Jennifer Aniston Biography

Jennifer Joanna Aniston was born on 11th February 1969 in LA. Her Greek-born father, John (real name Yannis Anastassakis) had been brought to the US when he was 10 and was an actor, starring in TV series such as ‘Combat!’ and ‘I Spy’, and her mother, Nancy, was also an actress.

When John's stint in NBC's longest running soap ‘Days of our Lives’ ended in 1970, so did his steady income and so when Aniston was five, he uprooted the family back to his home city, Athens, in order to retrain for a medical profession. The Anistons remained in Greece for a year until a call from his agent saw John returning to New York with the family to take a three-year part in ‘Love of Life’.

But this re-ignited success coincided with Aniston's parents divorcing in 1978, when she was nine. In a bid to reunite them, she started to play up at school – the famous Rudolf Steiner school known for its strict policies, in a hope that her parents would be forced together when called to the principal's office! Despite lacking in drive when it came to her education, Aniston revelled in her time spent at the drama club and after catching an episode of ‘Fame’ on TV, she knew where her career destiny lay and soon after enrolled at the 'real life' Fame, the New York High School of Performing Arts.

Graduating in 1987, Aniston decided against going to college and began working as a waitress in Hollywood while auditioning for roles. Her first television part came in 1990 in the comedy series ‘Molloy’ and next she took a longer-stint in the widely panned adaptation of the hit film, ‘Ferris Bueller's Day Off’. Luck wasn't on her side after she won several roles in what transpired to be a succession of cancelled programmes and for a while she considered giving up acting altogether.

But fate would save her when she successfully auditioned for a new comedy series called ‘Friends Like These’. Originally asked to play the character Monica Geller, she convinced the producers that she'd be better suited instead for the part of Rachel Green. The audition was a success and in 1994 the first episode of the shortened-title, ‘Friends’ aired. The rest is history as they say and Aniston would play the part of Rachel for the next ten years, propelling her name to A-list stardom and losing a stone and a half in the weight in the process.

Like her fellow cast members, Aniston wanted to use her free time to progress her film career but initially it seemed she never quite picked the right project to propel her beyond her recognition as Rachel. ‘She's The One’ (1996) was followed by ‘Picture Perfect’ (1997) but although they were both entertaining in a 'DVD night-in' kind of way, both came and went without critics even batting an eyelid.

But meanwhile her love life looked to be hotting up. After spending two years living with the actor Tate Donovan, they split it 1998 and her agent thought it would be a good move to set her up on a blind date – who transpired to be Brad Pitt. Just two years later the couple married in a $1 million ceremony in Malibu where Aniston reportedly vowed to make Pitt's favourite banana split and Pitt promised to find a balance on the thermostat.

But the end of their marriage would be sealed when Pitt began shooting the film ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’ in 2005 with renowned bad girl, Angelina Jolie. Despite being papped holidaying in the Caribbean with ‘Friends’ pal Courtney Cox and her husband David Arquette in January 2005, just a few days later Aniston announced her separation from Pitt.

In October their divorce was finalised and media speculation was rife as to the reason why Hollywood's hottest couple had decided to go their separate ways. Some headlines claimed that Aniston's refusal to have children had created a divide between them but she fiercely denied this. And by 2006 Jolie had come clean that she and Pitt had fallen in love on the set of ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ and despite denying pursuing him as he was “married to his best friend”, the pair went public on their relationship not long after his divorce and have remained together ever since, their brood extending to six children (3 adopted) at last count.

Despite being so publicly torn from her relationship, Aniston refused to hide away and wallow in self-pity. Her career had seen a hiatus since her starring turn in 2002's low-budget flick ‘The Good Girl’, which was a surprise hit - taking $14 million at the box office and showing off her talents as a 'serious' actress. She'd also won her first Emmy (after two previous nominations on the trot) in 2002 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and earned critical acclaim in ‘Bruce Almighty’ alongside Jim Carey (2003). Not only that, but after starting out on a healthy $35,000 per episode for the first series of ‘Friends’, her pay cheque for the final season in 2004 rocketed to a grand $1 million.

Pitt may have got the girl, take two, but Aniston has earned even more fans through her steadfast resolve not to play the bitter ex wife. Her career has gone from strength to strength – a turn in 2006's ‘The Break Up’ led to huge box office success and even a brief romance with co-star Vince Vaughn who Aniston described as bringing her “back to life” after her divorce.

More recent 'are they, aren't they?' rumours about her relationship with singer John Mayer continue to fuel the media hounds but she remains to discuss it in great depth, preferring to keep the gossip mongers guessing.

Aniston's resilience and determination have proven that she will always remain one step ahead – whatever the world throws at her and she is arguably one of the most respected and highest earning actresses in Hollywood.