Elizabeth Jean Philipps was born on June 25, 1979 in Oak Park, Illinois to parents Joseph and Barbara. Earning the nickname “Busy” at the age of six months due to her constant running around, her parents – and her babysitter – started to call her Busy, which has stuck with her ever since. She was raised in Scottsdale, Arizona by her parents and with her older sister Leigh Ann.

Busy was intrigued by acting after her school’s performance of “Charlotte’s Web”. She attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona where she was taught by high-school theatre teacher Deborah Carrick. During high school she was voted “Best Actress” and “Most Likely to Become a Famous Actress” by her class.

After graduating high school, Busy began working in local theater, and continued her studies at the Actors Lab of Arizona. While enrolled in the Actors Lab, she wrote and produced two productions. Busy also took her studies overseas to Europe, where she was enrolled in a course during the summer of 1998 at the Oxford School of Drama in England. After her summer in England, Busy moved to Los Angeles where she enrolled and graduated with a degree in theater from Loyola Marymount College. During her studies at Loyola, Busy met and soon became best friends with Linda Cardellini, who would later be her co-star on “Freaks and Geeks”. Loyola was also where Busy met her ex-longterm boyfriend, and son of world-renowned actor Tom Hanks, Colin Hanks.

One of Busy’s first roles was as the character Kim Kelly on the critically acclaimed, but short-lived, series “Freaks and Geeks”. The show was known as a “cult classic” and sadly only lasted one season. After the cancellation of “Freaks and Geeks”, Busy landed some roles in various feature films and television shows. It was one such appearance that landed Busy a two year stint on one of the most popular shows in WB network history, “Dawson’s Creek”. She signed on to play the role of Audrey Liddell, a girl from Los Angeles who has a love of life and fun, for only 6-10 episodes. The producers loved Busy’s portrayal of Audrey so much that they turned her into a series regular in seasons 5 and 6 of the show, appearing in 46 episodes. Busy even earned a Teen Choice Awards nomination in the category of “TV – Choice Sidekick” for the show although the award went to Alyson Hannigan of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.

After the end of “Dawson’s Creek”, Busy was featured in more film and television projects. One of the most memorable roles was as the character Karen in the Wayan’s Brothers hit comedy “White Chicks”. Busy also had a starring role in the short-lived UPN show “Love, Inc.” in 2005, which ran for 13 episodes. Busy continued to make a name for herself in Hollywood by guest starring in hit television shows like “Entourage”, “How I Met Your Mother”, “E.R.”, and “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”.

Busy currently stars as Laurie on the hit ABC comedy, “Cougar Town”, co-starring alongside Courteney Cox.

In between her TV and film roles, Busy found time for love. In June 2007, Busy and her longtime boyfriend, Marc Silverstein, became husband and wife. On August 13, 2008, Busy and Marc welcomed their first child, a daughter named Birdie Leigh Silverstein. Busy and her family currently reside in Los Angeles.