Beginnings and early roles, 1984–1993
Cox was a young woman who was pulled onstage at the St. Paul Civic Center to dance with Bruce Springsteen in the 1984 music video for “Dancing in the Dark.”
Her early television credits include a starring role as Gloria Dinallo in the NBC science-fiction fantasy series Misfits of Science (1985), as well as guest appearances in the ABC comedy-drama series The Love Boat (1986) and the CBS crime drama series Murder, She Wrote (1986). Later, in the NBC comedy series Family Ties (1987–1989), she played Lauren Miller, the girlfriend of Michael J. Fox’s character Alex P. Keaton.
In Mr. Destiny, she played Jewel Jagger, Larry Burrows’ (James Belushi) tough-as-nails assistant (1990). She co-starred in the CBS sitcom The Trouble with Larry in 1993, alongside Bronson Pinchot and Perry King. The following year, shortly before the premiere of the sitcom Friends, Cox appeared in the comedy film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective alongside Jim Carrey, and as Jerry Seinfeld’s girlfriend, Meryl, in the Seinfeld episode “The Wife.” She appeared in Toad the Wet Sprocket’s music video “Good Intentions” in 1995.
The song was also included on the soundtrack of the film Friends. Courtney briefly worked for video game publisher Bethesda Softworks in the 1980s.
