Jennifer Coolidge (born August 28, 1961) is an American character actress best known for roles in comedic film and television. Coolidge has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Coolidge had supporting roles in the American Pie film series (1999–2012) and the Legally Blonde film series (2001–2003). She has regularly collaborated with Christopher Guest on his mockumentary films, such as Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006), and Mascots (2016). She has also appeared in the films A Cinderella Story (2004), Click (2006), Date Movie (2006), Epic Movie (2007), Promising Young Woman (2020), Single All the Way (2021), and Shotgun Wedding (2022). On television, Coolidge has appeared in the sitcoms Joey (2004–2006), The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2012), and 2 Broke Girls (2011–2017), and the drama series The Watcher (2022). She gained acclaim for starring as Tanya McQuoid, an insecure rich woman, in the HBO anthology series The White Lotus (2021–2022), winning a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for the performance. Early life Coolidge was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Gretchen (née Knauf) and Paul Constant Coolidge, a plastics manufacturer. She was raised in Norwell, Massachusetts. Coolidge played the clarinet and went to orchestra camp for three summers as a child. She attended Norwell High School, the Cambridge School of Weston, and pursued university studies at Emerson College in Boston and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. During college, Coolidge wanted to become a dramatic actress like Meryl Streep, but instead became a comedic character actress. While in New York, Coolidge worked as a waitress in a restaurant alongside another aspiring actress, Sandra Bullock. Career 1993–1999: Early career Coolidge played supporting roles in several comedy movies and guest roles on television. She made her first appearance on television in the Seinfeld episode "The Masseuse". She had small roles appearing in such films as A Bucket of Blood, Plump Fiction, and A Night at the Roxbury. She also voiced Luanne's beauty school teacher, Miss Kremzer, in a recurring role on King of the Hill. She worked with The Groundlings, an improv and sketch comedy troupe based in Los Angeles. 1999–2006: Breakthrough In 1999, Coolidge got her big break playing Jeanine Stifler, or "Stifler's mom" in American Pie. The film was a