| name = Jennifer Aniston
| birthdate = February 11, 1969
| location = Sherman Oaks, California, USA
| height =
| deathdate =
| birthname =
| othername =
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| notable role = Rachel Green in ''
Friends''
}}
'''Jennifer Aniston'''
["Jennifer Aniston" is her birth name. She was not born under a longer, much-rumored but incorrectly so Greek first/middle/last name (nor does she have a middle name). Her father had legally changed the name before her birth] (born February 11 1969) is an American film and televison actress. She grew up in Greece, California, and New York City, and began appearing in stage productions in the late 1980s. After several lesser known film and television roles during the early 1990s, Aniston came to fame playing Rachel Green on the highly popular television sitcom ''
Friends'' for which she won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. She has since established a film career, having starred in several Hollywood films, including ''
Bruce Almighty'' and ''
Rumor Has It''. Aniston has also become known for her marriage to, and eventual divorce from, actor Brad Pitt, and for her much-rumored subsequent relationship with actor Vince Vaughn.
One of Aniston's most notable current projects include the movie version of Nina Solomon's novel, Single Wife.
Biography
Early life
Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, California to actor John Aniston (originally Ioannis Anastassakis) and his then-wife Nancy Dow, who was also an actress; she has two half-brothers, John Melick (older) and Alex Aniston, who is younger. Aniston's Greek father was born in Crete, while her maternal grandfather, Gordon McLean Dow, was of Scottish and English descent and her maternal grandmother, Louise Grieco, was of Italian ancestry.
[Aniston's family tree can be viewed at http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=geolarson2&id=I210712] Aniston's godfather was the late Greek American actor Telly Savalas, who was her father's best friend, and Aniston spent some of her childhood in Greece, but most of it in New York City, where her father appeared in the soap operas ''
Love of Life'' and ''Search for Tomorrow''. In 1985, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Aniston's father starred on the soap opera ''Days of our Lives''.
Aniston attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, and was a member of the drama club; among her high school friends was future human rights activist Chastity Bono. Aniston's desire to become an actress grew as she worked in Off-Broadway productions such as ''For Dear Life'' and ''Dancing on Checker's Grave''. During this time, she supported herself with several part time jobs, including working as a telemarketer and
