Graham, an Irish American, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Donna Grant, a fashion buyer, and Lawrence Graham, a candy industry lobbyist who was the former President for the chocolate and confection industry association. Her parents divorced when she was five, prompting Graham and her father to move to the D.C. area, where he became a congressional staffer. Graham traveled extensively with her father while growing up.

Graham discovered acting while in elementary school and further honed her talent at Langley High School, where she took part in the drill team. Yet she excelled on the stage, and Graham quickly took to acting in community theatre and other small productions. Graham graduated from Barnard College in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. After moving to Texas in 1992, she earned a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Acting Performance from Southern Methodist University.

After completing her education, Graham moved to New York City where she became a cocktail waitress and aspiring actress. In 1995, she relocated to Hollywood.

In addition to her many guest starring and co-starring roles on prime-time television, Graham starred in three failed sitcoms, including Townies (with Molly Ringwald and Jenna Elfman) and the short-lived sitcom Lush Life (with Lori Petty and Karyn Parsons). Between 1996 and 1997 Graham became a regular guest star on several hit NBC shows. She played a graduate student who caught the eye of Dick on Third Rock from the Sun, Richard’s dim-witted girlfriend on Caroline in the City, and Jerry’s speed-dial ranking girlfriend on Seinfeld. In an episode of Law & Order, she acted with Scott Cohen, who would later play Graham’s love interest on Gilmore Girls. Her most notable guest performance was as a highly-inept efficiency expert on Newsradio. The show’s producers hoped to add her to the cast, but test audiences responded poorly to the new character (her attempts to be Lisa’s friend at any and all costs wore thin after a while).

In 2000, Graham landed her breakthrough role as the comedic character Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls, the program that would finally launch her to stardom. For her work she received a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series (Drama) at the 2001 Golden Globe Awards. Beginning with Season 7 episode “To Whom It May Concern” and continuing through out the rest of the season, Graham served as a producer on Gilmore Girls. TV Guide reported that she received the position in an attempt to persuade her to sign for an eighth season.

Graham returned to her guest-starring roots when she portrayed herself in two episodes of NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Graham has also appeared on Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, co-hosted by Dave Foley of “News Radio.” After winning her preliminary match, she came in second to another former Newsradio star, Maura Tierney, in the championship game. On June 26, 2002, Graham was the last guest interviewed by Rosie O’Donnell on her daytime talk show. Graham is also one of the most frequent guests on The Ellen Degeneres Show, having appeared a total of eight times to date.

Graham’s motion picture roles encompass several NYU student films and multiple major studio releases, including Bad Santa, The Pacifier, Sweet November, and Because I Said So. She co-stars in the 2007 movie Evan Almighty, playing the role of Evan’s wife.

Lauren has said that she enjoys playing in short films, and acting in the Williamstown Theatre Festival. For short films, she has played in numerous, including Gnome, a 15 minute short film, viewable on YouTube.

A resident of West Hollywood, Graham has previously dated such Hollywood notables as Matthew Perry, Tate Donovan, and Marc Blucas. Marc Blucas starred on the cult hit television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

There is a persistent rumor that Lauren Graham dated James Marsters, who also appeared on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer;” but this is not true. The day after Lauren accompanied Marc Blucas to an awards show, a blind news item appeared stating that she was dating someone from the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Although speculation was that the man might be James Marsters, pictures of Lauren and Marc quickly surfaced.

Prior to becoming a television star, Graham dated Robert Maschio during his senior year at Columbia University and helped persuade him to try acting as a career.