Jennifer Coolidge has risen to iconic status, here's everything you need to know about the legendary actor, from her relationship history to iconic roles in White Lotus, Friends and more

Jennifer Coolidge is the legendary actor who's been lighting up our screens for decades.

While Jennifer has been appearing in movies since the 90s, fans have become obsessed with the star since her showstopping appearance in The White Lotus and Netflix's The Watcher. Here is everything you need to know about Jennifer Coolidge - both on and off the screen...

Is Jennifer Coolidge married? Here's everything we know about her 'secret' husband and dating history

There are rumors that Jennifer Coolidge is married to her long-term boyfriend Tom Mahoney, but this has not been confirmed. The star has previously been linked to former Saturday Night Live star Chris Kattan, and the pair dated in the early noughties. 

In his biography Baby Don't Hurt Me, which was released in 2019, Chris acknowledged their relationship and said their relationship had struggled during the filming of A Night at the Roxbury, a film in which they both had roles. 

In an interview with Vulture that took place in 2021, the actress opened up about her romantic life, saying that men are generally intimidated by her success.

"Their perception of your life is so much bigger and better than what it really is,” she said in the interview. "They somehow project a bunch of shit onto you, that you’re usurping them or you’re doing something to them. You’re some sort of verb."

“I don’t want this to be the end of my life and my romance and all that,” she added. "But I don’t know how people do it anymore. Sometimes I feel like you got this good little thing going once in a while with somebody. You get too much permission to, you know, be you. The thing dissolves pretty quick. There’s so many girls who would be like, Well, fuck them. They can’t handle it. But my feeling is, like, who wants to be alone, too?” She also said in the interview that she's single and has never been married, but at heart, she's a romantic. 

In a more recent 2022 interview with Entertainment Weekly, the star said that playing Stifler's mom in American Pie helped her love life. " American Pie was just — it helped my dating life in a way that I can't ever explain. If I hadn't had that movie, I don't think… Well, let's just say it would've been a very dull decade," she said.

Jennifer Coolidge's most iconic roles

Stifler's Mom in American Pie

In 1999, Jennifer starred as Jeanine Stifler (aka Stifler's Mom) in American Pie. This was a breakout role for the actress at the time and she reprised the role for other films in this popular raunchy franchise. 

Paulette Bonafonté in Legally Blonde

Following the success of American Pie, the actress was then cast in a key role in the 2001 hit rom-com Legally Blonde. This was a role that she reprised just two years later in the 2003 film, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde. 

Fiona Montgomery in A Cinderella Story

Jennifer played Fiona Montgomery in A Cinderella Story in 2004. Although this role was as the evil stepmother, fans adored Jennifer in this role and celebrated her performance in what is now seen as one of the best Cinderella adaptations to hit screens.

Paulette Bonafonté in Ariana Grande's Thank U Next Music Video

For a long time, the actress appeared in television shows and didn't land any leading roles in blockbuster movies. She made a cameo in a 2003 episode of Friends, as Amanda Buffamonteezi, Monica and Phoebe's old roommate who said the iconic line, 'I feel like a perfect arse' in a fake British accent. From 2006 to 2018, she was best known for her supporting role as Sophie Kaczyński in the CBS sitcom, 2 Broke Girls. 

However, in 2018, Ariana Grande asked the actress to star in her Thank U Next music video and reprise her role as Paulette from Legally Blonde. In a recent 2022 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jennifer credited Ariana for kickstarting her career again. 

"When people ask about how my life has changed… Yes, I got to do White Lotus, but I think it really started with you asking me to be in the 'Thank U, Next' video," Jennifer told  I mean, from there I got Promising Young Woman, and this whole thing. You were sort of the instigator. I really believe that. I think if you hadn't put me in 'Thank U, Next,' and done that imitation, I don't think I would be here where I am."

Ariana disagreed but Jennifer said, " I was kind of flatlining, and you got things going for me. I just want to thank you. I know you're a very humble person, you wouldn't admit to it, but I'm just going to thank you."

Tanya McQuoid in The White Lotus

In 2021, Jennifer was cast as Tanya McQuoid in White Lotus. She was the only member of the cast of season 1 to appear in The White Lotus season 2. Fans fell in love with her hilarious character and many loved seeing Jennifer's range while portraying this emotional character.

Karen Calhoun in The Watcher

Jennifer starred in The Watcher as the menacing real estate agent, Karen Calhoun. Although the series was set to only be one season, it has since been renewed for a second season.  

Comparing her role in The Watcher, to The White Lotus, Jennifer said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, "Someone like Tanya on White Lotus, that was a very sort of complicated, messed up person. I'd never been given a part like that, ever. And then creepy Karen in The Watcher. That was someone I had a really good time playing this year. She was sort of the opposite of Tanya, sort of awful."

When discussing whether she would be reprising her role in The Watcher the actress said, "I haven't heard anything from Ryan [Murphy], but I did hear a week ago that Watcher was renewed, and today White Lotus was renewed. I don't know. I hope I'm in both of them, I don't know. I haven't... The telegram has not arrived."