Lauren Graham

LAUREN GRAHAM

Date of Birth: March 16, 1967

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Lauren Graham moved to Northern Virginia with her father when she was five, after her parents divorced. Her mother left to go join a rock band in England, while her father, Larry, was the President of the Chocolate Manufacturer's Association. Growing up, Lauren was a tomboy whose favorite pastimes were reading and riding horses. In fact, she wanted to become a jockey but grew too tall (5'9").

In elementary school she discovered acting and made her debut in a school play. By 1983, she won the lead in her high school's production of Hello Dolly. While still in her teens, Lauren obtained an acting agent and landed her first paying job, in a Planned Parenthood video. After high school she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in English from Barnard College in New York, then earned a Master of Fine Art in Acting from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1995 to further her acting career, Lauren's first break was a recurring role that year as Shelly, Richard's perky girlfriend in the NBC-TV sitcom Caroline in the City. Following a guest appearance on another sitcom, Third Rock from the Sun, Lauren was chosen to be a regular on the new sitcom Good Company (1996). The series was short-lived, but months later Lauren bounced back with another regular role on another new sitcom, Townies (1996), co-starring Jenna Elfman and Molly Ringwald.

Unfortunately, that series didn't last long either, but Lauren kept busy with guest appearances on Law & Order, Seinfeld and NewsRadio, as well as making her feature film debut in Nightwatch (1998) starring Ewan McGregor and Nick Nolte. Regular roles in two more short-lived TV series would follow before Lauren hit it big with the WB's Gilmore Girls. Starring as Lorelai Gilmore, Lauren would win a 2001 Family Television Award and receive a 2002 Golden Globe nomination. The long-running series made her a household name and won her legions of fans.

During hiatus from the show, she continued to work in theater, including a 2002 appearance at The Williamstown Theatre Festival in the comedy Once in a Lifetime, and in major motion pictures such as Bad Santa (2003) with Billy Bob Thornton, The Pacifier (2005) with Vin Diesel and Evan Almighty (2007) with Steve Carrell. Since the show ended, besides continuing to appear in feature films, she landed a starring role on the NBC-TV hour-long series Parenthood, which debuted in 2010. In 2015, she starred in the family film Max, and in 2016 acted in the comedies Joshy and Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life.

Lauren, who lives in Los Angeles, still enjoys reading and claims she never leaves home without a book. Never married, she told E! Online, "I like guys who have some gravity and look like they can ride a horse. It's not a requirement. I just like that rugged look." She also says the reason she works so much is, "I'm nice, and I show up on time."