Courteney Cox Biography

Name

Courteney Cox Arquette

Date of Birth

June 15, 1964

Birth Place

Birmingham, Ala.

Relationships

David Arquette, husband (1999 to present) Adam Duritz, ex-boyfriend (1996) Michael Keaton, ex-boyfriend (1989 to 1995)

Children

Coco Riley Arquette, daughter (6/13/2004)

1974

Split Decision

After 19 years of marriage, Cox's parents, Richard, a building contractor, and her mother, Courteney, a homemaker, divorce. She lives with her mother and her three older siblings, a brother and two sisters, in Mountain Brook, Ala.

1982

Model Citizen

Cox begins working for the Ford Modeling Agency. She appears on the covers of teen magazines Tiger Beat and Young Miss before moving to Washington, D.C., to major in architecture at Mount Vernon College. After one year, she drops out and returns to New York to continue modeling.

1984

Bruce Almighty

At an audition for director Brian de Palma, Cox lands the memorable part of a Bruce Springsteen fan in the singer's music video "Dancing in the Dark." She is paid $350 for Springsteen to pluck her from the audience at a concert and dance with her on stage.

1985

A Groundbreaking "Period"

In a commercial for Tampax tampons, Cox becomes the first person to use the word "period" in a biological sense on TV in the U.S. She also lands bit parts on TV shows, including As the World Turns and The Love Boat, before nabbing her first role in a major motion picture, Masters of the Universe, a live-action feature film based on a popular cartoon series.

1987

September

Ties That Bind

Cox gets major exposure as Lauren Miller, the girlfriend of Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox) on the wildly popular TV series Family Ties. Cox's role on the sitcom continues for two seasons.

1988

November 23

Returning to Cocoon

In her first prominent role in a major movie, Cox stars in the drama Cocoon: The Return, sequel to the Ron Howard-directed hit Cocoon. The film costars Hollywood old-timers Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Don Ameche and Wilford Brimley.

1989

April

Dating Michael Keaton

Cox meets actor Michael Keaton after telling a mutual friend that she admired his work in the 1988 drama Clean and Sober. The two begin dating and the relationship lasts 5 ½ years. "It's the most important relationship I've ever had, and I think he's the most wonderful person I've ever met," Cox tells PEOPLE just months after the split.

1994

February 04

All-Righty Then!

Cox scores her first major box office smash with the comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. She plays the love interest opposite a relative unknown by the name of Jim Carrey.

September 22

Making Friends

After playing Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend on an episode of Seinfeld, Cox debuts in what will become her iconic role, Monica Gellar. Her character joins Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer on the NBC sitcom Friends about six twentysomething New Yorkers.

1995

May 08

PEOPLE's Cover Girl

With a hit on her hands, the raven-haired pixie appears on the cover of PEOPLE's "50 Most Beautiful People" issue. "I only have to do three things to look halfway decent," Cox Arquette tells the magazine. "Curl my eyelashes, fill in my eyebrows and put some lipstick on."

1996

December 18

It's A Scream

Cox stars in the teen-slasher flick Scream, which grosses more than $103 million domestically. While filming, Cox, 32, becomes close with costar David Arquette, 25. "I'm a little too wild for her," he tells PEOPLE at the time. "She deserves someone more together than I am." In September 1998, Arquette asks Cox to marry him.

1999

June 12

Tying the Knot

Cox becomes Cox Arquette when she marries David Arquette in San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. Guests, including Brad Pitt and Friends costars Aniston, Perry and Kudrow, look on as she walks down the aisle to Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed." The two exchange vows, with Cox Arquette wearing a one-of-a-kind Valentino dress.

2001

November

Mass Production

Cox Arquette expands her repertoire, producing the comedy The Shrink Is In. She and husband David star. While the movie goes straight to video, Cox Arquette continues to produce several TV projects. A 2003 series, Mix It Up, incorporates one of her passions, home decorating.

2004

January 23

Farewell Friends

After 10 seasons as one of America's most unforgettable sitcoms, Cox Arquette and her costars tape the final episode of Friends. Major waterworks and as costar and best friend Aniston calls it, "inevitable pain" ensue.

June 13

Welcome, Coco

The Cox Arquettes add a third member to the family with daughter Coco Riley Arquette. She is born in L.A. a day before the couple's fifth anniversary, reports PEOPLE. The healthy 6-lb. girl was conceived via in vitro fertilization and "is the best present they could have hoped for," a source close to the Arquettes tells PEOPLE. "It's been a long haul." The couple plans to have a second child.

2005

August 25

Auction Hero

Cox Arquette organizes an auction for the family of Natalee Holloway, an Alabama teen who attended her former high school and who disappeared three months earlier under suspicious circumstances while vacationing in Aruba. The 200 items Cox Arquette auctions off help raise $110,000 to aid in covering the legal fees and travel expenses of Holloway's family.

2007

January 01

A Dirty Return

Cox Arquette returns to the small screen to play an editor-in-chief of two tabloid magazines in the FX network drama Dirt. She and her husband both serve as executive producers for the show, which premieres to 3.7 million viewers. On the show's season finale in March, fellow Friends costar Jennifer Aniston guest stars as a rival magazine editor, who shares a much-publicized onscreen kiss with Cox Arquette.

2008

November

Courteney Dishes on Botox

Cox Arquette appears on the cover of Marie Claire, where she opens up about anti-aging cosmetic procedures–specifically Botox, which she says she "hated." The actress, whose FX series Dirt was cancelled after two seasons, hasn't ruled out future procedures, but has to clear that decision with her husband: "He loves the aging process. He thinks it's beautiful, [so] I'm under pressure to not do anything."

2009

January 06

Cougar Courteney

Cox Arquette returns to primetime with a guest stint on Scrubs as chief of medicine Dr. Maddox in the show's final season. The actress, who has a development deal with ABC Studios, also returns to the small screen in September as executive producer and star of Cougar Town, playing a newly-single 40-year-old mother.  2010 February 26 Sure, you know Courteney Cox as the sexy star of ABC's Wednesday  comedy Cougar Town, wife to actor David Arquette and mom to 5-year-old daughter Coco. But here are some things you might not know about her: 1. She likes to eat: "At a diner, I'll get scrambled egg whites, turkey bacon, sliced tomato, cottage cheese and a scooped-out onion bagel with cream cheese … My favorite meal is New York grilled steak with sautéed garlic spinach and broccoli and maybe garlic chips or garlic fries. I like anything green and I love steak." 2. She has a celebrity crush: "Johnny Depp! He's my favorite actor of our day. He's it! Don't get me wrong, I'm in love with my husband, but Johnny Depp is adorable!" 3. She swears by the Tracey Anderson Method workout: "It kicks my ass and I love it. The Tracey Anderson Method is two parts: dance aerobics and toning. The whole process is about working your accessory muscles, not just your major muscle groups that get worked all the time. You never stay in one constant motion so you don't get bulky in one particular area. I was turned onto it in July, and I've seen a big change in my body. And you want the [workout] room to be very hot." 4. She loves clean teeth: "I'm all about brushing my teeth. I like a hard toothbrush – I do not care whatever plaque I'm taking off, I want it all off! And I switch off between vanilla mint and cinnamon Crest and Elgydium by Pierre Fabre from France. It's potent and I like it." 5. She likes to rock out: "I work out to all Michael Jackson songs. And I'm a huge fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I like 'Tell Me Baby' and 'Snow.' [Another] favorite is Jay-Z and Alicia Key's 'Empire State of Mind,' because my daughter can sing Alicia's whole part. I don't even know how she knows the words."