Monica (Courteney Cox)

Courteney Bass Cox was born in Birmingham, Alabama on June 15, 1964. The youngest of four children, Courteney was closest with her father, Richard, who was a contractor (he passed away in 2001). Her parents were divorced in 1974 -- her mother Courteney remarried Hunter Copeland, a businessman, in 1976, while her dad remarried in 1975. Courteney remained in Alabama with her mother and stepfather.







In 1982, Courteney graduated from high school and began studying architecture at Mount Vernon College in Washington. She dropped out after a year to pursue a modeling career as a Ford model. Her portfolio includes magazine covers like Tiger Beat and Little Miss, as well as commercials for Maybelline, Noxzema and Tampax -- as a matter of fact, she was the first person in American TV history to utter the word "period" on the air.

While living in New York in the early '80s, Courteney met Ian Copeland, her stepfather's nephew. The two worked at F.B.I. (Frontier Booking International), a concert booking agency in New York, in 1984. That same year, Courteney gained national exposure when director Brian De Palma selected her from a group of over 300 contenders to star as the girl Bruce Springsteen pulls onstage to dance with him at the end of his "Dancing in the Dark" video.






She starred as Jim Carrey's girlfriend, Melissa Robinson, in the hit film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. That same year, she could be seen as Monica Geller on NBC's Friends, which remained her ultimate role until the show ended in 2004. Interestingly enough, Courteney actually auditioned for the role of bratty Rachel Green, which went to real-life best friend, Jennifer Aniston.

While Courteney was enjoying the benefits of Friends' incredible success (each cast member successfully negotiated their way to a $1 million per episode salary), she appeared as journalist Gale Weathers in 1996's Scream, and reprised the role in the film's sequels in 1997 and 2000.





Scream was more than a success -- it was where Courteney met her husband, David Arquette. Arquette starred as geeky Deputy Dwight "Dewey" Riley, and married Courteney on June 12, 1999.


In addition to roles in The Runner (1999), 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), The Shrink Is In (2001), Get Well Soon (2001), Alien Love Triangle (2002), and November (2004), Courteney had a bit part in 2005's The Longest Yard.





In May 2004, millions of viewers tuned in to watch the Friends finale, which couldn't have come at a better time, as she gave birth to daughter Coco Riley Arquette on June 13, 2004.

Courteney has still been keeping busy with her interior design show, Mix It Up, which she co-produces with David, and roles in movies like 2005's Alpha Dog and 2006's Barnyard and Zoom.