Jennifer Coolidge (born Aug. 28, 1961) is an American actor. She grew up in Boston and studied at Emerson College and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, booking her first onscreen role in a 1993 episode of “Seinfeld.” Her other early roles include “A Bucket of Blood,” “A Night at the Roxbury” and “King of the Hill.”

Coolidge landed her breakthrough role in 1999’s “American Pie” as Stifler’s mom, reprising her role as the original MILF in 2001’s “American Pie 2,” 2003’s “American Wedding” and 2012’s “American Reunion.” Around the same time, Coolidge starred opposite Reese Witherspoon in the “Legally Blonde” movies as the shy, spunky manicurist Paulette Bonafonté. The original “Legally Blonde” became a global box office hit, grossing $141 million worldwide. In 2004, Coolidge played Hilary Duff’s character’s self-obsessed stepmother in “A Cinderella Story.” Several years later, she became a main cast member of the CBS sitcom “2 Broke Girls,” starring Kat Dennings and Caroline Channing, which ran from 2011 to 2017.

After playing a number of supporting film roles and recurring TV parts, Coolidge enjoyed a career renaissance after 2021’s “The White Lotus.” In the Mike White-created HBO series, shot in a pandemic bubble, Coolidge played the naïve, grieving heiress Tanya McQuoid, who travels to Hawaii to scatter her mother’s ashes. Coolidge became an awards darling after “The White Lotus,” winning an Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award for her performance. She returned to the series in the Sicily-set second season. In recent years, Coolidge has also landed starring roles in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix thriller series “The Watcher” and the action comedy “Shotgun Wedding” alongside Jennifer Lopez.