Who Is Lisa Kudrow’s Husband, Michel Stern?

Lisa Kudrow’s ‘Friends‘ character Phoebe Buffay was unlucky in love for a long time and didn’t have a real boyfriend until she met Mike Hannigan, whom she married. 

However, in real life, Kudrow manifested her relationship with the man of her dreams, and what started as a one-sided love affair resulted in their 26-year-old marriage, which is still going strong. 

Kudrow met her husband Michel Stern in the ’80s. She was living with her French roommate, who was dating Stern. She was all in from the moment she laid eyes on him.

However, she was super polite, and when she saw him with her roommate, she just went, ‘Well, he’s the perfect man and it’s all ruined because now they’re together and I can’t [make a move].'” 

Who is Michel Stern?

Michel Stern, 63, is an advertising executive and businessman.

He was born in 1958 in France before migrating to America for work.

Kurdow was first introduced to Stern in the late 1980s when he was dating her French roommate. 

“I was living with French girl and he had just moved here and they were dating when we first met. But I’m freakishly polite, so I saw him and went, ‘Well, he’s the perfect man and it’s all ruined because now they’re together and I can’t (make a play for him),’

“I thought that that’s not nice to flirt. But the minute I saw him I went, “Well, that’s it, there he is.”

She continued, “When he’d come to pick her up, he’d say, ‘Oh hello, Lisa,’ and I’d say, ‘Hi,’ and I’d go and leave the room and he thought I was a freak.

“They went out for two and a half months, and six years later I met him again at her birthday party and we just never stopped. We’re still friends.”

Michel spent his childhood in France with his parents and didn’t move to live in the US until the late ’80s, when he met Lisa. He finished high school in Paris and enrolled at a college from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1980.

Michel is a big fan of the film industry – he started watching movies and TV series after dating Lisa. Tom Cruise is among his favorite male actor, and he enjoys watching famous actress is Jennifer Lawrence.

He enjoys traveling, and Switzerland is his dream holiday destination. His other hobbies include reading and cooking. His favorite foods are chicken, pancakes, cheeseburgers, and fries.

When did Michel Stern and Lisa Kudrow Get Married?

The couple got married on May 27, 1995, just one year after the first Friends series premiered.’

Their wedding was held in Malibu, California.

In 2014 the actress told Glamour: “When [Michel and I] decided to get married, we understood: We’re not promising to love each other forever, because you can’t do that, but we are promising to work on whatever problems come up.”

Their 26th wedding anniversary was also the same day HBO Max’s Friends: The Reunion special was released.

“[Michel and I] respect each other’s independence, and I don’t mean that as a euphemism … If he wants to go on a golf trip, he goes,” Kudrow continued.

“I think people get in trouble [when they assume they’re] supposed to be one unit, in sync about everything. [Marriage] is like being on a team. Each teammate is different, but you have the same goal.”

Michel Stern and Lisa Kudrow Children

The couple is parents to son Julian, born on May 7, 1998.

Kudrow fell pregnant when she was filming for the fourth season of Friends.

As a result, the show writers decided to incorporate her growing bump into the storyline, as her character Phoebe becomes the surrogate mother to brother Frank and his wife Alice in the series.

Despite his mother’s famous role and growing up around the cast, Julian has admitted that he is not a fan of the show but loves Games of Thrones.

In May 2021, Julian graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.

Net Worth

Michel Stern’s net worth is calculated to be $1.1 million. His wife, Lisa Kudrow, has an estimated net worth of $90 million. The couple owns several mansions in the USA, most notably in the Los Angeles area.