Jennifer Aniston

She’s the sitcom star who became America’s sweetheart. As Jennifer Aniston celebrates turning 50, Tiffany Dunk looks back at the life of everybody’s favourite friend

- Tiffany Dunk

Just like the iconic theme song promised, the ensemble cast of Friends were there for each other after 10 long years. They had risen to fame together, eaten lunch every day together, and negotiated an astonishing – and unprecedented – salary of US$1 million per episode together. On the evening of January 23, 2004, they gathered to drink champagne together on the roof of stage 24 at the Warner Brothers Studio lot.

When the cameras stopped rolling on what would be the series finale, the outpouring of emotion that followed came as no surprise. But by far the most visibly affected was the actress who had become so popular with viewers that women around the world had flocked to their hairdressers to request her hairstyle – the shag cut that defined the mid ’90s and beyond.

“Oh, that’s Jennifer, always Jennifer,” Matt LeBlanc told Barbara Walters when asked who took the show’s wrap the hardest. “She’s just a giant heart with a head and feet.”

Born February 11, 1969, you could say Jennifer Joanna Aniston was destined to be a star. Her mother, Nancy Dow, was a model and shortlived actress, while her father, John Aniston (born Giannis Anitios Anastasakis), played iconic villain Victor Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives.

As a young girl, Aniston struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia and wasn’t a scholar, but she always loved to perform. She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, an institution that has turned out notable alumni including Oscar winner Adrien Brody, fellow Emmy winner Sarah Paulson and Entourage star Adrian Grenier.