Jennifer Aniston

Born on February 11, 1969, Jennifer grew up in the LA town of Sherman Oaks. Her Greek parents, both actors, perhaps hoped that she would follow in their footsteps and made Telly Savalas, alias TV's Kojak, her godfather. After spending a year living in Greece, the family returned to the States, settling in New York, where her father won a part on the US soap opera, Days Of Our Lives.

In 1980 her parents divorced and Jennifer lived mainly with her mother Nancy, although the two fell out after Nancy appeared on US television to talk about her famous daughter. "I will never forgive you," Jennifer apparently told her mother.

The show that made the actress famous was, of course, Friends. Jennifer had been cast in 1994 as Central Perk cafe waitress Rachel Green, alongside Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry. Her layered hairstyle earned her the sobriquet of "America's First Hairdo" from Rolling Stone magazine.

The global success of the programme ensured the six stars were among the highest-paid TV actors after they agreed individual salaries of $750,000 per show in 2000. But a fat paycheque is not the be-all and end-all in Hollywood, and what Jennifer really wanted was silver screen success. Her first foray into movies was the schlock-horror movie Leprechaun in 1993, but it didn't exactly propel her into superstardom.

The Friends phenomenon had studio executives in a frenzy, however, and she was offered many roles. Several of these were romantic comedies such as She's The One and The Object Of My Affection, which mirrored her work in Friends where she had a long on-screen love affair with David Schwimmer's Ross. But none made much of an impact. Undaunted, Jen went on to make 2001's Rock Star, in which she plays rock groupie opposite Boogie Nights star Mark Wahlberg, and The Good Girl in 2002.

In her private life Jennifer had been linked to actor Tate Donovan and rock singer Adam Duritz of the group Counting Crows. But it was the news that she was stepping out with Hollywood hunk Brad Pitt that made headlines. In July 2000 the pair tied the knot in a romantic, cliff-top ceremony in Malibu. The union was not to last, however, and four-and-a-half-years later, in January 2005, the couple announced their separation. She was since spotted with her The Break Up co-star Vince Vaughn, although it a case of life imitating art when the pair announced their own break up in December 2006.