Jennifer Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning American film and television actress, best known for her role as Rachel Green in the popular television sitcom Friends. Since Friends she has starred in several successful Hollywood films, including Bruce Almighty, Along Came Polly and The Break-Up.Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, California and grew up in New York City. She is the daughter of the Greek-American actor John Aniston (originally Ioannis Anastasakis) and actress Nancy Dow. Aniston has two half-brothers, John Melick and Alex Aniston. Aniston's father was born on the island of Crete, while her maternal grandfather, Gordon McLean Dow, was of Scottish and English descent, and her maternal grandmother, Louise Grieco, was of Italian ancestry. Aniston's godfather was the late Greek American actor Telly Savalas, her father's best friend. Aniston spent part of her childhood in Greece, but most of it in New York City, where her father appeared in the soap operas Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow. In 1985, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Aniston's father starred on the soap opera Days of our Lives as Victor Kiriakis. Aniston graduated from Manhattan's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Among her high school friends was future gay rights activist Chastity Bono. Aniston's desire to become an actress grew as she worked in Off-Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave. During this time, she supported herself with several part-time jobs, including working as a telemarketer and bike messenger.
Aniston has previously dated musician Adam Duritz, actor Paul Rudd and was engaged to actor Tate Donovan. Her high-profile relationship with actor Brad Pitt was frequently publicized in the press. She married Pitt on July 29, 2000, in a lavish Malibu wedding. Though their marriage was, for years, considered the rare Hollywood success, rumors of trouble began circulating, and the Pitts announced their separation on January 7, 2005. As Pitt's marriage to Jennifer drew to a close, he and actress Angelina Jolie were involved in a well-publicized Hollywood scandal in which Jolie was often painted as the "other woman," largely due to their chemistry during the filming of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith. While Jolie and Pitt both denied any claims of adultery, speculations continued to mount throughout 2004 and early 2005. Aniston and Pitt later separated on January 7, 2005, and Aniston officially filed for divorce on March 25, 2005. The divorce was finalized on October 2, 2005.
Media reports have speculated that the split was due to Aniston's refusal to have children. Aniston vehemently denied the latter in an August 2005 Vanity Fair interview, stating, "I've never in my life said I didn't want to have children... I've always wanted to have children, and I would never give up that experience for a career."
She has also stated that the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped to make the separation from Pitt easier, more than a year ago was "devastating." Summing up her relationship with Pitt, Aniston has said that their relationship, which she does not regret, was "seven very intense years together" and that "it was a beautiful, complicated relationship."
Since the couple's divorce, Aniston has been romantically linked with actor Vince Vaughn. In August of 2006, Aniston denied rumors that the two were engaged or that Vaughn had proposed.In October 2006, gossip magazine Us Weekly quoted sources from Vaughn that the couple had split. "Jen lives in a crazy crazy world with all the press. It's just not his world." In December 2006, reps for both Aniston and Vaughn confirmed that they had indeed split up a few weeks before when Aniston visited Vaughn in London.
Courteney Cox Arquette is Aniston's best friend. In 2007, Aniston was invited to guest star in an episode of Arquette's new television show Dirt. Aniston played Arquette's snobby rival Tina Harrod on March 27. Jennifer Aniston is also the godmother of Courtney's child, Coco.
She has had two septoplastys to thin her deviated septum: one incorrectly done in 1994 and one in early 2007. This is a simple medical procedure which helps cure the common condition which can lead to breathing difficulty and trouble sleeping. Tabloids reported this as a "nose job."
