Melanie Chartoff

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Melanie Chartoff in 1980

Melanie Chartoff (born December 15, 1948 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an actress best known for her voice role in Rugrats, and for her comedic work on the ABC series Fridays from 1980-1982, and on the early '90s Fox sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose.

Chartoff's first TV role came in 1976 when she played a nurse on Search For Tomorrow, after which came an appearance in the 1978 motion picture American Hot Wax.

Chartoff first became a nationally known figure on ABC's Fridays; that network's attempt to create its own version of Saturday Night Live. She immediately stood out on the series; partly thanks to her regular role as the anchor on the show's fake newscasts, but also due to her comedic skills (particularly a devastating impression of Nancy Reagan) and her pleasant looks.

Between the demise of Fridays in 1982 and her return to a regular series in 1990 with Parker Lewis Can't Lose (in which she co-starred for three seasons as the high-strung Principal Grace Musso), Chartoff continued to work steadily on television throughout the '80s, including appearances on Mr. Belvedere, Wiseguy, and St. Elsewhere, as well as a recurring role on Newhart as Dr. Mary Kizer. She also appeared on stage in the La Jolla Playhouse production of "Big River." In addition, she made two appearances on Seinfeld, including one in the 1998 series finale in which four of her former Fridays co-stars were also involved, making it the closest thing to a Fridays cast reunion to date.

In recent years she has become best known for her voice work on the cartoon series Rugrats. Chartoff's Rugrats characters include Didi Pickles - mother of Tommy and Dil Pickles - and her mother, Minka. She continued to voice Didi on Rugrats' successor series, All Grown Up!.

According to her website, in 1991 Chartoff conceived the Grayway Rotating Drain, a graywater recycling device for domestic reuse of shower and sink water. She was recognized as one of the 50 most beautiful female inventors of all time by Inventors Weekly magazine. She also appeared in the October 1981 issue of Playboy magazine as the "Breast of The Month".

Chartoff has continued her work as an in-demand voice actress, and also takes occasional TV and stage roles. In addition, she works as an acting coach. In 2005 she interviewed Laraine Newman (who had also appeared in American Hot Wax and Rugrats - Newman has joked that she and Chartoff frequently compete for the same roles) for Autograph Collector magazine. Her latest TV appearance was in the season finale of Desperate Housewives (May 2006).

Currently, she is appearing in what has been dubbed a "a musical memoir" Taught 2 Dance a work-in-progress which concerns her life as a performer "growing up to become a real person."