Jennifer Coolidge

Jennifer Coolidge is a versatile character actress and experimental comedienne, best known for playing Stifler's mom in “American Pie.”

After earning her bachelor's degree in theatre in 1985, she moved to New York and joined the Gotham City improv group. Then she headed to Los Angeles where she became a long-running member of The Groundlings comedy troupe. Coolidge made her television debut in a guest role on NBC's "Seinfeld,” playing a voluptuous masseuse who won't offer her professional services to boyfriend Jerry in a 1993 episode. The following year she had a regular gig on ABC's short-lived sketch series “She TV,” then briefly became a cast member and writer on another short-lived sketch comedy series, Fox's “Saturday Night Special,” produced by Roseanne. Coolidge made her big screen debut as a nurse in “Not of This Earth,” then appeared in the courtroom comedy “Trial and Error.”

Coolidge had her breakthrough role in “American Pie,” as a boozed-up and sultry mom who seduces her son's classmate with the comment that she liked her scotch and men the same way: aged 18 years. She recreated the character in the sequel “American Pie 2.” Coolidge also had a memorable turn as Paulette in “Legally Blonde,” which she reprised in the sequel. Although she lost the part of Lynette Scavo in “Desperate Housewives” to Felicity Huffman, Coolidge graced several TV comedies as well, with major guest appearances on "Frasier" and "Sex and the City." Then she landed a recurring role in the NBC sitcom "Joey,” as Bobbie Morgenstern, Joey's agent, appearing in 37 episodes over two seasons.

Eventually, Coolidge emerged as a versatile character actress with her no-holds-barred approach to comedy and her vanity-free comfort with playing uninhibited, unappealing characters, and delivering lines with sexual innuendo. Her talent shines in a range of characters, from a gold-digging dog owner in “Best in Show,” to a scheming wife of an elderly mogul in “Down to Earth,” to an opportunistic mother in “American Dreamz.” For her performance as Fiona, a wicked stepmother in “A Cinderella Story” opposite Hilary Duff, Coolidge won a 2005 Teen Choice Award. Her lasting collaboration with director Christopher Guest continues in “For Your Consideration.”

Dimension Films