Courteney Cox Facts: Celebrities Who Started On Soaps

Courteney Cox is, of course, best known for starring as Monica Gellar on the extremely successful show Friends, which ran for 10 seasons, but the actress has done a lot of work before and after the popular sitcom.

In fact, Cox also appeared on shows such as Cougar Town, Shameless, and Seinfeld, as well as movies like Scream and Ace Ventura Pet Detective. From being in an iconic music video to almost playing a different Friends character, here are five fast facts you need to know about the star.

Who Is Courteney Cox?

Cox was born on June 15 in Birmingham, Alabama, which is also where she was raised with two older sisters and an older brother. After graduating high school, she attended Mount Vernon College in Washington D.C. However, she did not graduate, as she left to pursue modeling and acting.

She’s Just Dancing In the Dark
One of Cox’s first acting roles was in the music video for Bruce Springsteen’s song Dancing in the Dark, which got her national attention. Courteney Cox played the role of the girl pulled from the crowd who got to dance with Springsteen on stage. Not to mention, her dancing actually inspired the famous “Carlton Dance” on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Soap Beginnings
Cox’s first television appearance was on the CBS soap, As the World Turns. She played the character of Bunny. She then went on to appear in episodes of shows such as The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, and Family Ties.

Behind-The-Scenes Tidbit

After guest-starring on a number of shows, Cox was asked to audition for the role of Rachel Green in Friends. However, once she got into the audition room, Cox revealed she liked the character of Monica better and asked if she could play her instead.

Getting Personal With Courteney Cox
Cox previously dated actor Michael Keaton and singer Adam Duritz. She then married actor David Arquette in 1999. The couple had a daughter named Coco, who was born in 2004. However, Cox and Arquette split in 2010.