- Born
- Birth nameCourteney Bass Cox
- Nicknames
- CeCe
- Coco
- Height5′ 5″ (1.65 m)
- Courteney Cox was born on June 15th, 1964 in Birmingham, Alabama, into
an affluent Southern family. She is the daughter of Courteney (Bass)
and Richard Lewis Cox (1930-2001), a businessman. She was the baby of
the family with two older sisters (Virginia and Dottie) and an older
brother, Richard, Jr. She was raised in an exclusive society town,
Mountain Brook, Alabama. Courteney was the archetypal daddy's girl, and
therefore was understandably devastated when, in 1974, her parents
divorced, and her father moved to Florida.
She became a rebellious teen, and did not make things easy for her
mother, and new stepfather, New York businessman Hunter Copeland. Now,
she is great friends with both. She attended Mountain Brook High
School, where she was a cheerleader, tennis player and swimmer. In her
final year, she received her first taste of modeling. She appeared in
an advert for the store, Parisians. Upon graduation, she left Alabama
to study architecture and interior design at Mount Vernon College.
After one year she dropped out to a pursue a modeling career in New
York, after being signed by the prestigious Ford Modelling Agency. She
appeared on the covers of teen magazines such as Tiger Beat and Little
Miss, plus numerous romance novels. She then moved on to commercials
for Maybeline, Noxema, New York Telephone Company and Tampax.
While modeling, she attended acting classes, as her real dream and
ambition was to be an actress. In 1984, she landed herself a small part
in one episode of
As the World Turns (1956)
as a young débutante named Bunny. Her first big break, however, was
being cast by Brian De Palma in the
Bruce Springsteen video "Dancing in
The Dark". In 1985, she moved to LA to star alongside
Dean Paul Martin in
Misfits of Science (1985).
It was a flop, but a few years later, she was chosen out of thousands
of hopefuls to play
Michael J. Fox's girlfriend,
psychology major Lauren Miller in
Family Ties (1982).
In 1989, Family Ties (1982)
ended, and Cox went through a lean spell in her career, featuring in
unmemorable movies such as
Mr. Destiny (1990) with
Michael Caine. Fortunes changed
dramatically for Cox, when in 1994, she starred alongside
Jim Carrey in the unexpected hit
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994),
and a year later she was cast as Monica Geller on the hugely successful
sitcom Friends (1994). It was this
part that turned her into an international superstar and led to an
American Comedy Award nomination. In 1996 Cox starred in
Wes Craven's horror/comedy
Scream (1996) . This movie grossed over
$100 million at the box office, and won Cox rave reviews for her
standout performance as the wickedly bitchy and smug TV reporter Gale
Weathers. She went on to play this character again in each of the three
sequels. Not only did her involvement in this movie lead to critical
acclaim, but it also led to her meeting actor husband
David Arquette. He played her
on-screen love interest Dewey, and life imitated art as the two fell in
love for real. Their wedding took place in San Francisco, at the
historic Grace Cathedral atop Nob Hill, on June 12th, 1999. Joined by
200 guests, including Cox's film star friends
Liam Neeson and
Kevin Spacey, the happy couple finally
became Mr. and Mrs. Arquette.- IMDb Mini Biography By: David Ross
- SpouseDavid Arquette(June 12, 1999 - May 28, 2013) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- ParentsCourteney BassRichard Lewis CoxHunter Copeland
- RelativesDottie Pickett (Cox)(Sibling)Virginia Cox(Sibling)Richard Cox(Sibling)Jennifer Kristin Cox(Cousin)Valerie Bertinelli(Cousin)Enzo Rossi(Niece or Nephew)Harlow Jane(Niece or Nephew)Zoë Bleu Sidel(Niece or Nephew)
- Black hair and blue eyes
- Gave up smoking with husband David Arquette shortly before their wedding in 1999. Admits to having smoked since she was age 13.
- She was paid $350 for her role as the "surprised" girl pulled from the crowd to dance with Bruce Springsteen in his 1984 music video "Dancing in the Dark".
- Was six months pregnant, with her daughter Coco, when she completed filming on the final season of Friends (1994).
- She was the inspiration to the running gag of the Carlton Dance on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990). The Carlton Dance was a parody of her dance during Bruce Springsteen's music video "Dancing in the Dark".
- Had eight miscarriages between 2001-2010 during her marriage to David Arquette. Her first miscarriage happened in 2001, before her daughter Coco was born; the next seven miscarriages happened after Coco's birth. The eighth miscarriage happened in August 2010.
- It's not like I let people do things for me, so I guess you can call me a control freak, or you can call me passionate... I'm not a passive person by any stretch of the imagination.
- I get so bored! I had a treadmill... I gave it to my mom. I had a stairmaster... gone. I had a recumbent bike... I don't know where that is. So I hate exercise except for Pilates.
- I'm a gemini, and I get so bored so easily. I mean, I have moved six
times in the last eight years. - A lot of my humor does come from anger. It's like, you're not gonna pull one over on me - which is pretty much my motto anyways.
- I'm not a huge fan of romantic comedies - my taste goes much more to the offbeat and dark. I'd love to sink my teeth into something like Fargo (1996).
- Friends: The Reunion (2021) - $2,500,000
- Scream 4 (2011) - $7,000,000
- Cougar Town (2009) - $100,000 /episode (2009-10)
- November (2004) - $150,000
- 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) - $7,500,000
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content