- 1976
The Bionic Baby
Days of Our Lives's John Aniston (he plays villain Victor Kiriakis) and his wife Nancy enroll their 6-year-old daughter Jennifer in Manhattan's Rudolf Steiner School, which encourages students to refrain from watching TV and movies. When Aniston's half brother, John Melick, babysits, she sneaks in episodes of The Bionic Woman. "She'd make that ba-na-na-na-na sound effect around the house, running around directing herself in scenes from the show," Melick tells PEOPLE in 1997. "I guess she was destined for television."
- 1993
Not So Lucky Break
After skipping college to wait tables and pursue acting in New York, Aniston appears in the horror flick Leprechaun. But there it's no pot of gold: The film pulls in just $8.5 million. However, her luck changes the following year when she reads for a new sitcom called Friends. She lands the part of Rachel Green just three hours after her audition.
- 1995
Hair-Do
Aniston's layered haircut dubbed "The Rachel," after her Friends character, launches a national trend. "It's bizarre," 26-year-old Aniston tells PEOPLE in December. "I keep thinking, 'Wait – it's just me!' "
- 1996
Mommy Dearest
Aniston's mother, Nancy, gives an interview about her famous daughter, commenting on Friends and "The Rachel" to a tabloid TV show, which leads to her estrangement with her daughter. Their relationship will further be severed when Nancy writes a book about their mother-daughter relationship in 1999.
Romance in the Air
Aniston shares the screen with Edward Burns and Cameron Diaz in She's the One. It will be the first in a string of romantic comedies for the actress, including Picture Perfect and The Object of My Affection with Paul Rudd. But it isn't until 1999's cult classic Office Space that Aniston brings her real comedic chops.
- 1998
Red-Carpet Shuffle
The actress and her reported love interest, Brad Pitt, set a red-carpet trend for future celebrity couples: At the premiere of Pitt's Meet Joe Black the stars arrive in separate limos to avoid being photographed together.
- 2000
Jen & Brad: "I Do"
In a top-secret Malibu ceremony, Aniston and Pitt wed. Aniston promises to always make her husband's "favorite banana milkshake" in front of their 200 guests. The wedding costs an estimated $1 million which includes 50,000 flowers, four bands, Dom Perignon and fireworks. The newlyweds go on to purchase a $13.5 million five-bedroom Beverly Hills estate complete with wine cellar and screening room. They spend millions renovating it, despite different design tastes. (Aniston later admits that she never cared for Pitt's modern design style.)
- 2002
Good Times
Aniston receives glowing reviews at Sundance for her un-Rachel-like role in the indie hit The Good Girl, costarring Jake Gyllenhaal.
Aniston Wins an Emmy
In its ninth season, Friends wins the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy and Aniston takes home the Best Lead Actress statuette for the first time. Aniston's long wait for an Emmy was prolonged by stammering presenter Bob Newhart. "It felt like a year," she tells PEOPLE. "I thought maybe it was going to be somebody else."
- 2004
End of an Era
After ten years on one of America's most unforgettable sitcoms, Aniston and her costars tape the final episode of Friends. Major waterworks and as Aniston calls it, "inevitable pain" ensue.
Photo Credits
BIOGRAPHY (top to bottom): Trimark Pictures/Photofest; Everett; 20th Century Fox/Everett; AP; Everett Collection; Fitzroy Barrett/GLOBE; PHOTOFEST
- Name
- Jennifer Aniston
- Birth Date
- February 11, 1969
- Birth Place
- Sherman Oaks, Calif.
- Heart Monitor
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John Mayer, boyfriend (2008 to present)
Paul Sculfor (dated briefly in 2007)
Vince Vaughn, ex-boyfriend (2005 to 2006)
Brad Pitt, ex-husband (1998 to 2005)
Tate Donovan, ex-boyfriend (1995 to 1998)
Adam Duritz, ex-boyfriend (1995)
Charlie Schlatter, ex-boyfriend (1990 to 1991)
