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Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress and writer. She rose to international fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the American television sitcom Friends, which aired from 1994 to 2004. The series earned her Primetime Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, Satellite Awards, American Comedy and TV Guide awards. Phoebe has since been named one of the greatest television characters of all time and is considered to be Kudrow's breakout role, spawning her successful film career.
Kudrow initially appeared in a 1989 episode of the hit sitcom Cheers playing a character named Emily. She also starred in several episodes of the show Mad About You (1993) as Ursula, before auditioning and earning the role of Phoebe on Friends; her character on Mad About You was written into the Friends storyline as Phoebe's twin. In the late 1990s, Kudrow starred in the cult film comedy film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) and followed it with an acclaimed performance in the comedy/drama The Opposite of Sex (1998), which won her the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress and a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female. She created, produced, wrote, and starred in the HBO mockumentary series The Comeback, which initially lasted for one season in 2005 but was revived for two critically acclaimed seasons in 2014 and 2026, respectively. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for its first two seasons.
In 2007, Kudrow received praise for her starring role in the film Kabluey and appeared in the film P.S. I Love You. She produced and starred in the Showtime program Web Therapy (2011–2015), which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. She is a producer on the TLC/NBC reality program Who Do You Think You Are, which has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award five times. She has also received two nominations at the Children's and Family Emmy Awards for her roles in Better Nate Than Ever (2022) and Time Bandits (2024). She played Honey the dog on the FOX animated series HouseBroken.
Kudrow attended Portola Middle School in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles. She graduated from Taft High School in the Woodland Hills neighborhood, which was attended at the same time by rapper Ice Cube and actress Robin Wright. She received her A.B. in biology from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, intending to become an expert on headaches like her father.Justine Elias. "Lisa Kudrow: No Problem Playing Two Roles." Indiana (PA) Gazette, August 21, 1982, p. TV 7. While breaking into acting, she worked for her father for eight years and earned a research credit on his study on the comparative likelihood of left-handed individuals developing .
Kudrow was cast as Roz Doyle in Frasier, but the role was re-cast with Peri Gilpin during the taping of the pilot episode. In 2000, Kudrow explained that when rehearsals started, "I knew it wasn't working. I could feel it all slipping away, and I was panicking, which only made things worse." Her first recurring television role was Ursula Buffay, the eccentric waitress on the NBC sitcom Mad About You.
During her tenure on Friends, Kudrow appeared in several comedy films such as Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Hanging Up, Marci X, Dr. Dolittle 2, Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That, and dramatic films, such as Wonderland and The Opposite of Sex. She also guest-starred on numerous television series during Friends, including The Simpsons, Hope and Gloria and King of the Hill, and hosted Saturday Night Live.
Kudrow co-created an improvised comedy webseries, Web Therapy on Lstudio.com. The improv series, which launched online in 2008, has earned several Webby nominations and one Outstanding Comedic Performance Webby for Kudrow, who plays therapist Fiona Wallice. She offers her patients three-minute sessions over iChat. In July 2011, a reformatted, half-hour version of the show premiered on Showtime, before being cancelled in 2015 after four seasons. Kudrow has guest starred on multiple television series such as Cougar Town, BoJack Horseman, Angie Tribeca, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Scandal.
Kudrow has appeared in multiple comedic films such as Happy Endings, Hotel for Dogs, Easy A, Neighbors and its sequel , Long Shot, and Booksmart. She also appeared in the romantic drama film P.S. I Love You and co-starred in the thriller film The Girl on the Train. She has also starred recently on The Good Place as Hypatia of Alexandria. In 2020, Kudrow played Hypatia in season 4 episode 12 of The Good Place "Patty", and starred as Maggie Naird in the Netflix comedy series, Space Force. She reunited with her Friends cast mates for an HBO Max unscripted television special titled in May 2021. She is currently, along with Mary McCormack, an executive producer of the syndicated game show, 25 Words or Less; sometimes, Kudrow herself is one of the two celebrity guests playing with a contestant on the show.
In December 2024, Kudrow starred as Lydia in the Netflix comedy-drama No Good Deed, a role for which she gained positive reviews from critics.
| +Key | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| 1986 | America 3000 | Warrior Women Leader | Uncredited |
| 1989 | L.A. on $5 a Day | Charmer | |
| 1991 | To the Moon, Alice | Friend of Perky Girl | Short film |
| The Unborn | Louisa | ||
| 1992 | Dance with Death | Millie | |
| In the Heat of Passion | Esther | ||
| 1994 | In the Heat of Passion 2: Unfaithful | Teller | |
| 1995 | The Crazysitter | Adrian Wexler-Jones | |
| 1996 | Mother | Linda | |
| 1997 | Romy and Michele's High School Reunion | Michele Weinberger | |
| Clockwatchers | Paula | ||
| Hacks | Reading Woman | ||
| 1998 | The Opposite of Sex | Lucia DeLury | |
| 1999 | Analyze This | Laura MacNamara Sobel | |
| 2000 | Hanging Up | Maddy Mozell | |
| Lucky Numbers | Crystal | ||
| 2001 | All Over the Guy | Marie | |
| Dr. Dolittle 2 | Ava | Voice | |
| 2002 | Bark! | Dr. Darla Portnoy | |
| Analyze That | Laura Sobel | ||
| 2003 | Marci X | Marci Field | |
| Wonderland | Sharon Holmes | ||
| 2005 | Happy Endings | Mamie | |
| 2007 | Kabluey | Leslie | |
| P.S. I Love You | Denise | ||
| 2009 | Hotel for Dogs | Lois Scudder | |
| Powder Blue | Sally | ||
| Paper Man | Claire Dunn | ||
| Bandslam | Karen Burton | ||
| The Other Woman | Dr. Carolyn Soule | ||
| 2010 | Easy A | Mrs. Griffith | |
| 2014 | Neighbors | Carol Gladstone | |
| 2016 | Lucille | Voice | |
| Carol Gladstone | |||
| The Girl on the Train | Martha | ||
| 2017 | Table 19 | Bina Kepp | |
| The Boss Baby | Janice Templeton | Voice | |
| 2018 | Lovesick Fool – Love in the Age of Like | Ozma | Voice, Short film |
| 2019 | Long Shot | Katherine | |
| Booksmart | Charmaine Antsler | ||
| 2020 | Like a Boss | Shay Whitmore | |
| 2021 | Janice Templeton | Voice | |
| 2022 | Better Nate Than Ever | Heidi | |
| 2025 | The Parenting | Liddy |
| 1989 | Married to the Mob | Pilot | |
| Cheers | Emily | Episode: "Two Girls for Every Boyd" | |
| Just Temporary | Nicole | Television film | |
| 1990 | Newhart | Sada | Episode: "The Last Newhart" |
| Life Goes On | Stella | Episode: "Becca and the Band" | |
| 1991 | Murder in High Places | Miss Stich | Television film |
| 1992 | Room for Two | Woman in Black | Episode: "Not Quite... Room for Two" |
| 1993 | Flying Blind | Amy | Episode: "My Dinner with Brad Schimmel" |
| Bob | Kathy Fleisher | 3 episodes | |
| 1993–1994 | Coach | Lauren / Nurse Alice | 2 episodes |
| 1993–1999 | Mad About You | Ursula Buffay | 24 episodes |
| 1994–2004 | Friends | Phoebe Buffay | Main role, 236 episodes |
| 1995–2001 | Ursula Buffay | Recurring role, 8 episodes | |
| 1996 | Hope & Gloria | Phoebe Buffay | Episode: "A New York Story" |
| Duckman | Female Beta Maxians | Voice, episode: "The One with Lisa Kudrow in a Small Role" | |
| Saturday Night Live | Host | Episode: "Lisa Kudrow/Sheryl Crow" | |
| 1997 | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Lisa | Voice, episode: "Reunion" |
| 1998 | The Simpsons | Alex Whitney | Voice, episode: "Lard of the Dance" |
| 1998–1999 | Hercules | Aphrodite | Voice, 4 episodes |
| 2001 | King of the Hill | Marjorie Pittman | Voice, episode: "The Exterminator" |
| Blue's Clues | Dr. Stork | Voice, episode: "The Baby's Here!" | |
| 2005 | Father of the Pride | Foo-Lin | Voice, 2 episodes |
| Hopeless Pictures | Sandy | Voice, 2 episodes | |
| 2005, 2014, 2026 | The Comeback | Valerie Cherish | 29 episodes; also co-creator, writer and executive producer |
| 2006 | American Dad! | Ghost of Christmas Past | Voice, episode: "The Best Christmas Story Never Told" |
| 2008–2014 | Web Therapy | Fiona Wallice | 132 episodes; also co-creator, writer and executive producer |
| 2010 | Cougar Town | Dr. Amy Evans | Episode: "Rhino Skin" |
| 2010–2022 | Who Do You Think You Are? | Herself | Executive producer; Episode: "Lisa Kudrow" |
| 2011 | Allen Gregory | Sheila | Voice, episode: "Mom Sizemore" |
| 2011–2015 | Web Therapy | Fiona Wallice | 44 episodes; also co-creator, writer and executive producer |
| 2013 | Wendell and Vinnie | Natasha | Episode: "Swindel & Vinnie" |
| Scandal | Congresswoman Josephine Marcus | 4 episodes | |
| 2015 | BoJack Horseman | Wanda Pierce | Voice, 7 episodes |
| 2016 | Angie Tribeca | Monica Vivarquar | Episode: "Pilot" |
| Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows | Herself | Television documentary | |
| 2016–2019 | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | Fairy Godmother, Lori-Ann Schmidt | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Guest | Episode: "She Done Already Done Brought It On" |
| 2018 | Grace and Frankie | Sheree | 3 episodes |
| Bright Futures | Narrator | Unsold television pilot | |
| 2018–present | 25 Words or Less | Herself | Recurring guest, also executive producer |
| 2019 | Television film, executive producer | ||
| 2020 | The Good Place | Hypatia | Episode: "Patty" |
| Death to 2020 | Jeanetta Grace Susan | Television special | |
| 2020–2021 | Feel Good | Linda Martin | Main role |
| 2020–2022 | Space Force | Maggie Naird | Recurring role |
| 2021 | Herself | HBO Max special; also executive producer | |
| History of the Sitcom | Herself | Television documentary | |
| 2021–2023 | HouseBroken | Honey | Voice, main role |
| 2022 | Celebrity IOU | Herself | HGTV |
| Rick and Morty | Tyrannosaurus | Voice, episode: "JuRicksic Mort" | |
| 2024 | Time Bandits | Penelope | Main role |
| No Good Deed | Lydia Morgan | Main role |
In total, she has received fifteen Emmy nominations, with her most recent nomination in the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards, twelve nominations and two wins at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, one win and eight nominations at the American Comedy Awards, one Golden Globe nomination, one Banff Rockie award, one Blockbuster Entertainment award, one Chicago Film Critics Association nomination, one Chlotrudis award, two Critics' Choice Television nominations, one Dorian Awards award, one Gracie Awards award, one Independent Spirit nomination, one MTV Movie & TV nomination, one National Society of Film Critics nomination, one New York Film Critics Circle award, one Nickelodeon Kids' Choice nomination, one Online Film Critics Society nomination, one People Magazine award, five nominations and one win at the Satellite Awards, three nominations and one win at the Teen Choice Awards, two Streamy Awards nominations, two nominations and one win at the TV Guide Awards, one Viewers for Quality Television nomination and seven nominations and four wins at the .
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