• Faith: Christian - Catholic
• Career: Actress
• Birthday:  March 16, 1967

Lauren Graham is an author and actress. She’s best known for her roles as Lorelai Gilmore on “Gilmore Girls,” for which she received nominations for Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe, and Satellite Awards, and as Sarah Braverman on “Parenthood.” Her film work includes roles in “Sweet November,” “Bad Santa,” “The Pacifier,” “Because I Said So,” and “Evan Almighty.” She published her debut novel with Ballantine Books in 2013, Someday, Someday, Maybe. In 2016, she reprised her role as Lorelai Gilmore on Netflix’s reunion miniseries “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” and published a memoir, Talking as Fast as I Can.

Graham was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Donna and Lawrence Graham. When her father worked for the United States Agency for International Development in Vietnam, she lived in Japan for a few years. She was five years old when her parents got divorced, and she moved to the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., with her father, who became a congressional staffer. Her mother left to pursue a music career and lived in London until she died in 2005 at 61 years old. Graham’s father raised her, and they have a close relationship. She said, “I thought I kind of had it best. My dad has a very mellow way about him, and I was a self-starter as a kid. I liked a certain amount of being on my own. It just worked great for me.”

She also spent a few of her childhood years in Southhampton, New York. Graham has a half-brother and half-sister from her father’s second marriage. She also has a British half-sister from her mother’s marriage. As a girl, Graham rode horses competitively but soon switched to acting, honing her talent at Langley High School, where she took part in the drill team and graduated in 1984. She earned her actor’s Equity Card in 1988 after two years in summer stock at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan. Graham went to New York University and then transferred to Barnard College. She graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature.

After moving to Texas in 1992, Graham earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting Performance from Southern Methodist University. After finishing her education, she moved back to New York City, where she earned her living as a waitress and a tutor, teaching SAT prep for The Princeton Review. In 1995, she relocated to Hollywood and appeared in various commercials for products like Cascade dishwasher detergent, AT&T, Dimeptapp, and Lean Cuisine. She also hosted preview weekends on The Movie Channel. Between 1996 and 1997, Graham became a regular guest star on several NBC shows. She played a graduate student who caught the eye of Dick on “3rrd Rock from the Sun,” Richard’s overly optimistic girlfriend on “Caroline in the City,” and Jerry’s speed-dial ranking girlfriend on “Seinfeld.”

Graham played a Hollywood producer who had a love interest in Detective Rey Curtis in a three-part episode of “Law & Order,” where she acted opposite Scott Cohen, who later played one of Graham’s love interests on “Gilmore Girls.” She also played an antagonizing but friendship-starved efficiency expert on “NewsRadio.”

What religion is Lauren Graham?

Graham was raised in her father’s Catholic faith. She told More Magazine, “I do go to church occasionally. I still identify with the Catholic church. It’s got a lot of problems, but it’s what I was raised in. If I had kids, I don’t know. But I choose to view the most positive [aspects of it]. It’s something I have a connection to."