Lauren Graham
Actress Lauren Graham played quirky mother Lorelai in the TV series ‘Gilmore Girls,’ going on to star in other projects like ‘Bad Santa,’ ‘Evan Almighty’ and ‘Parenthood.’
Synopsis
Lauren Graham was born on March 16, 1967, in Honolulu, Hawaii. She starred in a variety of TV series during the 1990s before landing the lead role on the WB series called Gilmore Girls in 2000. The show was a smash, running for multiple seasons, with Graham also starring in big-screen projects like Bad Santa, Because I Said So and Evan Almighty. She returned to television in the hit ensemble series Parenthood. She is also a bestselling author of the novel Someday, Someday, Maybe (2013) and 2016 memoir Talking as Fast as I Can: from Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between).
Background and Education
Lauren Graham was born on March 16, 1967, in Honolulu, Hawaii. She was raised by her father after her parents divorced when she was five years old. Later growing up in northern Virginia, Graham loved to ride horses and competed in equestrian events.
She graduated from Barnard College with a degree in English literature. She went on to earn a master of fine arts degree in acting from Southern Methodist University in 1992. After graduating, she moved back to New York City, landing commercials and working various jobs to make ends meet. In 1995, she moved to Los Angeles and started her primetime television career with a recurring role on the first season of Caroline in the City, starring Lea Thompson. She played the mercilessly upbeat Shelly, girlfriend to one of the lead characters.
Early TV Work
Over the next few years, Graham appeared in several episodes of Law & Order (1997) and NewsRadio (1997). She appeared in several short-lived TV shows including Good Company (1996), Townies (1996), Conrad Bloom (1998) and M.Y.O.B. (2000). Yet the cancellation of the sitcom M.Y.O.B., in which Graham starred as an assistant principal suddenly responsible for a niece she never knew about, actually turned out to be good news. It left her free to take on a new series called Gilmore Girls.
'Gilmore Girls' Star
Debuting in the fall of 2000 on the WB and co-starring Alexis Bledel and Melissa McCarthy, Gilmore Girls followed the lives of a young single mother Lorelai Gilmore (played by Graham) and her daughter Rory (played by Bledel). Their close mother-daughter relationship and Lorelai's rollercoaster love life, including her relationships with Rory's father and her strained relationship with her parents, attracted a dedicated fan base. Graham received numerous accolades for her work on the series, including Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations.
While working on Gilmore Girls, which aired until 2007, Lauren Graham explored other acting opportunities on the big screen. She appeared in the 2003 film Bad Santa opposite Billy Bob Thornton, 2005's The Pacifier with Vin Diesel, and 2007's Because I Told You So with Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore. Graham also appeared with Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman in 2007's Evan Almighty, a sequel to the divine Jim Carrey comedy Bruce Almighty (2003).
'Parenthood,' Publishing and Peter
In 2009, Graham made her Broadway debut as Miss Adelaide in a revival of Guys and Dolls. Graham returned to series television in 2010 in the role of Sarah Braverman on the family drama Parenthood. The series, also starring Craig T. Nelson among an ensemble cast, was based on the 1989 Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen film of the same name and followed the travails of an extended family. The hit show ran until 2015. That same year, she starred in the family movie Max, which tells the story of a military service dog that becomes a pet for his handler's family.
Lauren Graham has been working behind the camera as well. Having worked as show producer during Gilmore Girls' final season, she also established Good Game Entertainment, her own production company. Adding to her list of accomplishments, Graham became a published author in 2013 with her debut novel Someday, Someday, Maybe and her 2016 memoir Talking as Fast as I Can: from Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between), which landed on The New York Times bestseller list.
To fans' delight, Graham reprised her role as as Lorelai Gilmore on the Netflix reunion miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, which was released in November 2016.Graham has been in a relationship with Parenthood co-star Peter Krause since 2010.