Jennifer Coolidge turns 60: The iconic actor’s funniest TV and movie moments

Jennifer Coolidge shot to fame playing ‘Stifler’s mom’ in American Pie (Alamy/PA)
Jennifer Coolidge shot to fame playing ‘Stifler’s mom’ in American Pie (Alamy/PA)

A true comedy legend, Jennifer Coolidge has been making us LOL for more than two decades – and she’s showing no signs of slowing down as she turns 60.

Currently starring in critically-acclaimed HBO satire series The White Lotus the American actor is universally adored – even though some of her most famous characters aren’t the most likeable of people.

As she celebrates her 60th birthday (August 28), we pay tribute to the blonde bombshell by looking back at her most hilarious on-screen moments…

American Pie

Eddie Kaye Thomas and Jennifer Coolidge in a scene from American Pie (Alamy/PA)
Eddie Kaye Thomas and Jennifer Coolidge in a scene from American Pie (Alamy/PA)

Coolidge shot to fame at the age of 38 playing Jeanine Stifler – better known as ‘Stifler’s mom’ – in gross-out comedy film American Pie, a massive box office hit in 1999.

The smooth-talking, whiskey-drinking, cigarette-smoking ‘MILF’ who seduced her son’s friend Paul Finch was a total scene-stealer.

Legally Blonde

Jennifer Coolidge and Reese Witherspoon in a scene from Legally Blonde (Alamy/PA)
Jennifer Coolidge and Reese Witherspoon in a scene from Legally Blonde (Alamy/PA)

Managing to top Stifler’s mom a mere year or so later, Coolidge’s most iconic – and quotable – role came in 2001 hit movie, Legally Blonde.

Playing the shy (at first) manicurist Paulette Bonafonté Parcelle, confidante to law student Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon), she stars in one of the film’s most famous scenes, when Elle teaches Paulette and the rest of the salon the supposedly seductive ‘bend and snap’.

Friends

Appearing in ‘The One With Ross’s Tan’, Coolidge had a guest starring role as Monica’s old friend Amanda Buffamonteezi in Friends.

With her fake British accent (“I feel like a perfect arse!“) and non-stop bragging (“It’s not perfume – it’s me!”), the hilariously annoying New Yorker is one the sitcom’s funniest celebrity cameos.

Best In Show

A regular in Christopher Guest’s mockumentary movies, Coolidge was deadpan perfection in 2000’s Best In Show as Sherri Ann Cabot, the buxom dog trainer with a much older husband.

Sex And The City

(Alamy/PA)
(Alamy/PA)

Remember when Coolidge played Victoria the wannabe handbag designer from season six of Sex And The City?

Carrie Bradshaw and pals attend a party where Victoria unveils her bonkers bags, saying she discovered she had a ‘gift’ for accessories design after her last break-up.

The brief cameo was brilliant, and when it was announced Kim Cattrall wouldn’t be returning for the series reboot, fans were clamouring for Coolidge to step in and replace the much-loved Samantha Jones. But Coolidge shot down the suggestion, saying in an interview: “I don’t think you can replace her.”