Phoebe Buffay

Phoebe Buffay
First appearance	The Pilot
Last appearance	The Last One
Created by	David Crane Marta Kauffman
Portrayed by	Lisa Kudrow
In-universe information
Nickname	Pheebs
Occupation	Masseuse

Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan (née Buffay) is a fictional character from the popular US television sitcom Friends (1994-2004), played by Lisa Kudrow. Her claims to fame include her guitar playing in Central Perk and her elaborate improbable stories about her previous lives. Phoebe was known throughout the series as the eccentric, ditzy street smart friend.

Background

Family

Phoebe's bizarre family history is revealed piece by piece by Phoebe throughout the television series. Her biological mother is Phoebe Abbott, a real-estate agent, who, after birthing Phoebe and her identical twin Ursula at age 18, gave them up to her best friend Lily. Lily's husband, a pharmacist named Frank Buffay, was the girls' biological father. Frank left when they were very young. Lily, the woman Phoebe believed to be her birth mother until the end of Season 3, worked on a barge during Phoebe and Ursula's childhood, whilst living in upstate New York. Lily committed suicide on Christmas day when the twins were 14 (or possibly 15; see Age and Birthdays below) by sticking her head in the oven. Their stepfather was imprisoned (for reasons unknown) shortly thereafter (and was still incarcerated as of Season 10), driving the twins to the streets of New York City.

To hide Frank Buffay's real identity Lily and Phoebe's grandmother (Lily's mother, whom Phoebe lives with in New York) told her he was a tree surgeon in Burma where there are no phones. They also show Phoebe pictures of another man claiming that he was her father. This man was actually a model who's picture they acquired from buying picture frames, he was in the sample picture. In Phoebe's grandmother's apartment there is a framed picture of Albert Einstein, who Phoebe believes is her grandfather.

Phoebe and her twin sister were thus left alone. Phoebe left their home town in upstate New York shortly thereafter and moved to New York City to earn a living. She did not succeed and spent several years homeless on the street before moving in with Monica, where she stayed until 1993, then moving in with her grandmother, Lily's mother (played by Audra Lindley). At some point during this time period she earned a license as a massage therapist and joined a practice. Her grandmother dies during season five, and at the memorial service, Phoebe finally meets her father Frank Buffay (played by Bob Balaban).

During the running of the show, Phoebe lives in her grandmother's apartment, first with her grandmother, then with her friend Denise for an unknown amount of time (Denise is never depicted), before Rachel moves into the apartment. In season six Rachel's hair straightener malfunctions and the apartment is destroyed by fire, prompting Phoebe to return to live temporarily with Chandler and Monica. When her own apartment was rebuilt, it only had one bedroom (prior to the fire a partition had been built making it into a two-bedroom), and she lives there alone until she marries Mike in season ten.

Phoebe eventually meets up with her biological mother, Phoebe Abbott, who was played by Teri Garr. Abbott's first appearance was in the episode "The One at the Beach".

Phoebe and Ursula became estranged and distant, though precisely when or why this happened is never fully explained (Phoebe once states, "It's just stupid sister stuff" and cites various incidents, including Ursula stealing her possessions). As adults they remain distant, only speaking when necessary. Ursula is shown to be callous toward Phoebe, or at least exceptionally thoughtless with no concept of what people might or might not find upsetting. For example, she sold Phoebe's birth certificate (which is why Phoebe doesn't know her middle name), forgot to tell her that their mother had left a suicide note (which Ursula subsequently misplaced and quickly wrote one up for Phoebe), and performed in pornography using her sister's name. Ursula was revealed to be the waitress from Mad About You (Phoebe once described her as "career-driven"), which is the show that Lisa Kudrow was appearing on when Friends began. Lisa Kudrow played both Phoebe and Ursula at the same time using the split screen effect. However, on shots where the back of one head is seen - Lisa Kudrow's real life sister Helena Sherman plays the role of the unseen sister.

Phoebe also has a half-brother, Frank Buffay Jr., named after their father. Phoebe discovered Frank during one of her attempts to find her father, who, as noted, walked out on her when she was a child, and subsequently walked out on Frank Jr. and his family. After marrying his (much older) home economics teacher, Frank Jr. asked Phoebe if she would act as a surrogate mother for them, as they are desperate to have children but are not able to do so. Phoebe agrees and in "The One Hundredth" gave birth to triplets: a boy, Frank Jr. Jr. (prompting Chandler to quip "Shouldn't he be Frank the Third?") and two girls, Leslie and Chandler. The baby Chandler was originally thought to be a boy, alluding to the ongoing question of Chandler Bing's (whom the baby was named for) sexuality (see Chandler Bing).

Early life

Phoebe becomes homeless soon after the departure of all her caregivers and by age 14 she was living on the streets of New York. She never attended college, but she ostensibly met behind a dumpster with a small group to learn French. She also displays the ability to speak Italian.

She occasionally resorted to mugging to survive. At one point, when they were fourteen, she mugged Ross, though neither of them knew each other at the time. Phoebe also mentions that she lived in Prague.

Her previous lifestyle and wild stories shocks her friends. When she tells the story of the time when she stabbed a cop, their obviously surprised looks caused her to retort, "What?! He stabbed me first!" Phoebe picked up an impressive talent for boxing at a YMCA, where, according to her, the guys "weren't being Christian enough".

Phoebe later moves into her grandmother Frances' apartment, and inherits her yellow taxi after her death; since Frances was the mother of Lily and not of Phoebe's birth mother, she is not related to Phoebe at all, but this never became a sore point between the two after Phoebe learns of it.

She moves in with Monica, apparently answering a roommate ad.

Musical talent

File:Phoebe Buffay 1.jpg

The guitar is Phoebe's instrument of choice and she regularly plays in Central Perk.

Phoebe's somewhat dubious musical skills were a popular source of entertainment. Her stunning array of songs include "The Double-Double-Double-Jointed Boy", "Sue, Sue, Suicide", "Sticky Shoes", "Ode to a Pubic Hair (Little Black Curly Hair)", and most famously "Smelly Cat", which became both a jingle for a kitty litter commercial and a serious commercial release. Also "The Grandma Song" whom she sang to the children.

Phoebe's musical influences and favourite bands are heterogeneous: a taste for heavy metal and hard rock can be clearly noticed. To name a few examples:

• In season 9, episode 03, she says she's "working on a couple Iron Maiden covers".
• In season 7, episode 17, she expresses her love for the grindcore band Carcass.
• In season 9, episode 13, she sings Queen's "We Are the Champions" at a piano bar.

She describes her musical style as "acoustic folksy stuff" (season 9, episode 03).[1]

On the first seasons, she plays in open tuning, which requires only one finger to play major chords. In later seasons she plays in standard tuning. While attempting to teach Joey guitar, she professes to be "self-taught" and doesn't know the real names of chords. She refers to G-sharp as "Ice Berg" and A as "Bear Claw" because of her finger formations while playing them.

Smelly Cat

Smelly Cat first appeared in the second season episode "The One with the Baby on the Bus" where it was revealed to be Phoebe's most popular song. At the end of the episode she teaches a character played by guest star Chrissie Hynde to play the song. In "The One Where Eddie Moves In" Phoebe makes a professional recording of the song for possible commercial release, though her voice is replaced by an older singer. A short video for the song also appeared in this episode and is included in full as a bonus feature on the second season DVD set. In "The One with Phoebe's Ex-Partner" a character played by guest star Elizabeth Daily uses the song as a jingle for a cat litter commercial. In the fifth season episode "The One with Joey's Bag" Phoebe meets her estranged father, who reveals he sang a lullaby to her when she was a child, called "Sleepy Girl", which has the same melody as Smelly Cat. According to a 2003 article in IN Touch , a season-10 storyline was planned in which Phoebe became wealthy when Whitney Houston records a popular cover of "Smelly Cat".

The song is inspired by Charles Manson's Garbage Dump (from the album LIE) and inspired the name of the Portuguese comedy group Gato Fedorento (a literal translation of Smelly Cat). One of the actors once said in an interview that he thought "smelly cat" meant "cadeira rançosa", which means "cranky chair" in Portuguese. The "Smelly Cat Medley" track on the Friends Again soundtrack, credited to Phoebe Buffay & The Hairballs (featuring the Pretenders), features a recording of the scene, and then a new, more artistic recording of the duet between Hynde and Phoebe. Hynde then launches into a hard-rock version with new lyrics.

Animal rights and the environment

Phoebe has many priniciples, though she sometimes fails to stick to them. She is a vegetarian, and doesn't eat "food with a face", however she succumbs to her cravings for meat during her pregnancy, though only after Joey agrees to abstain from meat so that no extra animals would need to be killed.

She is against the wearing of fur coats, though decides she looks good in one that she inherits. Once, she became very upset upon witnessing trees being cut down and sold as Christmas trees, and when witnessing a woman stubbing out a cigarette on a tree forced her to apologize to it. She also cries when flowers die (and even arranges funerals for them), and feels sorry about sitting on a line of ants and accidentally killing them. She even once named a rat living in her apartment - "Bob" and a mouse "Susie". When Bob had babies and was killed, she tried to raise the babies herself.

Although she is a vegetarian, in "The One In Vegas", after remarking about being handed a coupon for a 99-cent steak and lobster dinner, Monica says, "Phoebe, you don't eat meat", to which Phoebe responds, "For 99 cents, I'd eat you."

Personality

Having experienced nothing like a normal, complete childhood, Phoebe is often quite naïve and innocent, and is in some regards still a child at heart. She still believes Santa Claus exists, until Joey says otherwise.

Phoebe is the most promiscuous of the three girls, being the one most often referred to as having casual sex. During the episode "The One with Rachel's Phone Number", Rachel attempts to convince Mike to do her a favor by promising that Phoebe will do anything he wants: "Seriously, I'm talking dirty stuff." Mike is surprised that it could "get any dirtier". In an episode where she wants to know more about a man and sends Joey to ask him questions, she is disappointed to learn that he "isn't into weird stuff - sexually". Phoebe kisses Rachel in one episode to experience Rachel's claim to be a fantastic kisser. Phoebe says that if she had to select Monica or Rachel to have a lesbian relationship with, she would select Rachel because she is "not as high-maintenance" as Monica.

An example of this occurs in the "The One with Ross and Monica's Cousin"; after Ross & Monica's gorgeous female cousin is shuffled from Monica's apartment to Ross's, and finally to Phoebe's (because Chandler and Ross are uncontrollably attracted to her). Phoebe experiences the same sexual desire for her that the men did. (In voiceover we hear Phoebe's thought: "Ask her out, she isn't YOUR cousin!"). In other episodes, Phoebe attends a lesbian wedding, Phoebe says that if she had to select Monica or Rachel to have a lesbian relationship with, she would select Rachel because she is "not as high-maintenance" as Monica.

Phoebe often uses her chaotic childhood and traumatic past as sympathy ploys to her friends. References to her mother's death were usually to get her own way. However, as the series progressed, the other friends indulge her less frequently.

Phoebe believes in reincarnation and refers to multiple gods; however, not all of Phoebe's beliefs seem internally connected. She is very open to the existence of paranormal phenomena and willing to consider the most bizarre scientific theories, much to Ross' confusion and despair. She, however, does not believe the theory of evolution or even that of gravity, claiming she feels more pushed down than pulled. At one point, Phoebe is even possessed by the spirit of an 82 year-old woman who had unfinished business. Phoebe also claims to hear voices in her head, and at one point, even heard what Joey was singing in his head.

Friendships

Chandler

Phoebe's relationship with Chandler seems to be one based on Chandler humoring Phoebe, somebody whom he genuinely loves as a friend. Chandler acts as something of a little brother to Phoebe, demanding on several occasions, "Pheebs! Play with me!" Conversations between the pair, ranging from why Donald Duck wears a towel when getting out of the shower, to why there isn't a superhero called Goldman (which Phoebe herself asked), were a highlight of the show.

After Phoebe learns that Chandler is seeing Monica, she makes sexual advances towards him to test the strength of his devotion, despite having a platonic relationship. Chandler asks Phoebe to help him select an engagement ring for Monica. Eventually Chandler is called upon to walk Phoebe down the aisle when she marries Mike, although originally it was to be Joey. Although the characters were established as being close friends (the two are often seen hanging out as a pair), the nature of their storylines often meant limited interaction. However Chandler often played funny jokes on Phoebe during the first half of the series, but then their roles are reversed during the second half.

Joey

Phoebe and Joey had a similar relationship and appear to be "on the same wavelength" quite often, perhaps partially due to their being the only members of the group who lack a college education (in fact, Joey hints in season 9 that he never finished high school, and Phoebe mentions in season five that she never even went to high school). Joey is Phoebe's best male friend, and they have dinner together once a month to talk about the rest of the group. Both characters show a fondness and softness (Phoebe even hysterically defends him) for each other, even when joking or being upset towards the others. She once casually explained that "when the revolution comes, I will have to destroy you all...except you, Joey." Joey was also angered when Monica and Chandler did not show support for his "identical hand twin" idea and said that none of them are allowed to live in his hand-shaped mansion "except for you, Pheebs, you can live in the thumb." Also, when Rachel wanted her and Phoebe to back out of the group Phoebe asked if they can get Joey as well. Joey frequently finds acceptance from Phoebe, who is in many respects more intelligent than him but also more open to alternative ideas, including whatever ideas Joey develops through his imperfect knowledge. She is the only friend impressed when Joey finds his "identical hand twin", she's also the only one who's seen Joey 'drink' a gallon of milk in ten seconds. At one point, Phoebe and Joey sit at a chessboard together, making moves and punching a clock, but after Phoebe makes a checkers-like move with a queen, Joey says, "We really need to learn how to play this the real way", although Phoebe claims she preferred their way. They play several other unorthodox games, such as betting whether the chick or the duck would find the hidden Nutter Butter. Although they seem to have a close connection with each other it sometimes seems she could just be using him. In one episode she explains that she always likes the person with the most money in the group at the current time, then smiles and waves at Joey while saying "hi Joey!". Also Phoebe and Joey are known to share 3 great kisses – one when she realizes that she is actually 31, one where he needs to practice for a part, and once when Joey thinks she is Ursula. Joey also asks her about when the two of them should hook up because Chandler and Monica are married and because Rachel and Ross are having a baby to which she says "all in good time my love, all in good time". He also proposes to Phoebe because he thinks that she is going to be a single mother. Joey is in awe of Phoebe's knowledge of such things as reincarnation and openly wishes that he could remember his past lives, to which Phoebe replies that Joey has never had any past lives because he is "brand new". Phoebe tries to teach Joey how to speak French, at his request - he claims fluency on his resumé. Much to Phoebe's annoyance though, Joey has no aptitude for foreign language and just reels off gibberish (ironically both Kudrow and LeBlanc speak fluent French, as does Matthew Perry). She also tries to teach him the guitar, but forbids him to touch one, and they have a brief falling out when he seeks out a qualified teacher.

Phoebe reportedly had a crush on Joey, but was very jealous of his relationship with her twin sister, Ursula, who has been taking things from her ever since they were kids. As Phoebe and Joey's relationship never goes past a single kiss, Joey cannot be considered as one of Phoebe's significant others. In "The One Where They All Turn Thirty", Phoebe is lamenting all the things she has failed to do before turning 31, including having "the perfect kiss!", so Joey gives her one. Kudrow later revealed in an interview that she and LeBlanc had pitched an idea to the writers involving Joey and Phoebe having casual sex all along, but the pitch was rejected.

Ross

Though Phoebe and Ross are firm friends, their relationship sometimes leads to conflict between Phoebe's "New Age" beliefs and Ross's scientific ones, such as their debates over the theories of evolution and gravity, and whether or not Phoebe's dead mother had been reincarnated as a cat. Phoebe even suggests that, at some point in the future, she and Ross will have a disagreement that ends with her killing him. In "The One With Joey's Big Break", Phoebe claims to be mad at Ross, but "can't remember" why. She remembers that he called her boring, but this turned out to be merely a dream.

In one of the most amusing twists of the entire series, it is revealed that the mugger who attacked a teenage Ross outside St. Mark's Comics, stealing his backpack and the only existing copy of his cartoon "Science Boy" (who had a superhuman thirst for knowledge), had been a teenage, homeless Phoebe. Up until this becomes known, Ross claims that his attacker was a huge, beastly man. To show how sorry she was for mugging Ross, Phoebe returns "Science Boy", which she has stored in a box labeled "crap from the street" ever since. She claims that she had kept it only because it was too good to sell for food money, as she apparently learnt a lot from science boy when she was growing up on the street. When Ross comes to know that Phoebe had never ever ridden a bike in her entire life and that as a kid, she saw her neighbor with a bike, he gifts her a bike exactly as described by Phoebe. Also, when Ross realizes that he is in love with Rachel, Phoebe pushes him to tell Rachel how he feels. She and Joey always try out of turn to bring the Ross & Rachel Union.

In a flashback episode it is revealed that after Ross and Carol's relationship broke up, in a moment of weakness, she and Ross almost had sex on the pool table inside the bar that would become Central Perk (but they stopped because there were too many balls involved).

In the last episode of Friends, Phoebe drives Ross to the airport in her Taxi, and delays Rachel's flight so that Ross can admit his love to Rachel.

Monica

Although Phoebe and Monica are close, Phoebe often finds her competitive, obsessive-compulsive behavior off-putting. During one of Monica's obsessive outbreaks Phoebe jokes about having "woke the beast." Also, when explaining why she has to move out, Phoebe says, "I need to live in a world where I can spill!" She moves out of Monica's apartment surreptitiously, taking out one possession at a time (a lamp, a rug, etc.) to avoid discovery. However, once she is discovered, she states that she still wishes to be Monica's friend. At one point, some time before the first episode, she attempted to "cut Monica out" of her life (which is discovered later when she and Monica re-connect with their friend Amanda who used to live in their building). They also clash when Monica becomes Phoebe's wedding planner and becomes bossy and demanding. Phoebe responds to Monica's bossing with a very military "Sir! Yes sir!" Perhaps their biggest clash is when Phoebe starts singing outside Monica's restaurant, much to Monica's annoyance and embarrassment. Phoebe takes this harshly and insults Monica's cooking and restaurant while Monica retaliates by insulting Phoebe's music.

Rachel

Her relationship with Rachel is a bit more even-keeled; they are even roommates for a time in season six, from Episode 606: "The One Where Phoebe Runs" to Episode 618: "The One Where Ross Dates a Student" (although that leads to some minor clashes, including Phoebe's hatred of Pottery Barn and Rachel's embarrassment at Phoebe's strange jogging style during their morning runs). Once, Phoebe admits that, if she had to choose which of her two girlfriends to have a lesbian relationship with, she would pick Rachel because she is not as high-maintenance as Monica.

Phoebe might be considered the dominant figure in the three-way friendship between the three girls: once, when Monica and Rachel are fighting, Phoebe, who stood head and shoulders above both of them, easily overcomes both of them by pinching their ears so hard both are forced to kneel; once they agree to stop fighting, Phoebe comments, "If we were in prison, you guys would be like my bitches." In one episode, Phoebe calls herself, "The Puppetmaster of the group." Another time, Phoebe asks Rachel "Who's the boss of you?" and Rachel replies "You?" However in most other episodes, we see Monica being shown as the strongest of the three and often bossing Phoebe and Rachel around.

Age and birthdays

Phoebe's birthday is either February 16 or in late October/early November, and she is one minute younger than her twin sister Ursula.

Phoebe is probably the oldest of the friends, though we are never told her year of birth. In "The Pilot", she says she was 14 when she first began living on the streets of New York. This was shortly after her mother committed suicide. In "The One with the Cat" Phoebe says she hasn't seen her deceased mother's smile for 17 years. This suggests Phoebe is 31 in late 1997, making her birth year 1966 (or not; see below).

In "The One With Two Parts, Part Two" (season one), Phoebe has a birthday party in February. As is typical for the show, however, there is some confusion. Rachel's observation to Chandler in "The One Where Nana Dies Twice" (season one) that she realized Chandler was not gay because he was "talking to [her] breasts" at Phoebe's birthday party, implies that the party must have occurred since September, when Rachel first joined the group. However, we also know that Ross brought Chandler home for Thanksgiving when Rachel and Monica were still in high school--this being the first time Rachel ever met Chandler--so Rachel could have been talking about a much earlier birthday party when he and Ross were at college (where Rachel and Monica would have visited him). In "The One with Phoebe's Birthday Dinner" (aired October 31, 2002), Phoebe states she could not make a reservation for the night of her birthday, so they are doing it Halloween (October 31st) evening instead. This is consistent with Rachel's allusion. A birthday late in the year is also suggested in "The One Where They All Turn Thirty", in which Phoebe is outdoors on her 30th (actually her 31st--see below) birthday and is dressed for fall in New York, not winter.

In the course of her unusual upbringing Phoebe herself loses track of her year of birth. Her error is corrected in "The One Where They All Turn Thirty" when Ursula shows Phoebe Ursula's birth certificate, which discloses that Phoebe and Ursula are actually 31 on what she had thought was her thirtieth birthday. Unfortunately, the viewer is not told in what year this takes place, and the birth certificate is not visible. This raises the question of whether Phoebe was actually 15 when her mother killed herself, not 14, as it is more likely she would forget the number of years she'd been alive when her mother died as opposed to how many years it had been since she'd died.

Marriage

In Season 9, Joey—somewhat inadvertently—introduces Phoebe to Mike Hannigan (played by Paul Rudd). Phoebe and Mike begin a long relationship which temporarily ends when Phoebe learns Mike, having already been through one disastrous marriage, never wants to remarry. Mike then learns that Phoebe's first boyfriend, David, is planning to propose to her; he then changes his mind about marriage and proposes to Phoebe before David can. This proposal was rejected, as Phoebe only wanted to know that marriage was a possibility, but she and Mike become a couple again. They become officially engaged in "The One Where Rachel's Sister Baby-Sits". In the final season, the two are married in the street outside Central Perk, with Monica as maid of honor, Rachel as a bridesmaid, Joey officiating (he was ordained over the internet for Monica and Chandler's wedding), Chandler giving Phoebe away and Ross holding Mike's beloved but smelly childhood dog as a groomsman.

When she changes her name after the wedding, Phoebe learns she can change it to anything, and briefly becomes "Princess Consuela Bananahammock". Her husband Mike retaliates by changing his name to "Crap Bag". Phoebe reconsiders after learning that banana hammock is slang for a Speedo, and changes her name again to Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan.

However, Phoebe and Mike's marriage may not be legitimate, because Phoebe may have been married in Las Vegas years before. As she is under the impression that people married in Vegas are only married within Vegas city limits, Phoebe is surprised when Monica informs her that it is legal all over the world. Phoebe does indeed get married at least twice; in Season 2 ("The One With Phoebe's Husband"), Duncan (an apparently gay ice dancer, an old friend and someone Phoebe was in love with) comes to Monica's house, where he thinks Phoebe is living, and asks to see his wife. Phoebe divorces him, her husband of six years, Duncan comes out as straight but divorces Phoebe anyway, and we learn that they only got married so Duncan could stay in the country. However, there is another theory, that as Phoebe was married to Duncan before, her marriage in Las Vegas may be illegitimate and since she divorced Duncan, her marriage with Mike is legitimate.

Phoebe is also briefly engaged to Joey. In the episode entitled "The One With The Red Sweater", Joey believes that Phoebe is pregnant and proposes to her. Phoebe says yes and accepts his ring, but Monica tells Joey that it is Rachel who is pregnant, so Joey proposes to Rachel and must retrieve the ring from a reluctant Phoebe.

Production

• When Phoebe became pregnant during Season 4, it was to account for Lisa Kudrow's actual pregnancy. Kudrow gave birth to a boy before the start of Season 5.
• When Phoebe is surrogate mother to her brother's triplets, Friends is possibly alluding to the mythical Greek goddess Phoebe who bore children with her brother Coeus.