Background
Rachel first appears in the Pilot episode running into Central Perk in a rain-soaked wedding dress in search of her high school best friend Monica Geller, with whom she has evidently lost contact during her university years or shortly thereafter. Rachel had just fled her wedding to Barry Farber after she realized that she wasn't really in love with Barry, and desired the gravy boat that she had been given as a wedding gift more than she desired her fiance. It is also revealed throughout the series that Rachel had owned several pets, including a cat, a dog, a pony, a turtle, a hamster, and a tarantula while she was growing up. She also went to college, and was in the sorority Kappa Kappa Delta.
Rachel's parents are rich and generally cynical of her attempt at an independent life in the city. Her mother, played by Marlo Thomas, is comically snobbish and her father, Dr. Green, played by Ron Leibman, is stern and intimidating, as seen in his behavior toward Ross when Ross and Rachel were dating, and again when Rachel revealed to him that she was pregnant. Rachel was born on May 5, which is revealed when Gunther, manager of Central Perk, asks Rachel for her birthday.
Compared to her sisters, Rachel appears to be the most grounded and down-to-earth Green daughter, although this only becomes evident after she moves in with Monica and becomes financially independent from her parents for the first time. Her sister Amy (played by Christina Applegate), is rude and shockingly tactless, while her other sister Jill (played by Reese Witherspoon), is spoiled and vain.
Rachel's on-again/off-again relationship with Ross produced a daughter, Emma. Rachel's pregnancy was actually the second one of the group after Phoebe had acted as a surrogate to her brother's children. The series ends with Rachel and Ross getting back together after Rachel contemplated a move to Paris to work for Louis Vuitton. It is rumoured that they may have married again after the series finished (they drunkenly married on a trip to Las Vegas at the end of season 5). This is almost certainly confirmed by Joey in the season premiere of the spin-off, Joey, where he states that all his friends are married, settled and have started a family.
