Jennifer Audrey Coolidge (born 28 August 1961) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her roles as Jeanine Stifler in the American Pie film series (1999–2012) and as Paulette Bonafonté Parcelle in the Legally Blonde film series(2001–2003). She is a regular actor in Christopher Guest's mockumentary films, such as Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind(2003), For Your Consideration (2006), and Mascots (2016).
Coolidge also appeared in the films A Cinderella Story (2004), Click (2006), Date Movie (2006), Epic Movie (2007), American Dreamz (2006), Soul Men(2008), Gentlemen Broncos (2009), Austenland (2013), Like a Boss (2020), Promising Young Woman (2020), and Single All the Way (2021). On television, she is known for her roles as Roberta "Bobbie" Morganstern in the NBCsitcom Joey (2004–2006), Betty in the ABC Family teen drama series The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2012), Zofia "Sophie" Kaczyński in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls (2011–2017), and Tanya McQuoid in the HBOanthology series The White Lotus (2021), the latter of which earned her critical acclaim, winning the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries and receiving a Golden Globe Awardnomination.
Coolidge is an alumna of The Groundlings, an improv and sketch comedy troupe based in Los Angeles.[2]
Early life[]
Coolidge was born in Boston to Gretchen (née Knauff) and Paul Constant Coolidge, a plastics manufacturer.[citation needed] She was raised in Norwell, Massachusetts. She is one of four children, with a brother, Andrew, and two sisters, Elizabeth and Susannah. Coolidge attended Norwell High School, the Cambridge School of Weston, and pursued university studies at Emerson College in Boston and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.[3] Coolidge played the clarinet and went to orchestra camp for three summers as a child.[4]
During college, Coolidge wanted to become a dramatic actress like Meryl Streep, but instead became a comedic character actress.[5]