Jennifer Coolidge
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Coolidge on her role in "Down to Earth": "Yes, I'm drinking again. I guess I should be worried. I really get offered a lot of bloated alcoholic roles. But I'd rather be a bloated alcoholic than somebody's ordinary wife." --quoted in Toronto Sun, April 4, 2000.
"I remember sitting around this group of girls one time, it was camp or something, and we had to go around and tell everyone what we wanted to do. Everyone said something very realistic and I was like, 'I might be Queen of Monaco.' Everything I thought of was so much grander than what everyone else was thinking. In some ways that has really worked for me. If you shoot way out of the ballpark, somehow you believe something cool could happen." --Jennifer Coolidge to Hollywood.com, July 9, 2001.
Biography
A master of improvisational comedy with movie star beauty, Groundlings grad Jennifer Coolidge broke out as Stifler's Mom in "American Pie" (1999), a role she would recreate for each of its sequels. As one of the star members of Christopher Guest's mockumentary troupe, Coolidge brought her wicked smarts to hilarious characters in "Best in Show" (2000), "A Mighty Wind" (2003) and "For Your Consideration" (2006). She won raves for her Botoxed evil stepmother turn opposite Hilary Duff in the hit "A Cinderella Story" (2004) and charmed Reese Witherspoon as the sweet but spacey manicurist Paulette in "Legally Blonde" (2001) and "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde" (2003). After playing the hard-driving agent of Matt LeBlanc's titular "Joey" (NBC, 2004-06), she scored big-screen laughs in the animated "Robots" (2005), Adam Sandler's "Click" (2006) and the parodies "Date Movie" (2006) and "Epic Movie" (2007). After a dramatic turn in the polarizing "The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans" (2009), she returned to comedy as a former hooker with a heart of gold and head of air on "The Secret Life on the American Teenager" (ABC Family, 2008- ). A thoroughly unique force-of-nature, Jennifer Coolidge brightened any project in which she appeared with her inimitable off-kilter timing and killer comedy instincts.
Born Aug. 28, 1963 in Boston, MA, Jennifer Coolidge moved to New York City and joined the Gotham City Improv group after graduating college with a degree in theater. Blessed with bombshell beauty and an offbeat sense of humor, she proved a natural at improv and an enormously gifted comedian. Coolidge soon moved to Los Angeles and landed a spot in the famed Groundlings troupe, where she began to make a name for herself. Her TV debut came in 1993 as a masseuse who will not give her boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld a rubdown on a particularly memorable episode of "Seinfeld" (NBC, 1989-1998). She landed a featured regular role on the short-lived sketch series "She TV" (ABC, 1994) on ABC and then on the Roseanne-produced "Saturday Night Special" (Fox, 1996) as a writer and performer.
Having appeared in small comedy roles in the Showtime-aired Roger Corman horror presentations "Not of This Earth" and "Bucket of Blood" in 1995, Coolidge made her big-screen debut in the inane courtroom comedy "Trial and Error" (1997), co-starring the erstwhile Kramer himself, Michael Richards. She continued to book small comedic parts that took advantage of her va-va-voom voluptuousness and inimitable off-kilter line readings, including a turn as a sexy cop in the "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ),"A Night at the Roxbury" (1998). She recurred on the animated "King of the Hill" (Fox, 1997-2010) as the voice of Miss Kremzer, the frazzled beauty school teacher of Luanne Platter (Brittany Murphy), and had a bit part in the hit sequel "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (1999).
Coolidge broke out as a comedy star, however, for her turn in the blockbuster teen sex comedy "American Pie" (1999), in which she played Stifler's mom, the alluring and ultimate "MILF." Masterfully turning what could have been an exploitative role into pure charm, Coolidge brilliantly mined its comedy, creating one of the raunchy film's most potent and unexpected set-ups. She next switched gears, radiating empathy as a kind hairdresser in the gay cult hit "The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy" (2000) and then delivered on her "Pie" breakthrough by stealing the Christopher Guest improv-heavy mockumentary "Best in Show" (2000). As Sherri Ann Cabot, a gloriously trashy trophy wife carrying on a secret lesbian affair with her dog trainer (Jane Lynch), Coolidge proved a hilarious comedic secret weapon and quickly became one of Guest's troupe's MVPs, renowned for her ability to play stupid so smartly.
In 2001, she made a cameo as Stifler's Mom in "American Pie 2" and scored laughs again as the gold-digging wife of an elderly mogul inhabited by the spirit of a dead comedian (Chris Rock) in the feature "Down to Earth." She guested in an episode of "Frasier" (NBC, 1993-2004) and beautifully mixed the pathos and comedy of the hard-luck manicurist Paulette who benefits from the pretty-in-pink verve of Reese Witherspoon in "Legally Blonde" (2001). Consistently surprising critics and audiences with her vanity-free, chameleonic performances and otherworldly gift for improv, Coolidge quickly became the go-to character actress who could add a quirky sparkle to any project, brightening such comedies as the rap-centric "Pootie Tang" (2001) and the male model send-up "Zoolander" (2001).
In 2003, Coolidge reunited with Witherspoon in the likable but lesser "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde" and with the "Pie" kids in "American Wedding." She guested on "Sex and the City" (HBO, 1998-2004) and "Friends" (NBC, 1994-2004), and notched another big-screen success with her Guest troupemates in the folk music-themed "A Mighty Wind" (2003), which found Coolidge in razor-sharp comedic form. The following year, she delighted as the Botoxed wicked stepmother in the Hilary Duff tween smash "A Cinderella Story" (2004) for which she won a Teen Choice Award, and recurred on "According to Jim" (ABC, 2001-09). Network execs had had an eye on Coolidge, and she was tapped to join the spin-off "Joey" (NBC, 2004-06) as Bobbi Morganstern, the aggressive and oversexed agent of the titular Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc). Unfortunately, this heavily hyped "Friends" (NBC, 1994-2004) spin-off did not have its predecessor's success and failed spectacularly.
She voiced Aunt Fanny in the animated hit "Robots" (2005) and joined with many of her Guest comrades (including Catherine O'Hara and Jane Lynch) for a small role in the film adaptation of the book series "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" (2004). Invited to join the Academy in 2005, Coolidge channeled Barbra Streisand's "Meet the Fockers" (2004) character in the gross-out parody "Date Movie" (2006) and took a supporting role in the Adam Sandler magic-remote-control comedy "Click" (2006). Although the subsequent Guest mockumentary "For Your Consideration" (2006) was not the smash many hoped it would be, Coolidge remained at the top of her game for her small role as a dazzlingly dizzy movie producer. In the parody "Epic Movie" (2007), she conjured up laughs as the "White Bitch," an echo of Tilda Swinton's "White Witch" in "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (2005).
Coolidge provided voices for the John Cusack animated film "Igor" (2008) and appeared in the acclaimed "Living Proof" (Lifetime, 2008), based on the real-life story of the search for a breast cancer cure. She notched an outrageous arc on the eyebrow-raising plastic surgery drama "Nip/Tuck" (FX, 2003-2010), recurred on the Molly Shannon/Selma Blair suburbia sitcom "Kath & Kim" (NBC, 2008-09) and proved her improv chops were still among the best in the business with two hilarious guest spots on "Party Down" (Starz, 2009-2010). Coolidge took a more dramatic role as an alcoholic in the polarizing Nicholas Cage vehicle, "The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans" (2009), and helped cut through the quirk in "Gentleman Broncos" (2009). She reunited with Hilary Duff for the lightweight charmer "Beauty & the Briefcase" (ABC Family, 2010) and notched a long-running, recurring role as sweet but spacey former hooker, Betty, on "The Secret Life on the American Teenager" (ABC Family, 2008- ). Many were delighted to hear that Coolidge would return yet again as the agelessly seductive Stifler's mom in "American Reunion" (2012), which reunited the original cast to much fanfare.
By Jonathan Riggs
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1993
Made TV debut on an episode of "Seinfeld" (NBC) as a masseuse who refused to offer her professional talents to boyfriend Jerry
1994
Was a regular on the short-lived sketch comedy series "She TV" (ABC)
1995
Featured in the Roger Corman sci-fi/horror presentations "Not of This Earth" and "Bucket of Blood" (both aired on Showtime)
1996
Wrote and joined cast for the short-lived sketch comedy series "Saturday Night Special" (Fox)
1997
Acted in the comedy feature "Trial and Error"
1997
Voiced a recurring role on Fox's animated series "King of the Hill" as Luanne's beauty school teacher Miss Kremzer
1998
Cast in a two-episode recurring role on the Showtime series "Rude Awakening"
1998
Had a cameo as a desirable police officer in "A Night at the Roxbury"
1999
Breakthrough role as Stifler's Mom, the consummate 'MILF' in ensemble teen "American Pie"
2000
Played the gold-digging owner of Rhapsody in White, a perfectly manicured poodle and returning champion, in Christopher Guest's "Best in Show"
2001
Played Paulette, the manicurist, who befriends the lead character Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) in "Legally Blonde"
2001
Appeared on Broadway in the revival of "The Women"
2001
Re-teamed with Rock in the comedy "Pootie Tang"
2001
Played the scheming wife of an elderly mogul (Chris Rock) in "Down to Earth"
2001
Reprised role as Stifler's Mom in "American Pie 2"
2003
Reprised role as Paulette for the sequel "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde"
2003
Re-teamed with Christopher Guest for the mockumentary "A Mighty Wind"
2003
Returned as Stifler's Mom in the comedy sequel "American Wedding"
2003
Cast in a recurring role on ABC's "According to Jim" as Jim's sister
2004
Portrayed the wicked stepmother in the modern day fairytale "A Cinderella Story"
2004
Appeared in "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," based on the books by Daniel Handler
2004
Played a regular on the NBC sitcom "Joey" as Joey's agent Bobbie Morganstern
2005
Voiced Aunt Fanny in the animated feature "Robots"
2006
Re-teamed with Guest to play a producer in "For Your Consideration"
2006
Played Mandy Moore's mother in Paul Weitz's political satire "American Dreamz"
2006
Cast in the comedy film "Date Movie, as a spoof of Barbra Streisand's "Meet the Fockers" character
2007
Had a recurring role on FX's drama series "Nip/Tuck"
2008
Guest starred on the first season of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" (ABC Family) as a call girl; returned for a recurring role starting on the second season
2009
Appeared in Werner Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans"
2012
Reprised role of Stifler's Mom along with original cast in "American Reunion"
2012
Voiced Lazy Susan and other characters on "Gravity Falls"
2012
Starred as Sophie Kachinsky on "2 Broke Girls"
2017
Voiced Mary Meh in "The Emoji Movie"
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Coolidge on her role in "Down to Earth": "Yes, I'm drinking again. I guess I should be worried. I really get offered a lot of bloated alcoholic roles. But I'd rather be a bloated alcoholic than somebody's ordinary wife." --quoted in Toronto Sun, April 4, 2000.
"I remember sitting around this group of girls one time, it was camp or something, and we had to go around and tell everyone what we wanted to do. Everyone said something very realistic and I was like, 'I might be Queen of Monaco.' Everything I thought of was so much grander than what everyone else was thinking. In some ways that has really worked for me. If you shoot way out of the ballpark, somehow you believe something cool could happen." --Jennifer Coolidge to Hollywood.com, July 9, 2001.
On her appearance in "Zoolander", Coolidge told Michael Musto of the Village Voice (October 15, 2001): "By the time I finished, Ben [Stiller] couldn't stand me. I don't even think he said goodbye, he was so pissed. He's kind of aloof to begin with, and then if you're not pleasing him, he's beyond aloof."
