Lauren Graham

Embraced for her girl-next-door persona, actress Lauren Graham enjoyed a fruitful career, most often playing nurturing single mothers and supportive wives. After paying her dues as a struggling New York actress, Graham relocated to Los Angeles, where she quickly began picking up television guest spots on sitcoms like "Caroline in the City" (NBC, 1995-99). Early attempts at regular work on such failed shows as "Townies" (ABC, 1996) eventually led to the actress' breakout role on the hit dramedy series "Gilmore Girls" (The WB, 2000-07). Graham's well-rounded performance as Lorelai Gilmore, the spirited and quirky single mother of equally witty teenaged daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), endeared her to audiences throughout the program's seven-year run. She parlayed that success into several film roles - at times subverting her "good girl" image with efforts like the pitch-black holiday comedy "Bad Santa" (2003), starring Billy Bob Thornton. Following the end of "Gilmore Girls" Graham alternated between comedy and drama, often as supportive, albeit exasperated, wives in films like "Evan Almighty" (2007) and "Flash of Genius" (2008). Television audiences delighted at her return to regular series work, once again as a caring single mother on "Parenthood" (NBC, 2010-15). Talented, versatile and adaptable, Graham continued to entertain as she played characters whose traits most audiences saw, or wished they saw, in their own friends and family.