Lauren Helen Graham is an American actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Lorelai Gilmore on the television series Gilmore Girls, for which she received nominations for Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe and Satellite Awards, and as Sarah Braverman on the NBC television drama Parenthood. Lauren Helen 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. Graham was raised in her father's Catholic faith (her maternal grandfather was a Baptist minister); she is of Irish, English, and Scottish descent. When Graham's father worked for the Agency for International Development in Vietnam, Lauren lived for a few years in Japan. After completing her education, Graham moved back to New York City where she earned her living as a waitress and as a tutor teaching SAT test prep for The Princeton Review. While she aspired to become an actress, she made publicity appearances wearing the costume of Striker, the dog mascot of the US-based 1994 FIFA World Cup.In 1995, she relocated to Hollywood.