Jennifer Aniston was born on February 11, 1969, in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA to Greek-born actor John Aniston and actress Nancy Dow. One of her maternal great-grandfathers, Louis Grieco, was from Italy.
According Aniston and her many biographies, her great-grandparents are originally from Melito di Porto Salvo, in the province of Reggio Calabria. While her real name Jennifer Joanna Anastassakis, and her father was a Greek actor, he bloodline still runs through Italy.
Since her career progressed in the 1990s, she has become one of the world's highest-paid actresses. She rose to international fame for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), for which she earned Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards.
Aniston has been referred as one of few performers to have influenced several generations of viewers. She is the recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is the co-founder of the production company Echo Films, established in 2008.