Courteney Cox was a newly-minted star thanks to her role in Friends when she started filming a low-budget thriller called Scream in 1995.
The movie changed her life, not just because it spawned a hit film franchise, but because it was where she met her only husband, actor David Arquette.
The two went on to marry and welcomed a child together, daughter Coco, now 20.
They eventually split after a painful period marked by arguments over her fame, but have since been on good terms.
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Cox was born in the US state of Alabama on June 15, 1964. After high school, she moved to Washington DC to attend college, but instead started modelling.
Her first break came when she answered a casting call by director Brian De Palma, who was behind the music video for Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 hit Dancing in the Dark.
After some TV roles, including a sci-fi series and guest star spots on The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote, she won a recurring role as the girlfriend of Michael J. Fox’s character Alex in Family Ties.
Movie roles followed, including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, before she was asked to audition for the role of Rachel Green in Friends. Instead, she won the part of neurotic chef Monica Geller.
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Cox, who dated actor and former Batman Michael Keaton from 1989-1995, was the best-known cast member of the show when it first aired in September 1994.
The following year, she was cast in Scream as investigative journalist Gale Weathers, who reports on the murder of a high school student.
Her co-star was David Arquette, who had appeared in films Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Airheads before he was cast as the town’s deputy sheriff, Dewey Riley.
Despite Arquette being seven years her junior, the two hit it off, with Cox reportedly showing interest first.
Arquette told People in 2022 he credits Scream director Wes Craven for them getting together.
“[He was] like, ‘David, you know she likes you and you should really get your stuff together’,” he recalled.
“He gave me a real man-to-man talk and that had an impact on the course of my life.”
They became engaged in September 1998, with Craven revealing Arquette proposed on one knee while on holiday with her family.
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They married on June 12, 1999, at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco when Cox was at the height of her fame.
She became known professionally as Courteney Cox Arquette, but behind the scenes, her fame was a bone of contention.
During a 2023 appearance on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy show with host Andy Cohen, Arquette was asked if he ever struggled to navigate their different levels of professional success.
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“Yeah, absolutely. It’s difficult. I mean, I have some of the traditional male things where I want to like, you know, provide and pick up the cheque and be the breadwinner,” he said.
“When you’re, you know, comparing yourself to someone who’s at the, you know, top of the television, iconic world, it’s kinda hard to put yourself there.
“So there was definitely like learning and dealing with that and a lot of pain and arguments or ego, early on.”
The couple also struggled to conceive and turned to IVF, with Cox suffering a number of miscarriages before they finally welcomed Cox’s only child, Coco, on June 13, 2004.
They chose Cox’s best friend and former Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston to be her godmother.
That year they formed Coquette Productions, which was behind the TV shows Dirt and Cougar Town, both of which starred Cox.
By 2010, there were persistent rumours their marriage was in trouble, with Arquette’s lifestyle often blamed. Cox even confirmed they attended couple’s counselling.
They continued to work together, filming Scream 4 between June and late September that year, before they announced their “trial separation” on October 11, 2010, after 11 years of marriage.
They said, “We remain best friends and responsible parents to our daughter and we still love each other deeply.”
Arquette shed more light on why they split in an interview with Howard Stern the next day.
“She says to me, ‘I don’t wanna be your mother anymore.’ I appreciated that. I respected that. I’ve been going to therapy. I’m trying to grow up.”
In January 2011, Arquette entered rehab for drinking and depression. 
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Cox told People at the time, “I really admire David and his choice to take charge and better his life. I love and support him.”
That year, they appeared together on the red carpet for the premiere of Scream 4 and Cox was there to support Arquette when he appeared on Dancing with the Stars.
Arquette and Cox filed for divorce in June 2012. It was finalised the following May.
But the couple remained cordial, with Cox later telling Ellen DeGeneres, “He’s my favourite person in the world. I love him.”
In the years that followed, the two shared custody of their daughter.
In 2020, Arquette told Yahoo! Entertainment, “We have a really great relationship. We’re friends, and we’ve communicated a lot because of Coco.”
Cox even offered her congratulations when it was revealed Arquette was expecting a child with then girlfriend Christina McLarty.
The couple, who wed in 2020, are parents to Charlie, who was born in 2014, and Augustus, who arrived in 2017.
Arquette, 52, has continued to work as an actor, producer, director and writer. He is thought to have a net worth of about $45 million.
Cox moved on with singer-songwriter Johnny McDaid of Snow Patrol. They started dating in 2013 and became engaged the following year before breaking up and getting back together, but never married.
Cox, now 60, is thought to be worth about $220 million. She has continued to work as an actress, director and producer. She last appeared on the big screen in the 2023 film Scream VI, which she also executive produced.
Cox and Arquette have continued to work together and were co-executive producers of game show Celebrity Name Game.
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