Jennifer Coolidge

Jennifer Coolidge (born August 28, 1961) is an American character actress who has appeared in films and television, primarily in the comedy genre. Coolidge is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2023, Coolidge was named by Time magazine as one of its 100 most influential people in the world.[2]
Coolidge had supporting roles in the American Pie film series (1999–2012) and the Legally Blonde film series (2001–2003). She has collaborated with Christopher Guest on four of his mockumentary films, Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006), and Mascots (2016). She has also appeared in the films A Cinderella Story (2004), Click (2006), Date Movie (2006), Epic Movie (2007), Promising Young Woman (2020), Single All the Way (2021), and Shotgun Wedding (2022).
On television, Coolidge has appeared in the sitcoms Joey (2004–2006), The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2012), 2 Broke Girls (2011–2017), and the drama series The Watcher (2022). She garnered critical acclaim for her role as Tanya McQuoid, an insecure wealthy woman, in the HBO anthology series The White Lotus (2021–2022), winning two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.
== Early life and education[edit] ==
Coolidge was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 28, 1961, and raised in a small town called Norwell, Massachusetts. As a child, she played the clarinet and attended orchestra camp for three summers.[3] Coolidge is an eighth cousin twice removed of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge.[4][5]
She attended Norwell High School in Norwell, Massachusetts and Cambridge School of Weston in Weston, Massachusetts, and then Emerson College in Boston and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.[6] During college, Coolidge aspired to be a dramatic actress similar to Meryl Streep, but instead pursued comedic character acting.[7] As a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, Coolidge worked as a waitress in a restaurant alongside Sandra Bullock, who also aspired to be an actress.[8]
== Career[edit] ==
=== 1993–1999: Early career[edit] ===
Coolidge made her first television appearance in the November 1993 Seinfeld episode "The Masseuse".[9] In 1994, she was a regular on She TV, a short-lived sketch comedy that also featured Nick Bakay, Elon Gold, Simbi Khali, and Linda Kash. She had small roles appearing in such films as Not of this Earth (1995), A Bucket of Blood, Plump Fiction, and A Night at the Roxbury. She also voiced Luanne's beauty school teacher, Miss Kremzer, in a recurring role on King of the Hill. She worked with The Groundlings, an improv and sketch comedy troupe based in Los Angeles.[10]
=== 1999–2006: American Pie and Legally Blonde film series[edit] ===
link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jennifer_Coolidge.JPG|thumb|Coolidge in March 2005
In 1999, Coolidge got her big break playing Jeanine Stifler, or "Stifler's mom" in American Pie. The film was a box-office hit and grossed $235 million worldwide.[11][12] In 2001, she reprised her role in American Pie 2. Later in that same year, she had a supporting role in Legally Blonde as Paulette Bonafonté Parcelle the manicurist. Legally Blonde was a box-office hit, grossing US$96 million domestically.[13] The film's box-office success led to her reprising the role in its 2003 sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, but the movie was not as financially successful as the first film and generated mostly negative reviews.[14] In 2003, she again played Jeanine Stifler in American Wedding.
In 2003, she played the protagonist's agent Luise in Testosterone filmed in Argentina starring David Sutcliffe as Dean Seagrave and Antonio Sabato, Jr., as Pablo.
In 2004, she had a supporting role in the romantic comedy A Cinderella Story playing Hilary Duff's character's vain, self-absorbed stepmother. The film went on to become a moderate box office hit despite negative critical reviews.[15][16]
She has appeared in 2001 on Frasier as Frederica, Martin Crane's new physical therapist, in 2003-2004 in 3 episodes of According to Jim, playing Roxanne, Jim's sister, and in 2003 in an episode of Sex and the City. Coolidge nearly received the role of Lynette Scavo on Desperate Housewives, but it eventually went to Felicity Huffman.[17] In 2003, she starred in an episode of Friends in its final season as Amanda, an obnoxious acquaintance whom Phoebe Buffay and Monica Geller try to shake off. From 2004 to 2006, Coolidge had a role in the NBC comedy series Joey as Joey Tribbiani's oversexed agent Roberta "Bobbie" Morganstern. During its second season, she went from a recurring character to a more prominent role, appearing in 37 out of 46 episodes in the series. NBC officially canceled the series in May 2006, citing low ratings.[18][19]
Coolidge also appeared in 1998 in the children's comedy Slappy and the Stinkers, and as the voice of Aunt Fanny in the animated feature Robots in 2005. The film was accompanied by an original short animated film based on Robots, titled Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty, in which she reprised her role.[20][21]
In late 2005, Coolidge was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[22] In 2006, she guest starred on an episode of Top Chef, and played as Adam Sandler's wife's friend, Janine, in the comedy film Click. From 2000 to 2006 she played comic parts in the improv mockumentaries Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration, all directed by Christopher Guest.[23]
=== 2006–2011: Supporting roles in comedies and television[edit] ===
She appeared in the 2006 film Date Movie as a spoof of Barbra Streisand's Meet the Fockers character. The film received unfavorable critic reviews and Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film 77th in the 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s, with a rating of 6%.[24] However, Variety did praise Coolidge for providing a few bright moments with a spot-on spoof of Streisand, albeit otherwise unimpressed describing the film as "padded and repetitious".[25]
Epic Movie, released in 2007 and made by the same people behind Date Movie, was the first movie in which she received a starring role. In the film she played the "White Bitch" (the White Witch) of Gnarnia (Narnia), a lampoon of the Disney and Walden Media film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. A. O. Scott of The New York Times called the film "irreverent and also appreciative, dragging its satiric prey down to the lowest pop-cultural denominator" and added, "The humor is coarse and occasionally funny. The archly bombastic score ... is the only thing you might call witty. But happily, Jennifer Coolidge and Fred Willard show up ... to add some easy, demented class."[26]
During 2007, Coolidge appeared on Thank God You're Here and The Closer, on TNT. In 2008, she guest-starred on The Secret Life of the American Teenager as a call girl.[9] In the second season, she was a frequently recurring character, now playing the fiancé of Ben's dad and future stepmother of Ben. She also starred in the 2008 Lifetime Television film Living Proof. Coolidge appeared in the 2008 film Soul Men as Rosalee.[27]
In 2009, Coolidge took a dramatic role in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans as Genevieve McDonagh. The film premiered on September 9, 2009, at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, and it opened in general release in the United States on November 20, 2009.[28] Also In 2009, she starred alongside Heather Graham and Amber Heard in ExTerminators, a black comedy about a set of women who form their own "silent revolution", wreaking havoc on the abusive men in their lives.
In 2010, Coolidge appeared in another film starring Hilary Duff titled Beauty & the Briefcase, an ABC Family television film produced by Image Entertainment that originally aired on April 18, 2010.[29] It was based on the novel Diary of a Working Girl by Daniella Brodsky.[30] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on February 8, 2011.[31]
=== 2011–2019: American Reunion, 2 Broke Girls, and other roles[edit] ===
link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jennifer_Coolidge_2_(cropped).jpg|thumb|Coolidge in March 2012
In June 2011, Coolidge curated a Blake Nelson Boyd art show in New Orleans.[32] In the same month Coolidge began to do standup comedy. She hosted the "Women in Film" at the Beverly Hills Hotel. It went well, and she decided to take an act on the road. Coolidge ended up doing shows all over the country and the world for two years, Scotland included.[33] Coolidge told Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show that she would be touring Australia as part of her Yours for the Night stand-up tour.[34]
In October 2011, Coolidge began a recurring role in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls as Zofia "Sophie" Kaczyński, a Polish neighbor of the two lead characters.[35] She was later promoted to main cast from season 2 up until the show's cancellation in 2017.[36]
Coolidge reprised her role as Jeanine Stifler[37] in an American Pie sequel American Reunion which opened in North America on April 6, 2012.
During 2013, additional voice cast members were announced for B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations, including Coolidge as Carol Sue, a transitions-relations officer.[38] Film distributor 20th Century Fox set November 6, 2015, for the film's release date (which was moved a few months later up to September 25),[39] In 2014, Los Angeles Times reported that the film had been delayed again, with no replacement release date set.[40] It was reported the film's concept has gone back to development.[41] Also in 2013, Coolidge and actress Megan Mullally joined the cast of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; Coolidge playing Ms. Suggs, the driving instructor.[42] The film was released in North America on October 10, 2014.
The next year, she had a voice role in Hell and Back, and had a cameo in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.[43] In 2016 she appeared in Mascots, directed by Christopher Guest.[23] In 2017, Coolidge lent her voice to portray Mary Meh in The Emoji Movie.[44] In 2018, Coolidge made an appearance in Ariana Grande's music video for her song "Thank U, Next".
=== 2020–present: The White Lotus and Single All The Way[edit] ===
In 2020, she starred in Like a Boss, the first studio comedy film of the 2020s, for Paramount Pictures, co-starring with Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne, and Salma Hayek.[45] Coolidge had a supporting role in Emerald Fennell's directorial debut Promising Young Woman as the mother of Carey Mulligan's character, Cassie. The movie received universal acclaim upon release.[46]
In October 2020, Coolidge was cast as Tanya McQuoid, a troubled wealthy woman on vacation, in Mike White's comedy-drama series The White Lotus and began filming shortly after in Hawaii. The show premiered in July 2021 and was widely praised, with Coolidge receiving critical acclaim and winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her performance.[47][48] Coolidge reprised her role for the second season, and received a second Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the role at the 75th Emmy Awards.[49]
In 2021, she starred in the Netflix Christmas romantic comedy Single All the Way alongside Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers, and Kathy Najimy.[50] In 2022, Coolidge starred in Netflix's mini-series The Watcher along with Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale.[51]
== Personal life[edit] ==
Coolidge dated comedian Chris Kattan.[52]
In 2005, after having visited New Orleans up to ten times a year over ten years,[53] Coolidge purchased a house there,[54] which was featured in some of the interior scenes in The Beguiled (2017).[55]
Her charitable work and activism includes supporting AIDS assistance[56] and animal rights.[57]
Coolidge is vegan and is passionate about animal rights causes. She was crowned PETA's "Vegan Queen" in 2023.[58] She has also adopted a dog named Chuy that was rescued from a meat factory in Korea.[3]
== Public image[edit] ==
Coolidge is widely considered a gay icon, often impersonated by drag queens,[59][60][61] with Coolidge noting in 2021 that she surrounded herself socially with gay men and women from a young age. Coolidge has also long been vocal about her support for the LGBT+ community.[62][63][64]
She was one of the people listed on Time's "The 100 Most Influential People of 2023", and was featured on the magazine cover for the issue.[65] She also hosted the 2023 Time 100 gala.[66] In February 2023, Coolidge was named Woman of the Year by Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals.[67]
== Filmography[edit] ==
=== Film[edit] ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1995	Not of this Earth 	Nurse 	
1995	A Bucket of Blood 	Stupid girl 	
1995	Love and Happiness 	Jeringir 	
1997	Plump Fiction 	Sister Sister 	
1997	Trial and Error 	Jacqueline "Jackie" Turreau	
1998	Slappy and the Stinkers 	Harriet 	
1998	A Night at the Roxbury 	Hottie police officer 	
1998	Brown's Requiem 	Helen 	
1999	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 	Woman at football game 	
1999	American Pie 	Jeanine Stifler 	
2000	The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy 	Betty 	
2000	Best in Show 	Sherri Ann Cabot 	
2001	Down to Earth 	Mrs. Belinda Wellington 	
2001	Legally Blonde 	Paulette Bonafonté 	
2001	Pootie Tang 	Ireenie 	
2001	American Pie 2 	Jeanine Stifler 	Uncredited Cameo
2001	Zoolander 	American designer 	
2003	A Mighty Wind 	Amber Cole 	
2003	As Virgins Fall 	Janice Denver 	
2003	Carolina 	Aunt Marilyn 	
2003	Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde 	Paulette Bonafonté Parcelle	
2003	American Wedding 	Jeanine Stifler 	
2003	Testosterone 	Louise 	
2004	A Cinderella Story 	Fiona Montgomery 	
2004	Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events 	White-Faced Woman #1 	
2005	Robots 	Aunt Fanny (voice) 	
2006	Date Movie 	Roz Funkyerdoder 	
2006	American Dreamz 	Martha Kendoo 	
2006	Click 	Janine 	
2006	For Your Consideration 	Whitney Taylor Brown 	
2007	Epic Movie 	The White Bitch of Gnarnia 	
2008	Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief 	Daisy (voice) 	Direct-to-DVD
2008	Foreign Exchange 	Principal Lonnatini 	
2008	Igor 	Jaclyn / Heidi (voice) 	
2008	Soul Men 	Rosalee 	
2009	ExTerminators 	Stella 	
2009	A Good Funeral 	Helen 	
2009	Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans 	Genevieve McDonagh 	
2009	Gentlemen Broncos 	Judith Purvis 	
2010	The Jack of Spades 	Monica 	
2010	Beauty & the Briefcase 	Felisa McCollin 	
2011	Mangus! 	Cookie Richardson 	
2012	American Reunion 	Jeanine Stifler 	
2013	Austenland 	Miss Elizabeth Charming 	
2014	Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day	Ms. Mary Suggs 	
2015	Hell and Back 	Durmessa (voice) 	
2015	Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip 	Mrs. Joan Price 	Cameo[43]
2016	Mascots 	Jolene Lumpkin 	
2017	The Emoji Movie 	Mary Meh (voice) 	
2020	Like a Boss 	Sydney 	
2020	Promising Young Woman 	Susan Thomas 	
2020	Bobbleheads: The Movie 	Binky (voice) 	Direct-to-video
2021	Swan Song 	Dee Dee Dale 	
2021	Arlo the Alligator Boy 	Stucky (voice) 	
2021	Single All the Way 	Aunt Sandy 	
2022	Shotgun Wedding 	Carol Fowler 	
2023	We Have a Ghost 	Judy Romano 	
2025	Minecraft 	TBA 	Post-production
TBA 	Riff Raff 	TBA 	Post-production; also executive producer[68]
=== Television[edit] ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1993 	Seinfeld 	Jodi 	Episode: "The Masseuse"
1994 	She TV 	Various 	
1995 	The Monroes 	Marcia Kelly 	Episode: "Educating Billy"
1996 	Saturday Night Special 	Various 	
1997–1999	King of the Hill 	Miss June Kremzer (voice) 	4 episodes
1998 	Alright Already 	Rhonda 	Episode: "Again with the Hockey Player: Part 1"
1998 	Rude Awakening 	Sue 	2 episodes
1998 	Men in White 	— 	Television film
1999 	Ladies Man 	Helen 	Episode: "Neutered Jimmy"
2001 	The Andy Dick Show 	Nancy Bunting 	Episode: "Kid Krist"
2001 	Frasier 	Frederica 	Episode: "Forgotten But Not Gone"
2001 	Sketch Pad 	The Groundlings 	
2002 	Do Over 	Gwen Brody 	Episode: "Cold War"
2002 	Women vs. Men 	Shelly 	Television film
2003 	Sex and the City 	Victoria 	Episode: "The Perfect Present"
2003 	Friends 	Amanda Buffamonteezi 	Episode: "The One with Ross's Tan"
2003–2004	According to Jim 	Roxanne 	3 episodes
2004 	Game Over 	Ramona (voice) 	Episode: "Into the Woods"
2004 	MADtv 	Herself / Ivanka 	Season 9, episode 23
2004 	Father of the Pride 	Tracy (voice) 	Episode: "And the Revolution Continues"
2004 	As Told by Ginger 	Nikki Laporte (voice) 	Episode: "The Wedding Frame"
2004–2006	Joey 	Roberta "Bobbie" Morganstern 	Main cast; 37 episodes
2005 	Hopeless Pictures 	Traci (voice) 	3 episodes
2006 	Comic Relief 2006 	"Fur" 	Stand-up comedy benefit concert in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
2007–2009	Nip/Tuck 	Candy Richards / CoCo 	3 episodes
2008 	The Closer 	Angie Serabian 	Episode: "Dial M for Provenza"
2008 	Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World	Fannie Mae (voice) 	Episode: "Mom Fight"
2008 	Living Proof 	Tish 	Television film
2008–2009	Yin Yang Yo! 	Coop's mother (voice) 	4 episodes
2008–2012	The Secret Life of the American Teenager 	Betty 	35 episodes
2009 	Kath & Kim 	Lenore 	Episode: "Celebrity"
2009 	Party Down 	Bobbie St. Brown 	2 episodes
2010
2012	The Life & Times of Tim 	Various voices 	3 episodes
2010–2013	Hero Factory 	Daniella Capricorn (voice) 	5 episodes
2011–2014	Fish Hooks 	Ms. Lynne Lips (voice) 	Recurring
2012 	The Game 	Marissa 	Episode: "Skeletons"
2012 	Napoleon Dynamite 	Mrs. Jane Moser (voice) 	2 episodes
2012–2016	Gravity Falls 	"Lazy" Susan Wentworth (voice)	Recurring
2012–2017	2 Broke Girls 	Sophie Kaczyński 	Recurring (season 1); main cast (seasons 2–6) 122 episodes
2015 	Glee 	Whitney S. Pierce 	2 episodes
2015 	Inside Amy Schumer 	Cleopatricia Sherman 	Episode: "Babies and Bustiers"
2015 	TripTank 	Mom (voice) 	Episode: "Steve's Family"
2017 	American Dad! 	Caroline (voice) 	Episode: "A Whole Slotta Love"
2018–2022	The Loud House 	Myrtle (voice) 	5 episodes
2019 	The Cool Kids 	Bonnie 	Episode: "Sid's Ex-Wife"
2020 	Royalties 	Miriam Hale 	3 episodes
2020–2021	The Fungies! 	Dr. Nancy (voice) 	Regular role
2021 	Rick and Morty 	Daphne (voice) 	Episode: "A Rickconvenient Mort"
2021 	I Heart Arlo 	Stucky (voice) 	3 episodes
2021 	Ten Year Old Tom 	Dakota's Mom (voice) 	5 episodes
2021–2022	The White Lotus 	Tanya McQuoid[69] 	Main cast (seasons 1–2)
2022 	The Watcher 	Karen Calhoun 	7 episodes
=== Video games[edit] ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
2005	Robots	Aunt Fanny	Voice[70]
=== Music videos[edit] ===
Year	Title 	Artist 	Role 	Ref.
2018	"Thank U, Next"	Ariana Grande	Paulette Bonafonte	[71]
== Theatre[edit] ==
Year 	Title 	Role 	Venue 	Notes
2001–2002	The Women	Edith Potter 	American Airlines Theatre	77 performances
2010 	Elling 	Reidun Nordsletten / Gunn / Poet / Johanne	Ethel Barrymore Theatre 	9 performances
Category:Actresses
Category:American actresses
Category:Film actresses