PLEASURE WORLD

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Jennifer Coolidge was born on August 28, 1963, in Boston, Massachusetts. As the daughter of Paul Coolidge, who worked as a plastics manufacturer, Jennifer was reluctant to continue in her dad’s footsteps. Singing was her first choice, but as she grew older, the lure of comedy quickly took over.

In 1985, Jennifer Coolidge graduated from Boston’s Emerson College with a bachelor’s degree in theater and moved to New York City to study with the Gotham City Improv group. At the time, she also waited tables in a restaurant with an unknown — at the time — actress named Sandra Bullock. When L.A. called, Jennifer left Gotham to join the renowned The Groundlings comedy troupe, which introduced her to fellow members Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan. She briefly dated Kattan a few years later.

Jennifer Coolidge on seinfeld

Jennifer’s work with The Groundlings caught the attention of Hollywood casting agents and in 1993, she was offered a guest spot on Seinfeld. Her role as Jerry’s masseuse girlfriend who refuses to massage him was a riot for audiences and she won subsequent plum roles on the TV sketch comedies, She TV and Saturday Night Special, but neither of these series would have durable shelf-lives.

With TV work looking spotty, Coolidge decided to work on films at the same time. She worked on two films for legendary producer Roger Corman — Not of This Earth (1995) and A Bucket of Blood (1995) — before working with Seinfeld star Michael Richards in his 1997 comedy, Trial and Error (1997). Jennifer continued to work steadily in films like A Night at the Roxbury (1998) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), and in TV series such as King of the Hill, but when she signed on for a 1999 low-budget comedy called American Pie, her career changed in a heartbeat.

Jennifer Coolidge in american pie

Although her role in American Pie was only a cameo as Steve Stifler’s hot momma, Jennifer Coolidge’s performance was sexy and silly in equal parts and the character gained a devoted following. Stifler’s Mom was brought back for two sequels, spawned a cover band of the same name and a song parody of the similarly titled “Stacy’s Mom.” While the American Pie writers can take a fair amount of credit for creating the character, Jennifer can sit comfortably knowing that she brought it to life.

Jennifer Coolidge continued her hot streak after American Pie when she forged a successful professional partnership with respected comedy actor-director Christopher Guest. Guest had watched Jennifer in action during her improv days, so he cast her as a money-hungry dog owner in 2000′s Best in Show. The warm reception to her character led to roles in each of Guest’s subsequent films, A Mighty Wind (2003) and For Your Consideration (2006), which both netted Jennifer further comedy and industry respect. In 2001, she joined the cast of Legally Blonde and would reprise her manicurist role for the sequel two years later.

Jennifer Coolidge on joey

By 2004, Jennifer’s film career was flying at full tilt with an award-winning role as the evil stepmother to Hilary Duff in A Cinderella Story. Even with this kind of success, Jennifer continued to pursue TV roles and guest appearances on the side. One of these guest spots was on Friends, where she played a perpetual annoyance to Rachel and Monica. Jennifer nearly landed Felicity Huffman’s role on Desperate Housewives, but the Friends producers came calling again and invited her to audition for a cameo as Matt LeBlanc’s over-the-top agent on the spin-off series Joey. Jennifer’s terrific audition made the role a permanent fixture on the series and she worked steadily on the show for its two-season run.

Since Joey ended in 2006, Jennifer has maintained her balance of television and film work. The former has included a guest-stint on Nip/Tuck, while the latter has offered her roles in Click (2006), Date Movie (2006) and Epic Movie (2007). In 2008, Jennifer lent her voice to the imaginative animated film Igor and costarred in the offbeat comedy Say Hello to Stan Talmadge.

We don’t know if Jennifer Coolidge will soon portray another popular character like Stifler’s Mom, but she’s great at what she does and she’s having a swell time doing it.

Buying a cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?

Filmography

Films

Television