Big Bang Theory’s Melissa Rauch: From Childhood to Night Court
She met her future husband in college
While attending Marymount Manhattan College, Rauch met Winston Beigel, who was once her writing partner at school. He helped her write a one-woman show called “The Miseducation of Jenna Bush,” and after they performed it at the New York Fringe Festival, the two moved west to California. They married in 2007 and have been in Los Angeles ever since.
It all started with stand-up comedy
Rauch began performing her written material at stand-up shows in New York City clubs. She did so for around a decade and hustled by handing out fliers on the street to get people to attend. Despite an emerging stand-up career, she felt that her professional career wasn’t moving forward as she hoped it would, and she still waited for a big break.
A TV role that didn’t last
Before “Big Bang,” the NBC sitcom “Kath and Kim,” starring Selma Blair and Molly Shannon, was where Rauch got her first role as a series regular. She played the role of Kim’s BFF, who was always down for wild shenanigans. Although it was her first regular role, terrible ratings and reviews led the series to be canceled after just 17 episodes.
A breakout role on “Big Bang”
Only months after “Kim and Kath” was canned, Rauch debuted in Season 3 of “The Big Bang Theory” as Bernadette, a friend of Penny, who was played by Kaley Cuoco. The impact it made on Rauch’s career was immediate, and she might not have had the part at all if it weren’t for a wardrobe change at the last minute. To set herself apart from the other women auditioning, she wore glasses as her own twist on Bernadette, and producers ended up keeping them a permanent part of her look.
She became a staunch advocate for equal pay
Although Rauch started on Season 3 of “The Big Bang Theory,” she stayed with them through all nine seasons. Over time, Bernadette became even more integral to the series, and she eventually married Howard and became a mom. During this time, Rauch fought for the rest of the cast to receive equal pay in 2017, when talks of contract renewals were in the air. Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik wanted raises as they only earned $175,000 per episode compared to their male co-stars’ $1 million. Eventually, they convinced their bosses to triple the per-episode pay, and their co-stars took a voluntary pay cut to help out.
