JENNIFER ANISTON (Rachel Green)

Emmy Award winner Jennifer Aniston connected with her Greek roots by spending a year of her childhood living in Greece, and no doubt the influence of noted Greek-American actor Telly Savalas as her godfather further augmented her cultural appreciation. Ultimately, however, she was raised in New York City when her father, actor John Aniston (Days of Our Lives) landed a featured role
on the daytime drama Love of Life.

Aniston had her first taste of acting at age 11 when she joined the Rudolf Steiner School's drama club. Her experience there also helped her develop a passion for art. When she was 11, one of her paintings was displayed in an exhibit at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Aniston began her professional training as a drama student at New York's High School of the Performing Arts. After her graduation in 1987, she won roles in such off-Broadway productions as For Dear Life, at New York's Public Theatre, and Dancing on Checker's Grave. In 1989, she landed her first television role as a series regular on Molloy. Her other television credits include regular roles on The Edge and Ferris Bueller, a recurring part on Herman's Head and gueststarring
roles on such series as The Larry Sanders Show, Partners, Burke's Law and Quantum Leap.

In addition, Aniston has starred in a number of other films, including The Object of My Affection, Picture Perfect, She's the One, 'Til There Was You and Office Space. She also starred with Quentin Tarantino in an interactive tutorial CDROM entitled Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair. She stars opposite Ben Stiller and Debra Messing in Along Came Polly. She appeared with Mark Wahlberg in Rock Star and with Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty. Aniston also earned glowing reviews for her performance in the feature film The Good Girl.

Aniston was nominated for Emmy Awards as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2000 and 2001 and received nominations as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series the following two years, winning the Emmy in 2002. She has won three People's Choice Awards for Favorite Female
Television Performer and a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, and she has been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award five times as part of the FRIENDS ensemble and twice on her own.

Aniston enjoys painting in her spare time, as well as hiking, camping and virtually anything that brings her closer to nature.