Courteney Cox is an American actress known as Monica Geller on the TV series Friends released in 1994 which was shown on the NBC network till 2004. The producer cum director is also known for her role in the horror series Scream where she was featured as Gale Weathers. Read her interesting bio and learn some facts you never knew about the superstar.
Courteney Cox Bio, Age
Courteney Cox was born as the youngest of her parent’s four children. She was born Courteney Bass Cox in Birmingham, Alabama on June 15, 1964. Her family is well-to-do to do and she was named after her mother, Courteney Bass. Her father, Richard Lewis Cox, was a wealthy and successful businessman who died in 2001. Cox has three older siblings – two sisters and a brother – are Virginia, Dorothy, and Richard Jr. Being the last born in an affluent home, she grew with everything she ever wanted. Her blissful family life was, however, interrupted when her parent’s marriage fell apart and her father had to move to Florida in 1974. She was ten years old at the time.
Her mother, Courteney moved on and got married again to New York businessman, Hunter Copeland, who became her step-father. And even though she was a daddy’s girl, she had to live with her mother. The devastation caused by the separation of her parents made her resentful to her step-father and also to her mother. Cox had her high school education in Mountain Brook High School where she had an interest in swimming and tennis. She was also a cheerleader in high school.
Cox had her first shot at modeling when she was used in an advert for Parisians in her final year at Mountain Brook High School. She graduated from high school in 1982 and proceeded to Mount Vernon College where she intended to study Architecture and Interior Design. Her short time in college didn’t earn her a degree as she left college after one year and moved to New York in pursuit of a career in modeling which ultimately led her to the big screens.
About her ancestry, Cox is of mixed descent which is traced to Swedish, German, English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish origins. She found out through the show Who Do You Think You Are? that she is a direct descendant of William the Conqueror and that her ancestors were involved in the overthrow and murder of King Edward II of England. However, her nationality is American and she holds a white ethnicity.
Modeling and Acting Career
Courteney Cox was signed by Ford Modelling Agency while she was in her first year at Mount Vernon College where she was studying architecture leaving her with no option than to abandon college and pursue her dreams. Being a teen at the time, she featured in several teen magazines and romantic novels and became the face in commercials for Noxema, Tampax, Maybelline, and New York Telephone Company. As she progressed in her modeling career, she began to set eyes towards acting and in the realization of this ambition, she enrolled for acting classes.
Her first attempt at professional acting was in 1984 when she featured in a small role in one episode of the 1956 series As the World Turns. She would, however, announce herself with a paid role in the Bruce Springsteen video Dancing in the Dark where he walked to her in the crowd, offered his hand, pulled her up to the stage and danced with her. She moved over to Los Angeles in 1985 and landed a role in the successful series Family Ties. Other films and TV shows in which she has featured include Down Twisted (1986), Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Scream (1996), Commandments (1997), Scream 2 (1998), Cougar Town (2009), to mention just a few of them. She is however widely popular and became a star for her role in the hit TV show Friends (1994-2004) where she cast the character of “Monica Geller”.
Husband, Daughter
The fabulous actress was married once to fellow actor, David Arquette. They met on the set of the 1996 film, Scream where they acted as lovers. The events in the film seemed to follow them to the real world and a relationship blossomed between them. On June 12, 1999, their wedding took place at the historic Grace Cathedral atop Nob Hill, in San Francisco in a ceremony that attracted Cox’s friends including Liam Neeson and Kevin Spacey.
Five years later, the couple welcomed their daughter, Coco Riley Arquette, who was born on June 13, 2004, and she named her friend Jennifer Aniston the baby’s godmother. The duo established a production company together – Coquette Productions but it wasn’t enough to save their marriage from crashing. After about 11 years of being married, they announced their separation on October 11, 2010, and finally concluded the divorce in May 2013.
Other Relationships
Cox has been involved in other relationships that have caught the public’s attention both before and after her marriage to David Arquette. She dated rock promoter, Ian Copeland, who is also her step-cousin (Ian is the nephew of her step-father) in 1984. Other previous affairs include Michael Keaton and Adam Duritz of Counting Crows. Michael Keaton is an actor known for Batman and she dated him for five years – from 1990 to 1995. She dated the singer Adam Duritz in 1997 and he even wrote a song on his groups’ album “Recovering the Satellites” for her.
Currently, Courteney Cox is dating Snow Patrol band member Johnny McDaid. The duo started dating in 2013 and announced their engagement on Twitter on June 26, 2014, but they are not married yet.
Net Worth
Courtney lives a wealthy life. She enjoys a successful career in the entertainment industry and has many fans who are loyal and proud of her. Her net worth both as an actress and a producer has been reported by several sources to be about $120 million. Considering that she is not retired yet, and going by the fact that roles and projects still come her way, it won’t be surprised if her current net worth changes in a jiffy.
Height and Quick Facts about Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox is not a tall woman. Her height is 1.65m (5ft). She weighs 63kg and her body measurements are 35-24-34 inches.
As well as being an actress, Cox is also a producer and director.
She has undergone an eye correcting laser surgery to correct her vision from 20/400.
She had eight miscarriages in nine years from 2001 to 2010 when she was with her estranged husband.
Her daughter Coco was born two days before she turned forty and one days after her fifth marriage anniversary.
Even though she appeared for the character Monica Geller on Friends (1994)O, Cox was initially asked to play the role of Rachel while she preferred the former.
Cox loves dogs. She has two males and one female named: Ella, Rags, and Mac respectively
Her cousin, Jennifer Kristin Cox is also an actress.
She plays some musical instruments such as the piano and drums.
She does real estate. She buys houses, renovates them, and then sells them off at a higher price.
