Background
Rauch was born in Marlboro Township, New Jersey, to Susan and David Rauch.
Rauch was born in Marlboro Township, New Jersey, to Susan and David Rauch.
She attended Frank Defino Central Elementary School in Marlboro. Rauch attended Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
She is best known for her role as Doctor Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the Columbia Broadcasting System sitcom The Big Bang Theory. She developed an interest in acting while attending Marlboro High School. While going to school, Melissa performed stand-up comedy around Manhattan, and soon made a name for herself on the New York City comedy scene.
Her one-woman show, "The Mission Education of Jenna Bush", in which she portrayed Jenna Bush, the former President"s daughter, garnered critical acclaim and played to sold-out audiences (Outstanding Solo Show and TheaterMania"s Audience Favorite Award—New York International Fringe Festival/Home Box Office"s United States Comedy Arts Festival).
Some of Rauch"s early work was as a regular contributor to Video Hits One"s Best Week Ever television show. In 2009, Rauch began playing the recurring role of Bernadette Rostenkowski, a co-worker of Penny who began to date Howard Wolowitz, in the third season of television"s The Big Bang Theory.
The following season her character became Howard"s fiancée and Rauch was promoted to a series regular. The characters married in the season five finale.
Other acting credits include True Blood (on which she had a recurring role in 2010 as Summer, a girl who likes Hoyt), The Office, the American remake of the Australian television series Kath & Kim, Wright v Wrong, and the film I Love You, Manitoba
Rauch is also part of the cast of the comedic stage show The Realest Real Housewives with Casey Wilson, June Diane Raphael, Jessica Saint Clair and Danielle Schneider. The show began running at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in 2011. In 2013, Rauch posed for an "South&M-inspired" photoshoot that was published in Maxim.