Lisa Kudrow was born on July 30, 1963 in Encino, California and raised in Tarzana. She is the daughter of headache specialist. Kudrow expected to follow in her father's footsteps when she graduated from Vassar College in New York State with a B.S. in biology and returned to California to work with him. However, Kudrow's career in research was cut short when a friend of her brother, Jon Lovitz (Saturday Night Live alum), suggested that she audition for the comedy troupe, The Groundlings. Kudrow was not accepted the first time because of her lack of experience but after working with Cynthia Szigeti, a well-known comedy teacher, she got in in 1989. During that time, Kudrow entered a romance which evolved into an enduring friendship with then-unknown late night host, Conan O'Brien.

On Kudrow's road to success, she suffered a few disappointments before winning the role of Phoebe Buffay. Kudrow was originally cast as radio producer, Roz Doyle, on Frasier, but was replaced by Pery Gilpin before the pilot episode was filmed. Kudrow also had high hopes that her recurring role as waitress Ursula on Mad About You would turn into a steady gig. Fate, however, had other plans. The next pilot that Kudrow read for and cast in was Friends. The character of Phoebe was never written as a twin, but the producers of Friends found this as an opportunity to do a little crossover with Phoebe and Ursula. This can be seen in The One With The Two Parts - Part One And Two.

Kudrow earned an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy for her work during the show's debut season. She's been busy fighting off the advances of Hollywood movie-makers and advertising representatives ever since. So far, Kudrow's extracurricular activities have included hosting the VH1 Honors Awards, a high profile milk print ad, both with Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), and the Friends infamous Diet Coke campaign. Right now, Kudrow is enjoying life with her French husband, Michael Stern and her son, Julian Murray.