Jennifer Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, and grew up in New York City. She is the daughter of the actor John Aniston and actress Nancy Dow.

Aniston began her career as a television actor. Her first television role was Molloy. She also co-starred in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 hit movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Aniston received world wide recognition among television viewers for Friends. Her hairstyle which became known as the "Rachel" was widely copied. According to the Guinness World Book of Records (2005), Aniston (along with her female costars) became the highest paid TV actress of all time with her $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.

In addition to her success as a TV actress, Aniston also was successful in film career. Her biggest box office success is Bruce Almighty, released in 2003. The film grossed $243M at the United States box office and almost twice that worldwide. Aniston's next film, Along Came Polly, also did well at the box office. She gained considerable critical acclaim for her performance in The Object of My Affection (1998). In 2005, Aniston acted in two films, Derailed and Rumor Has It, both of which performed fairly at the box office.

Apart from acting, Aniston has also directed a short film named Room 10, starring Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson. Forbes listed Aniston as the 10th richest woman in the entertainment industry for the year 2007 and the top-selling celebrity face of the entertainment industry.

Aniston dated musician Adam Duritz, and dated/lived with actor Tate Donovan. She married actor Brad Pitt on July 29, 2000, but they divorced in 2005. Since the divorce, Aniston has been romantically linked with actor Vince Vaughn. However, Aniston denied rumors that the two were engaged or that Vaughn had proposed.