Jennifer Coolidge

Early life and education

Coolidge was born in Boston, on August 28, 1961, and raised in Norwell, Massachusetts. As a child, she played the clarinet and attended orchestra camp for three summers.

She attended Norwell High School in Norwell and Cambridge School of Weston in Weston, Massachusetts, and then Emerson College in Boston and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. During college, Coolidge aspired to be a dramatic actress similar to Meryl Streep, but instead pursued comedic character acting. As a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Coolidge worked as a waitress in a restaurant alongside Sandra Bullock, who also aspired to be an actress.

Career

1993–1999: Early career

Coolidge made her first television appearance in the November 1993 Seinfeld episode "The Masseuse". In 1994, she was a regular on She TV, a short-lived sketch comedy that also featured Nick Bakay, Elon Gold, Simbi Khali, and Linda Kash. She had small roles appearing in such films as Not of This Earth, A Bucket of Blood, Plump Fiction, and A Night at the Roxbury. She also voiced Luanne's beauty school teacher, Miss Kremzer, in a recurring role on King of the Hill. She worked with The Groundlings, an improv and sketch comedy troupe based in Los Angeles. In June 1995, Coolidge unsuccessfully auditioned for Saturday Night Live.

1999–2006: Film breakthrough

In 1999, Coolidge got her big break playing Jeanine Stifler, or "Stifler's mom" in American Pie. The film was a box-office hit and grossed $235 million worldwide. In 2001, she reprised her role in American Pie 2. Later in that same year, she had a supporting role in Legally Blonde as Paulette Bonafonté Parcelle the manicurist. Legally Blonde was a box-office hit, grossing US$96 million domestically. The film's box-office success led to her reprising the role in its 2003 sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, but the movie was not as financially successful as the first and generated mostly negative reviews. In 2003, she again played Stifler's Mom in American Wedding.

In 2003, she played the protagonist's agent Luise in Testosterone filmed in Argentina starring David Sutcliffe as Dean Seagrave and Antonio Sabato, Jr., as Pablo. In 2004, she had a supporting role in the romantic comedy A Cinderella Story playing Hilary Duff's character's vain, self-absorbed stepmother. The film went on to become a moderate box office hit despite negative critical reviews.

She has appeared in 2001 on Frasier as Frederica, Martin Crane's new physical therapist, in 2003–2004 in 3 episodes of According to Jim, playing Roxanne, Jim's sister, and in 2003 in an episode of Sex and the City. Coolidge nearly received the role of Lynette Scavo on Desperate Housewives, but it eventually went to Felicity Huffman.

In 2003, she starred in an episode of Friends in its final season as Amanda, an obnoxious acquaintance whom Phoebe Buffay and Monica Geller try to shake off. From 2004 to 2006, Coolidge had a role in the NBC comedy series Joey as Joey Tribbiani's oversexed agent Roberta "Bobbie" Morganstern. During its second season, she went from a recurring character to a more prominent role, appearing in 37 out of 46 episodes in the series. NBC officially canceled the series in May 2006, citing low ratings.

Coolidge also appeared in 1998 in the children's comedy Slappy and the Stinkers, and as the voice of Aunt Fanny in the animated feature Robots in 2005. The film was accompanied by an original short animated film based on Robots, titled Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty, in which she reprised her role. In late 2005, Coolidge was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. From 2000 to 2006 she played comic parts in the improv mockumentaries Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration, all directed by Christopher Guest.

2006–2011: Television roles

In 2006, she guest starred on an episode of Top Chef, and played Adam Sandler's wife's friend, Janine, in the comedy film Click. She appeared in the 2006 film Date Movie as a spoof of Barbra Streisand's Meet the Fockers character. The film received unfavorable critic reviews and Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film 77th in the 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s, with a rating of 6%. However, Variety did praise Coolidge for providing a few bright moments with a spot-on spoof of Streisand, albeit otherwise unimpressed describing the film as "padded and repetitious".

Epic Movie, released in 2007 and made by the same people behind Date Movie, was the first movie in which she received a starring role. In the film she played the "White Bitch" (the White Witch) of Gnarnia (Narnia), a lampoon of the Disney and Walden Media film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. A. O. Scott of The New York Times called the film "irreverent and also appreciative, dragging its satiric prey down to the lowest pop-cultural denominator" and added, "The humor is coarse and occasionally funny. The archly bombastic score ... is the only thing you might call witty. But happily, Jennifer Coolidge and Fred Willard show up ... to add some easy, demented class."

During 2007, Coolidge appeared on Thank God You're Here and The Closer, on TNT. In 2008, she guest-starred on The Secret Life of the American Teenager as a call girl.

In 2009, Coolidge took a dramatic role in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans as Genevieve McDonagh. The film premiered on September 9, 2009, at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, and it opened in general release in the United States on November 20, 2009. Also In 2009, she starred alongside Heather Graham and Amber Heard in ExTerminators, a black comedy about a set of women who form their own "silent revolution", wreaking havoc on the abusive men in their lives.

In 2010, Coolidge appeared in another film starring Hilary Duff titled Beauty & the Briefcase, an ABC Family television film produced by Image Entertainment that originally aired on April 18, 2010. It was based on the novel Diary of a Working Girl by Daniella Brodsky. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on February 8, 2011.

2011–2019: ''2 Broke Girls'' and stand-up comedy

In June 2011, Coolidge curated a Blake Nelson Boyd art show in New Orleans. In the same month Coolidge began to do standup comedy. She hosted the "Women in Film" at the Beverly Hills Hotel. It went well, and she decided to take an act on the road. Coolidge ended up doing shows all over the world for two years, Scotland included. Coolidge told Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show that she would be touring Australia as part of her Yours for the Night stand-up tour. In October 2011, Coolidge began a recurring role in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls as Zofia "Sophie" Kaczyński, a Polish neighbor of the two lead characters; she was later promoted to main cast from season 2 up until the show's cancellation in 2017.

Coolidge reprised her role as Jeanine Stifler in an American Pie sequel American Reunion which opened in North America on April 6, 2012. The following year, additional voice cast members were announced for B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations, including Coolidge as Carol Sue, a transitions-relations officer. Film distributor 20th Century Fox set November 6, 2015, for the film's release date (which was moved a few months later up to September 25), However, Los Angeles Times reported in 2014 that the film had been delayed again with no replacement release date set. It was reported the film's concept has gone back to development.

Coolidge and actress Megan Mullally joined the cast of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day in 2013; Coolidge plays Ms. Suggs, the driving instructor. The film was released in North America on October 10, 2014. The next year, she had a voice role in Hell and Back, and had a cameo in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip. In 2016, she appeared in Mascots, directed by Christopher Guest. In 2017, Coolidge lent her voice to portray Mary Meh in The Emoji Movie. In 2018, Coolidge made an appearance in Ariana Grande's music video for her song "Thank U, Next", which brought her renewed recognition.

2020–present: ''The White Lotus'' and continued film roles

In 2020, she starred in Like a Boss, the first studio comedy film of the 2020s, for Paramount Pictures, co-starring with Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne, and Salma Hayek. Coolidge had a supporting role in Emerald Fennell's directorial debut Promising Young Woman as the mother of Carey Mulligan's character, Cassie. The movie received universal acclaim upon release.

In October 2020, Coolidge was cast as Tanya McQuoid, a troubled wealthy woman on vacation, in Mike White's comedy-drama series The White Lotus and began filming shortly after in Hawaii. The show premiered in July 2021 and was widely acclaimed, with Daniel D'Addario of Variety calling it the "role of a lifetime" and deeming Coolidge a "Hollywood MVP". She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her performance. Coolidge reprised her role for the second season, and received a second Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the role at the 75th Emmy Awards.

In 2021, Coolidge starred in the Netflix Christmas romantic comedy Single All the Way alongside Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers, and Kathy Najimy. The following year, she starred in Netflix's mini-series The Watcher along with Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale.

In 2024, Coolidge starred in and executive produced Dito Montiel's comedy film Riff Raff. She told Forbes that, when she was offered the role, "I've never been offered a part like her. […] There's a certain woman that I've played quite a few times - some sort of rich, spoiled woman or something, but this was something very different. This was someone who had a pretty decent beginning of her life, but ended up not desired by her ex-husband anymore and very lost."

Public image

Coolidge is widely considered a gay icon, often impersonated by drag queens, with Coolidge noting in 2021 that she surrounded herself socially with gay men and women from a young age. Coolidge has also long been vocal about her support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Coolidge was included on Time's "The 100 Most Influential People of 2023", and was featured on the magazine cover for the issue. She also hosted the 2023 Time 100 gala. In February 2023, Coolidge was named Woman of the Year by Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

Personal life

Coolidge dated Swedish model Rafael Edholm in the 1980s, living together in New York and attending acting classes. She later dated comedian Chris Kattan. She has never been married or had children.

In 2005, after having visited New Orleans up to ten times a year over ten years, Coolidge purchased a house there, which was featured in some of the interior scenes in The Beguiled (2017).

Her charitable work and activism includes supporting AIDS assistance and animal rights. Coolidge tries to follow a plant-based lifestyle but also eats fish. Coolidge was crowned PETA's "Vegan Queen" in 2023. She has also adopted a dog named Chuy that was rescued from a meat factory in Korea.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

References

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