Courteney Cox Biography

Birth Name : Courteney Bass Cox 

Date of Birth : 15 June 1964, Birmingham, Alabama, USA 

Height : 5' 5" (1.65 m) 

Occupation : Actress    

Born Courteney Bass Cox in Birmingham, AL on June 15, 1964, she was the daughter of contractor Richard Cox and his wife, Courteney Bass, for whom she was named. She, her older sisters, Virginia and Dottie, and older brother, Richard Jr., were raised in Mountain Brook, an affluent suburb of Birmingham, and enjoyed a happy childhood until her parents split in 1974 and her father relocated to Panama City, FL. Her mother's subsequent marriage to New York businessman Hunter Copeland was a source of considerable turmoil for Cox. The teenager found solace in scholastic activities at Mountain Brook High School, including cheerleading, tennis and swimming. She also made her first inroads into modeling through an advertisement for a local store.

While modeling, she attended acting classes, as her real dream and ambition was to be an actress. In 1984, she landed herself a small part in one episode of "As the World Turns" (1956) as a young débutante named Bunny. Her first big break, however, was being cast by Brian De Palma in the Bruce Springsteen video "Dancing in The Dark". In 1985, she moved to LA to star alongside Dean Paul Martin in "Misfits of Science" (1985). It was a flop, but a few years later, she was chosen out of thousands of hopefuls to play Michael J. Fox's girlfriend, psychology major Lauren Miller in "Family Ties" (1982).

In 1989, "Family Ties" (1982) ended, and Cox went through a lean spell in her career, featuring in unmemorable movies such as Mr. Destiny (1990) with Michael Caine. Fortunes changed dramatically for Cox, when in 1994, she starred alongside Jim Carrey in the unexpected hit Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), and a year later she was cast as Monica Geller on the hugely successful sitcom "Friends" (1994). It was this part that turned her into an international superstar and led to an American Comedy Award nomination. In 1996 Cox starred in Wes Craven's horror/comedy Scream (1996/I) . This movie grossed over $100 million at the box office, and won Cox rave reviews for her standout performance as the wickedly bitchy and smug TV reporter Gale Weathers. She went on to play this character again in each of the three sequels. Not only did her involvement in this movie lead to critical acclaim, but it also led to her meeting actor husband David Arquette. He played her on-screen love interest Dewey, and life imitated art as the two fell in love for real. Their wedding took place in San Francisco, at the historic Grace Cathedral atop Nob Hill, on June 12th, 1999. Joined by 200 guests, including Cox's film star friends Liam Neeson and Kevin Spacey, the happy couple finally became Mr. and Mrs. Arquette.