Lauren Graham Biography

Lauren Helen Graham (born March 16, 1967) is an American actress, producer and novelist. She is best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on the WB Network dramedy series Gilmore Girls and Sarah Braverman on Parenthood.

Early life

Graham was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother, Donna Grant, was a fashion buyer, and her father, Lawrence Graham, is a candy industry lobbyist who is the current president for National Confectioners Association. Graham was raised Catholic, and has Irish ancestry. Graham was five years old when her parents were separated and moved to Washington, D.C., where her father became a congressional staffer. Her mother lived in London. Graham has a half-sister and a half-brother from her father's second marriage and a British half-sister from her mother's second marriage, Shade Grant, who works at a talent agency. As a girl, Graham rode horses competitively, but soon switched to acting, honing her talent at Langley High School, where she took part in the drill team and graduated in 1984. Graham earned her actor's equity card in 1988 after two years in summer stock at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan.</ref> date=March 2011|date=May 2013}} Graham graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. After moving to Texas in 1992, Graham earned a Master of Fine Arts in Acting Performance from Southern Methodist University.

Career

Acting

After completing her education, Graham moved back to New York City where she earned her living as a waitress and tutor teaching SAT test prep for The Princeton Review. While she aspired to become an actress, she made publicity appearances wearing the costume of Striker, the dog mascot of the US-based 1994 FIFA World Cup. In 1995, she relocated to Hollywood, California. She appeared in various commercials for products such as Dimetapp and Lean Cuisine and hosted free preview weekends on The Movie Channel.

In addition to her many guest starring and co-starring roles on prime-time television, Graham starred in four failed sitcoms, including Townies (with Molly Ringwald and Jenna Elfman), the short-lived sitcom Lush Life (with Lori Petty and Karyn Parsons), and M.Y.O.B, which was burned off by NBC in the summer months before the premiere of Gilmore Girls. Between 1996 and 1997, Graham became a regular guest star on several hit NBC shows. She played a graduate student who caught the eye of Dick on 3rd Rock from the Sun, Richard's overly-optimistic girlfriend on Caroline in the City, and Jerry's speed-dial ranking girlfriend on Seinfeld. She played a Hollywood producer who had a love interest in Rey Curtis in a three-part episode of Law & Order, where she acted opposite Scott Cohen, who would later play one of Graham's love interests, Max Medina, on Gilmore Girls. She also portrayed an antagonizing but friendship-starved efficiency expert on Newsradio. She was meant to be the permanent replacement for the departing "Newsradio" regular Khandi Alexander, but viewers disliked the character.

In 2000, Graham landed her breakthrough role as Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls. For her work she received a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series (Drama) at the 2001 Golden Globe Awards. Beginning with Season 7 episode "To Whom It May Concern" and continuing throughout the rest of the season, Graham served as a producer on Gilmore Girls. TV Guide reported that she received the position in an attempt to persuade her to sign for an eighth season.

Graham returned to her guest-starring roots when she portrayed herself in two episodes of NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Graham has also appeared in the second season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, co-hosted by Dave Foley of Newsradio. After winning her preliminary match, she came in second to another former Newsradio star, Maura Tierney, in the championship game.

Graham's film roles encompass several NYU student films and multiple major studio releases, including Sweet November, Bad Santa, The Pacifier, Because I Said So, and Evan Almighty.

Graham has said that she enjoys playing in short films, and acting in the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She has performed in numerous short films, including the 15-minute long Gnome. In 2007, Graham signed a seven-figure development deal with NBC in one of the year's richest TV talent pacts.

Graham has also worked as the voice-over announcer in national advertising for Kellogg's various Special K products, and in American Express ads introducing the Plum Card, which is targeted towards small and growing businesses.

Graham made her Broadway debut as Miss Adelaide in the revival of Guys and Dolls, which began preview performances at the Nederlander Theatre on February 5, 2009 and opened on March 1, 2009. Initial reviews for this performance have been mixed, but generally regard her fresh take on the character as a success. The production closed June 14, playing 113 shows and 28 previews.

It was announced in January 2009 that Graham would star in the comedy pilot, The Bridget Show (previously Let It Go) for ABC playing a talk show host and self-help guru who fails to follow her own advice during a breakup. However, the pilot was not given a series order.

October 9, 2009, it was announced that Graham would replace Maura Tierney in the television series Parenthood as single mother Sarah Braverman. Tierney left the show to seek treatment for cancer. The series debuted on NBC the following year, and was later renewed for a second season.

In June 2010, it was confirmed that Graham would star in the upcoming Scream 4, but she left the project on June 30, 2010.

In July 2012, Graham was a guest judge in the first episode of Season 10 of the reality television series Project Runway.

Writing

Graham's debut novel, Someday, Someday, Maybe: A Novel (2013), a work based on a fictionalization of her experiences in the New York acting scene in the mid-1990s, was released via hardcover, e-book and author-read audiobook formats on April 30, 2013 by the Ballantine Books imprint of Random House. In May 2013, the book entered the New York Times best seller list. Graham signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television and Ellen DeGeneres' production company A Very Good Production to adapt it into a TV series. She will write the script for The CW.

Personal life

Lauren Graham has reportedly dated Tate Donovan (2002), Matthew Perry (2003) and Marc Blucas (2005). She has been in a relationship with her Parenthood co-star Peter Krause since 2010. She owns an apartment in Manhattan and a house in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Nightwatch	Marie
1998	Confessions of a Sexist Pig	Tracy
1998	One True Thing	Jules
1999	Dill Scallion	Kristie Sue
2001	Sweet November	Angelica
2002	'	Woman at Party (uncredited)
2003	Bad Santa	Sue
2004	Seeing Other People	Claire
2005	Lucky 13	Abbey
2005	'	Dr. Sue Pegasus
2005	'	Peggy
2005	'	Principal Claire Fletcher
2005	Gnome	Amanda	Short film
2007	Because I Said So	Maggie
2007	Evan Almighty	Joan Baxter
2008	Birds of America	Betty Tanager
2008	Flash of Genius	Phyllis Kearns
2009	'	Elizabeth
2009	Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs	Fran Lockwood (voice)
2010	It's Kind of a Funny Story	Lynn
2013	A Friggin' Christmas Miracle		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995"1996	Caroline in the City	Shelly	5 episodes
1996	3rd Rock from the Sun	Laurie Harris	Episode: "Dick's First Birthday"
1996	Good Company	Liz Gibson	6 epiosodes
1996	Townies	Denise Garibaldi Callahan	15 episodes
1997	Law & Order	Lisa Lundquist	3 episodes
1997	Seinfeld	Valerie	Episode: "The Millennium"
1997	NewsRadio	Andrea	4 episodes
1998	Conrad Bloom	Molly Davenport	13 episodes
2000	M.Y.O.B.	Opal Marie Brown	4 episodes
2000"2007	Gilmore Girls	Lorelai Gilmore	Lead Role Also producer (season 7)
2001	Chasing Destiny	Jessy James	TV movie
2002	Family Guy	Mother Maggie (voice)	Episode: "Road to Europe"
2006	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip	Studio 60 Host (uncredited)	Episode: "The Long Lead Story" Episode: "The Wrap Party"
2009	'	Bridget O'Shea	TV pilot
2010"present	Parenthood	Sarah Braverman	Lead role
2011	Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	Geoff Peterson (voice)	Episode: "8.62"
2012	Go On	Amy	Episode: "Dinner Takes All"
2012	Project Runway (Season 10)	Herself	Episode: "A Times Square Anniversary Party" Guest judge

Awards and nominations

Year	Ceremony	Category	Series	Result
2001	Family Television Awards	Actress	Gilmore Girls
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
2002	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama
	Satellite Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
	Television Critics Association Award	Individual Achievement in Drama
2003	Satellite Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical
2004	Satellite Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical
2005	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Female Television Star
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical	Gilmore Girls
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Parental Units
2006	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Parental Units
	Television Critics Association Award	Outstanding Individual Achievement in Comedy
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Parental Units	Parenthood