Melanie Chartoff

Melanie Chartoff

Melanie Chartoff in 1980
Born December 15, 1950[1]
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma mater Adelphi University
Occupation Actress
Years active 1976–present
Spouse(s) Stan Friedman (July 5, 2014)
Website
http://www.melaniechartoff.com

Melanie Chartoff (born December 15, 1950) is an American actress and voice-over artist. She first became famous for her comedy work on the ABC series Fridays from 1980 to 1982, and on the early 1990s Fox sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose. She is also best known for her voice role as Didi Pickles and her mother Minka on the animated series Rugrats.

Biography

Early life

Chartoff was born on December 15, 1950, in New Haven, Connecticut, and attended West Haven High School. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts from Adelphi University.

Career

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 devastatingly sharp impression of Nancy Reagan) and her remarkably good looks. On one sketch, she was cold-cocked on live TV when guest host Mac Davis failed to pull his punch during a skit and chipped a tooth.

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 1980s, including appearances on Mr. Belvedere, Wiseguy, and St. Elsewhere, as well as a recurring role on Newhart as Dr. Mary Kaiser.

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.

Magazine appearances

She appeared in the October 1981 issue of Playboy magazine as the "Breast of The Month."

Inventing

In 1991, Melanie Chartoff and fellow voice actor Michael Bell conceived the Grayway Rotating Drain, a graywater recycling device for domestic reuse of shower and sink water.[2][3] Inventor Ronald K. Ford was hired to complete the final product. She was recognized as one of the 50 most beautiful female inventors of all time by Inventors Weekly magazine.

Rugrats

From 1991 to 2008, Chartoff's Rugrats characters include Didi Pickles, the mother of Tommy Pickles and his younger brother Dil and Didi's mother, Minka. She continued to voice Didi on Rugrats' spin-off series, All Grown Up!.

Voice acting and current projects

Her first voice over work was a guest role on Challenge of the Super Friends.

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 has joked that the two of them frequently compete for the same roles) for Autograph Collector magazine. Melanie Chartoff has also appeared in the 2006 season finale of Desperate Housewives.

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

On July 23, 2014 Melanie appeared on Ken Reid (comedian)'s TV Guidance Counselor Podcast.

Marriage

On July 5, 2014 she married Stan Friedman.[4]

Films and television

References

  1. ↑ Voicechasers.com
  2. ↑ http://www.graywayrotatingdrain.com/
  3. ↑ "Melanie Chartoff also inventor". Record Journal. 1992-09-28. Retrieved 2013.
  4. ↑ http://registry.theknot.com/melanie-chartoff-stan-friedman-july-2014/7052242

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melanie Chartoff.