Lisa Kudrow is is a Jewish American-Emmy Award winning actress who was born in Encino, California.

Her father is Lee Kudrow and her mother is Nedra Kudrow. She has one sister and two brothers. Older sister, Helene Sherman, older brother, David Kudrow and older brother, Derrick Kudrow. She went to Portola Middle School, in Tarzana, California, and graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology. She is fluent in French.

She began her comedic career as a member of The Groundlings. Her first major television role was Ursula Buffay, the eccentrically silly waitress on Mad About You. This led to her starring role on Friends as Ursula's sister, Phoebe Buffay, a role for which she won an Emmy Award in 1998 for Best Actress In A Comedy Series.

She is married to French-born Michel Stern and has one son, Julian Murray (born May 7, 1998). Kudrow has spoken publicly about having saved her virginity until marriage. Her mother taught her from an early age that her virginity was a special gift and she wanted to save it for her husband.

Her film credits include Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, The Opposite of Sex, Hanging Up, Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That. She has also starred in the biopic Wonderland about the late porn star John Holmes.

Kudrow portrayed Valerie Cherish, the main character on the HBO original series, The Comeback. The series premiered on HBO on June 5, 2005. She also served as co-creator, writer and executive producer. The show was cancelled by the network during its first season.