Lauren Graham was born on March 16, 1967 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother, Donna Grant, was a fashion buyer, and her father, Lawrence Graham, is a candy industry lobbyist, who has been president of the National Confectioners Association.
When Graham's father worked for the Agency for International Development in Vietnam, Graham lived for a few years in Japan (her mother also grew up there, as the daughter of a missionary).
Graham was five years old when her parents divorced and she moved to Alexandria, Virginia with her father, who became a congressional staffer, while her mother left to pursue an artistic career.
As a girl, Graham rode horses competitively, but soon switched to acting, honing her talent at Langley High School, graduating 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 graduated from Barnard College 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 graduating from SMU, Graham moved to Los Angeles in the mid 1990’s in hopes of establishing an acting career. Appearing in several successful TV series as a guest star (3rd Rock from the Sun; Caroline in the City; Law and Order, Seinfeld) and as a regular cast in some short-lived series (Good Company, Townies, Conrad Bloom, M.Y.O.B.), Graham became an actress familiar to casting agents and producers.
In 2000, Graham landed the lead role of “Lorelai Gilmore” in the critically acclaimed WB hit TV show Gilmore Girls. The series, which ran for seven seasons and aired 154 episodes, ended in 2007.
In addition to TV, Graham has appeared in several movies: One True Thing, Bad Santa, The Pacifier, and others.
In October 2008, she was cast as “Miss Adelaide” for her Broadway debut as part of the revival cast for the popular musical Guys and Dolls. The show opened at the Nederlander Theater on March 1, 2009 and ran until June 2009.
In October 2009, Graham was chosen to play the role of Sarah Braverman in the NBC drama Parenthood. The show ran through January of 2015.
Always an avid reader, Graham released her debut novel, Someday, Someday, Maybe published in 2013.
