Profile of Melanie Chartoff on Famous Like Me

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.

Ms. 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.

Ms. 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 astonishing good 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), Ms. 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. 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. Ms. Chartoff's Rugrats characters include Didi Pickles - mother of Tommy and Dil Pickles - and her mother, Minka (like Didi and Minka, Ms. Chartoff is Jewish). She continues to voice Didi on Rugrats' successor series, All Grown Up!. As of 2005 she was also working on Fox's Saturday morning cartoon Bratz.

In 1991 Ms. Chartoff helped to invent and patent the Grayway Rotating Drain; a graywater recycling device for domestic use. She was recently 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".

Currently Melanie Chartoff continues 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 fellow one-time late-nite comedienne Laraine Newman (who had also appeared in American Hot Wax and Rugrats - Ms. Newman has joked that she and Ms. Chartoff frequently compete for the same roles) for Autograph Collector magazine.

Melanie Chartoff is currently (as of mid-2005) unmarried.

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