her Transcendental Meditation practice. +more
Aniston donated to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and took part in a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign. She endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Relationships
Aniston met Brad Pitt in 1998, and their relationship was highly publicized. She married Pitt, after two years of dating, on July 29, 2000, in a lavish Malibu wedding. +more
In 2005, amid reports that their divorce was due to Aniston's refusal to have children with Pitt, Aniston said, "I've never in my life said I didn't want to have children. I did and I do and I will! . +more
Aniston began a relationship with actor, director, and screenwriter Justin Theroux in May 2011. The following January, they purchased a home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles for roughly $22 million. +more
Other ventures
Aniston has appeared in commercials and music videos throughout her career. After starting on Friends, Aniston and her co-star Matthew Perry shot a 60-minute instructional video for the release of Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system. +more
Under a contract with Elizabeth Arden, Inc. +more
Since 2007, she has worked in a publicity campaign for the drink SmartWater; on March 7, 2011, she released a YouTube video for SmartWater, Jennifer Aniston Goes Viral, which tripled online interest in the product within 24 hours of its release. In 2012, Aniston co-founded hair care brand Living Proof and also became its spokeswoman. +more
She appeared in the 1996 Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers music video for "Walls", and in 2001, in Melissa Etheridge's music video for "I Want To Be in Love". She also appeared in a Heineken commercial.
Along with Brad Pitt and Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, Aniston founded the film production company Plan B Entertainment in 2002, although she and Grey withdrew in 2005. In 2008, she and producer Kristin Hahn formed Echo Films.
Philanthropy
Aniston has been a celebrity advocate for numerous charities and received attention for her own donations. She has appeared in television commercials for +more
On April 14, 2007, Aniston received GLAAD's Vanguard Award for her contributions to increased visibility and understanding of the LGBT community. On Earth Day 2010, she joined Courteney Cox, Woody Harrelson, Ben Stiller and others, in "The Cove PSA: My Friend is. +more
Aniston donated $500,000 to Doctors Without Borders, Haitian health care provider Partners in Health and AmeriCares, and also participated in the Hope for Haiti Now telethon. She donated $500,000 to the Red Cross and another $500,000 to the Ricky Martin Foundation in 2017 to help victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
After being honored by SmartWater in 2016 for her ongoing philanthropic work for St. +more
Acting credits and awards
Aniston received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Golden Globe Award nominations, and nine SAG Award nominations for her role in Friends. From these, she won one of each. +more
According to review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Aniston's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films are Office Space (1999), The Good Girl (2002), Bruce Almighty (2003), Friends with Money (2006), The Break-Up (2006), Marley & Me (2008), Just Go with It (2011), Horrible Bosses (2011), We're the Millers (2013), and Dumplin (2018).
Further reading
Living people
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesswomen
Actors with dyslexia
Actresses from Hollywood, Los Angeles
Actresses from New York City
American film actresses
American film producers
American people of Greek descent
American people of Italian descent
American philanthropists
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American women film producers
Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Businesspeople from New York City
Film producers from California
Film producers from New York (state)
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni
Logie Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
People from Bel Air, Los Angeles
People from Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles
Waldorf school alumni
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