What is Lauren Graham's Net Worth and Salary?
Lauren Graham is an American actress, producer, and author who has a net worth of $12 million. Lauren Graham is best known for starring as Lorelai Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls" (2000–2007; 2016) and Sarah Braverman on "Parenthood" (2010–2015).
Early roles in shows like "Seinfeld" and "3rd Rock from the Sun" set the stage for her breakout role in "Gilmore Girls" (2000-2007). As Lorelai Gilmore, Graham won hearts with her quick wit, charismatic presence, and the remarkable chemistry she shared with co-star Alexis Bledel, who played her daughter, Rory.
Following the success of "Gilmore Girls," Graham continued to demonstrate her range as an actress. She starred in the NBC drama "Parenthood" from 2010 to 2015, where she played Sarah Braverman, a role that earned her critical acclaim and a new fanbase.
She has appeared in a variety of movies, including the comedic "Bad Santa," the romantic comedy "Because I Said So," and the drama "Evan Almighty." Each role allowed her to explore different genres and expand her acting repertoire.
In addition to her acting career, Graham is also an accomplished author. She has penned several books, including a memoir titled "Talking as Fast as I Can," which offers insights into her life and career, and the novel "Someday, Someday, Maybe," which became a New York Times bestseller.
Salary
Lauren Graham's salary per episode of "Parenthood" was $175,000. For "Gilmore Girls," she was paid $50,000 per episode during the first four seasons. Her salary was increased to $100,000 per episode during season five. She made $750,000 per episode for the 2016 Netflix revival.
Lauren has more than 50 acting credits to her name, including the films "Bad Santa" (2003), "The Pacifier" (2005), "Evan Almighty" (2007), and "A Merry Friggin' Christmas" (2014) and the television shows "Townies" (1996), "Conrad Bloom" (1998), "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" (2020–2021), and "The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers" (2021–present). Graham has her own production company, Good Game Entertainment, and she has served as a producer on "Gilmore Girls" and "The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers" as well as the 2005 short film "Something More." Lauren has also published the books "Someday, Someday, Maybe: A Novel" (2013), "Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)" (2016), and "In Conclusion, Don't Worry About It" (2018).
Early Life
Lauren Graham was born Lauren Helen Graham on March 16, 1967, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her father, Lawrence Graham, is a lobbyist for the candy industry who has served as president of the National Confectioners Association, and her mother, Donna Grant, worked as a fashion buyer. During her youth, Lauren lived in Japan (where her mother, the daughter of a missionary, grew up) while her father was working at the United States Agency for International Development in Vietnam. When Graham was 5 years old, her parents divorced, and Lauren moved to the Virginia suburbs with her father, who was a congressional staffer in Washington, D.C. Graham's mother moved to London to pursue a career in the arts, and she spent the rest of her life there; Donna passed away in 2005 at the age of 61. Lauren has a half-sister on her mother's side and a half-brother and half-sister on her father's side.
Graham participated in competitive horse riding as a teenager, then switched her focus to acting. She attended Langley High School, where she was a member of the drill team. She graduated in 1984, and more than three decades later, Graham gave the keynote speech at Langley's 2017 commencement ceremony. Lauren enrolled at New York University, then transferred to Barnard College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature in 1988. That year she also earned her actor's Equity Card after taking part in summer stock at Michigan's Barn Theatre for two years. In 1992, Graham moved to Texas and enrolled at Southern Methodist University, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting Performance.
Career
After earning her MFA, Lauren returned to New York City and began working as a waitress and SAT prep tutor. In the early 1990s, she was hired to dress up as Striker the dog, the FIFA World Cup mascot, for publicity appearances at a New York convention center for $300 per day. Graham moved to Hollywood in 1995 and appeared in commercials for Lean Cuisine and Dimetapp; she also hosted The Movie Channel's free preview weekends. In 1994, she guest-starred on the soap opera "All My Children," and in 1995, she began a five-episode stint on NBC's "Caroline in the City." In 1996, Lauren played Liz Gibson on the CBS series "Good Company" and Denise Garibaldi Callahan on ABC's "Townies," and the following year, she made her big screen debut in the horror film "Nightwatch," guest-starred on "Law & Order" and "Seinfeld," and had a recurring role on "NewsRadio." She then appeared in the films "Confessions of a Sexist Pig" (1998), "One True Thing" (1998), and "Dill Scallion" (1999) and starred as Molly Davenport on NBC's "Conrad Bloom."
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In 2000, Graham was cast as Lorelai Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls," a role that earned her nominations from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards. The series aired 153 episodes over seven seasons on The WB and The CW and was revived in 2016 for the Netflix miniseries "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life." While starring on "Gilmore Girls," Lauren appeared in several films, including "Sweet November" (2001), "The Third Wheel" (2002), "Seeing Other People" (2004), "Lucky 13" (2005), and "Because I Said So" (2007). She also co-starred with Billy Bob Thornton in 2003's "Bad Santa" and with Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman in the 2007 "Bruce Almighty" spin-off "Evan Almighty." In 2009, Graham made her Broadway debut in a Nederlander Theatre revival of "Guys and Dolls," appeared in the films "Flash of Genius" and "The Answer Man," and voiced Fran Lockwood in "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," which grossed $243 million at the box office.
In 2010, Lauren co-starred with Zach Galifianakis, Jim Gaffigan, and Viola Davis in the film "It's Kind of a Funny Story" and began playing Sarah Braverman on the NBC series "Parenthood." Her "NewsRadio" co-star Maura Tierney had originally been cast in the role, but she left the show to undergo cancer treatments. Based on the 1989 Steve Martin film of the same name, "Parenthood" aired 103 episodes over six seasons.
In 2014, Graham co-starred with Joel McHale, Robin Williams, Candice Bergen, and Wendi McLendon-Covey in "A Merry Friggin' Christmas," then she appeared in the films "Max" (2015), "Joshy" (2016), and "Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life" (2016). She guest-starred on "Web Therapy" (2014), "The Odd Couple" (2015), and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2017), and from 2017 to 2018, she voiced Oxana Hauntley on the Disney Channel series "Vampirina." From 2020 to 2021, Lauren played Joan on NBC's "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist," and in 2021, she began starring on the Disney+ series "The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers."
(Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
Personal Life
In 2010, Lauren began a relationship with her "Parenthood" brother Peter Krause. They live in Los Angeles, next door to Graham's other "Parenthood" brother Dax Shepard and his wife, "Veronica Mars" and "The Good Place" star Kristen Bell. In the mid-1990s, Lauren and actress Connie Britton were roommates, and on a 2013 episode of "Watch What Happens Live," Graham revealed, "We lived in an empty house that we weren't supposed to be living in. We had no furniture and all we ate were Rice Krispies Treats."
Awards and Nominations
Graham won two Teen Choice Awards for Choice TV Parental Unit for "Gilmore Girls" (2005 and 2006), and in 2010, she was nominated in the same category for "Parenthood." She earned a Family Television Award (2001) for her performance on "Gilmore Girls" as well as a Gold Derby Award for Comedy Lead Actress (2005) and two Online Film & Television Association Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Series (2003 and 2006). The series also earned Lauren a Golden Globe nomination, two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, five Satellite Award nominations, and two Television Critics Association Award nominations. In 2005, she received a People's Choice Award nomination for Favorite Female Television Star, and she earned a Prism Award nomination for Performance in a Drama Episode for "Parenthood" in 2012.
Real Estate
In 2014, Graham paid $570,000 for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of NYC. She renovated the home with the help of interior designer Eric Hughes. She sold the apartment for $825,000 in May 2018. In 2005 Lauren paid Portia De Rossi $3 million for a home in LA's Los Feliz neighborhood. Lauren sold this home in September 2022 in an off-market deal for $6 million. Around the same time as the sale Lauren paid $2.7 million for a home in the same neighborhood, just around the corner in fact. The seller of this home was actress Ashley Benson.
