Melissa Rauch Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Melissa Ivy Rauch was born on June 23, 1980, in Marlboro Township, New Jersey to Susan and David Rauch. She also has an older brother, Ben. Rauch attended the Marlboro High School, where she developed her interest in acting. Before she had also attended summer camps where she had her first experience on stage. She also used to perform stand-up comedy at the camp. After high school, Rauch went to study at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City and graduated in 2002. 

After graduation, Rauch began performing as a stand-up comedian. She starred in her one-woman show The Miss Education of Jenna Bush, a fictional look at the President George W. Bush’s daughter. The performance made her recognizable in the comedy world. The play was run in New York and Los Angeles and earned her an award for Outstanding Solo Show at the New York Fringe Festival. 

Career

After the success of her first play, Rauch began to work at VH1 Best Week Ever television show. In 2009, she began acting in a recurring role of Bernadette Rostenkowski in the third season of The Big Band Theory. She first portrayed a co-worker Penny of Howard Wolowitz, and in the following season, her character got engaged to Howard. She was then promoted to series regular. In the finale of season five, the character married, and Rauch received her first nomination for Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. 

Besides her success on The Big Bang Theory, Rauch has also appeared in several other TV shows. In 2010, she had a recurring role in the hit TV show True Blood as Summer. She also appeared in The Office, an American remake of the popular Australian TV series Kath & Kim and starred in the film I Love You, Man. 

Later Years

Rauch has also appeared as a part of the comedic stage show The Realest Real Housewives, co-starring with Casey Wilson, June Diane Raphael, Danielle Schneider and Jessica St. Clair. The show began running in 2011 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Rauch is also the co-writer and co-producer of the film The Bronze. She starred in the film as Hope Annabelle Greggory, a bronze medal-winning gymnast. The film opened in 2015 at the Sundance Film Festival. 

Personal Life

Rauch is married to the writer Winston Rauch, who she met when working on The Miss Education of Jenna Bush. The couple has also collaborated on several other projects. Her voice as Bernadette is modeled after her mother’s voice and Mrs. Wolowitz is modeled after her father. Both of the voices are very different from her real one.