Melissa Rauch

Melissa Ivy Rauch (/raʊtʃ/; born June 23, 1980)^[1] is an American actress. She is best known for playing Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, for which she was nominated for the Critics Choice Television Award in 2013. From 2004 to 2008, Rauch worked as a regular contributor on the VH1 series Best Week Ever.

Melissa Rauch
Rauch in 2013
Born	Melissa Ivy Rauch (1980-06-23) June 23, 1980 (age 44) Marlboro Township, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater	Marymount Manhattan College
Occupations	Actress comedian
Years active	2006–present
Spouse	Winston Beigel ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2

Rauch's other acting credits include playing Tina on the American remake of Kath & Kim, Summer on the HBO fantasy horror drama True Blood, and currently plays the lead role on NBC's revival of Night Court.

Rauch also starred in, co-wrote, and co-produced the 2015 sports comedy-drama film The Bronze and provided the voice of DC character Harley Quinn in the 2017 animated film Batman and Harley Quinn. Rauch also had supporting roles in I Love You, Man (2009), Ice Age: Collision Course and Flock of Dudes (both 2016), and Ode to Joy and The Laundromat (both 2019).

Early life

Rauch was born to Susan and David Rauch,^[2][1] a Jewish^[3][4] family living in Marlboro Township, New Jersey. She has a younger brother, Ben.^[1] She developed an interest in acting while attending Marlboro High School.^[5] Her Bat Mitzvah had a "Melissa’s Comedy Club" theme.^[6] Rauch graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City in 2002.^[7]

Career

Some of Rauch's early work was as a regular contributor to VH1's Best Week Ever television show.^[8]

In 2009, Rauch began playing the recurring role of Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, a co-worker of Penny's at The Cheesecake Factory who began to date Howard Wolowitz, in the third season of CBS's The Big Bang Theory.^[9] The following season, her character became Howard's fiancée, and Rauch was promoted to a series regular. The characters married in the season five finale. In December 2011, Rauch and fellow cast members of The Big Bang Theory received the first of four nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Other acting credits include True Blood (in which she had a recurring role in 2010 as Summer, a girl who likes Hoyt), The Office, the American remake of the Australian TV series Kath & Kim, Wright v Wrong, and the film I Love You, Man.

Rauch is also part of the comedic stage show The Realest Real Housewives cast with Casey Wilson, June Diane Raphael, Jessica St. Clair and Danielle Schneider. The show began running at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in 2011.^[14]

Rauch co-wrote and co-produced the film The Bronze, in which she starred as Hope Ann Greggory, a bronze medal-winning gymnast clinging to her glory days of 12 years earlier. It opened the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.^[15] Variety said, "Rauch, who co-wrote the screenplay with her husband Winston, has never carried a film before. But she delivers the best breakthrough comedic performance by an actress since Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids."^[15] Sony Pictures Classics acquired the film in September 2015.^[16]

In 2017, Rauch voiced Harley Quinn in the animated film Batman and Harley Quinn^[17] and she voiced Light Thief in "Light Riders" from Blaze and the Monster Machines.

She currently^[when?] stars in the Night Court revival series playing Judge Abby Stone, the daughter of Judge Harold T. Stone and Gina Stone from the original Night Court series.^[18] Season 1 premiered on NBC on January 17, 2023, and is co-produced by Rauch and her husband Winston Beigel, in association with Warner Bros. Television Studios and Universal Television.

Personal life

Rauch is married to writer Winston Beigel, who collaborated with her on The Miss Education of Jenna Bush and other projects.^{[19][20][21][22]} Rauch announced that she was pregnant on July 11, 2017, and disclosed that she had a miscarriage previously.^[23] On December 4, 2017, Rauch announced on Instagram that she had given birth to a baby girl.^[24] On May 4, 2020, Rauch announced the birth of her son.^[25][26]

Rauch modeled the voice of Bernadette after her parents: the "sweet, high-pitched purr" is modeled after her mother, while the "eerie, haranguing imitation" of Mrs. Wolowitz is modeled after her father.^[21] Both are "very different" from Rauch's real voice.^[27]

Filmography

Film

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Delirious	Megan
2009	I Love You, Man	Jogger
	The Condom Killer	Audra	Short and also producer
	Adventureland	Woman in diner	Uncredited
2013	In Lieu of Flowers	Carrie
2014	Are You Here	Marie
2015	The Bronze	Hope Ann Greggory	Also writer and executive producer
2016	Ice Age: Collision Course	Francine	Voice, cameo
	Flock of Dudes	Jamie
2017	Batman and Harley Quinn	Harley Quinn / Dr. Harleen Quinzel	Voice, direct-to-video[17]
2019	Ode to Joy	Bethany
	The Laundromat	Melanie Martin
2020	Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite!	Gwen the Cat	Voice, direct-to-video

Television

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	12 Miles of Bad Road	Bethany	3 episodes
2008–2009	Kath & Kim	Tina	Season 1 (recurring; 6 episodes)
2009–2019	The Big Bang Theory	Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz	Season 3 (recurring; 5 episodes) Season 4–12 (main role)
2010	The Office	Cathy Duke	Episode: "The Delivery"
	True Blood	Summer	Season 3 (recurring; 6 episodes)
	Wright vs. Wrong	Daisy Cake	Television film
2014	Jake and the Never Land Pirates	First-Mate Mollie	Voice, episode: "Smee-erella"
	Teenage Fairytale Dropouts[28]	Miss Macabre	Episode: "Something Wicked This Way Substitutes"
	The Hotwives of Orlando	Calliope	Episode: "Say You, Séance"
2015	Sofia the First	Fairy Tizzy	Voice, 2 episodes[29]
	Scooby-Doo! and the Beach Beastie	Kiki	Voice, television film
2017	Star vs. the Forces of Evil	Baby	Voice, episode: "Baby"
	Marvel's Ant-Man	Wasp	Voice, 2 episodes
	Blaze and the Monster Machines	The Light Thief	Voice, episode: "Light Riders"
2019	Black Monday	Shira	2 episodes
	Robot Chicken	Betty Spaghetty, Rainbow Brightstar	Voice, episode: "Molly Lucero in: Your Friend's Boob"
2020	Animaniacs	Marie Antoinette	Voice, episode: "France France Revolution"
2021	Jeopardy!	Melissa Rauch (voice)	Season 38 (guest host; 10 episodes)
2022	Firebuds	Beth Bayani	Voice, 3 episodes
	Celebrity Jeopardy!	Herself	Contestant
2023–present	Night Court	Judge Abby Stone	Main role and also executive producer

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
2012	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated
2013				Nominated
	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2014	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Gal Pals (shared with Kaley Cuoco and Mayim Bialik)		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2015				Nominated
2016				Nominated
	Online Film & Television Association	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2017	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Nominated

References

1. "Melissa Rauch: Biography". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
2. "Winston Beigel". Broadwayworld.com. August 14, 2005. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2015. [Photo caption] Melissa Rauch with parents Susan & David Rauch, older brother Ben Rauch, and boyfriend Winston Beigel at The Miss Education of Jenna Bush
3. Deerwester, Jayme (November 17, 2011). "Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch Five Questions". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 15, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
4. Bloom, Nate (January 26, 2012). "Jewish Stars 1/27". Cleveland Jewish News. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
5. Considine, Bob (May 17, 2011). "Take Five With Melissa Rauch". The Star-Ledger. Newark. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2015. I also had a terrific theater teacher at Marlboro High School who taught me a great deal and was very encouraging. There wasn't a ton to do in Marlboro, so for me, it was either hang outside the Wawa or put on a show.
6. "Mayim Bialik & Melissa Rauch Talk 'The Bronze,' Bat Mitzvahs & Big Bang's Jewish Rivalry". Kveller. March 16, 2016. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
7. Mead, Wendy. "Melissa Rauch Biography: Television Actress (1980–)". Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks). Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
8. "Profiles in Panelism: Melissa Rauch". Best Week Ever. May 29, 2008. Archived from the original on December 16, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
9. Riley, Jenelle (November 29, 2012). "'The Big Bang Theory' Cast On Being Part of an Ensemble". Backstage. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
10. "Nominations Announced for the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®" (Press release). Screen Actors Guild. December 14, 2011. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
11. "Nominations Announced for the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®" (Press release). Screen Actors Guild. December 12, 2012. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
12. "Nominations Announced for the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®" (Press release). Screen Actors Guild. December 13, 2013. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
13. Johnson, Zach (December 10, 2014). "SAG Awards 2015: Complete List of Nominations!". E! News. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
14. Trachta, Ali (January 29, 2011). "The Realest Real Housewives at UCB: A Celebration of the Best Show Ever + Paul Scheer". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
15. Setoodeh, Ramin (January 23, 2015). "5 Reasons The Bronze Could be a Breakout Comedy in 2015". Variety. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
16. Pedersen, Erik (September 11, 2015). "Ex-Relativity Pic The Bronze Lands at Sony Pictures Classics". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
17. Trumbore, Dave (August 30, 2017). "'Batman and Harley Quinn' Review: An Insult to Fans of 'Batman: The Animated Series'". Collider.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2020. I don't know if I can blame Melissa Rauch for any of this, but it was not a great introduction for her take on Harley.
18. Andreeva, Nellie (April 30, 2021). "'Night Court': EP Melissa Rauch Set To Star With John Larroquette In Sequel At NBC". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
19. Harper, Carol (June 6, 2014). "Melissa Rauch movie 'The Bronze' to shoot June 29 in Amherst". Morning Journal. Lisbon, Ohio. Archived from the original on May 15, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
20. Hawk, Jason (June 29, 2014). "'Bronze' to film downtown". Oberlin News. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
21. Getlen, Larry (March 24, 2013). "Screaming success". New York Post. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
22. Silverman, Stephen M. (August 19, 2005). "Jenna Bush Takes Center Stage in New York". People. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
23. Rauch, Melissa (July 11, 2017). "'Big Bang Theory' Star Melissa Rauch Announces Her Pregnancy and Reflects on Previous Miscarriage". glamour.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
24. "Actress Melissa Rauch Welcomes A 'Beautiful Baby Girl' Named Sadie". The Huffington Post. December 5, 2017. Archived from the original on December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
25. "The Big Bang Theory's Melissa Rauch announces birth of her son Brooks". Metro. May 4, 2020. Archived from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
26. "Big Bang Theory Star Melissa Rauch Welcomes Son Brooks — and Reveals She Gave Birth Alone". PEOPLE.com. Archived from the original on May 4, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
27. "Melissa Rauch of Big Bang Theory Does S&M-Inspired Photo Shoot for Maxim". The Huffington Post. November 16, 2013. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
28. "Ánima Estudios – Mobile Uploads". facebook.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
29. "Second Season of Disney Junior's Hit Series "Sofia the First" Debuts Friday, March 7 on Disney Channel". The Futon Critic (Press release). Disney Channel. February 7, 2014. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2015.

External links

• Melissa Rauch on Twitter
• Melissa Rauch at IMDb
• Gostin, Nicki (December 11, 2011). "'The Big Bang Theory' Star Melissa Rauch On Nerds, New Jersey And 'Real Housewives'". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
• "Melissa Rauch – Gallery". Maxim. Retrieved January 29, 2016.