Melanie Chartoff

Chartoff was born on December 15, 1948, in New Haven, Connecticut, and attended West Haven High School. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts from Adelphi University. Chartoff is Jewish.{{Cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/jewish-insider-s-daily-kickoff-december-15-2017-1.5628773|title = Jewish Insider's Daily Kickoff: December 15, 2017|newspaper = Haaretz}}

Her first Broadway appearances were in Galt MacDermot's space opera Via Galactica (1972), directed by Peter Hall, and The Young Vic's Scapino, starring Jim Dale (1974).{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Chartoff's first TV role came in 1976 when she played a nurse on Search For Tomorrow, after which she appeared in the 1978 motion picture American Hot Wax. She first became a nationally known figure on ABC's Fridays, which was ABC's attempt to create its own version of Saturday Night Live. Chartoff 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 an impression of Nancy Reagan). On one sketch, Melanie was cold-cocked on live TV when co-star Maryedith Burrell failed to pull her punch during a skit and chipped Chartoff's 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. Kaiser. 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 (including Michael Richards). She appeared in the 2006 season finale of Desperate Housewives.{{IMDb name|153589|Melanie Chartoff}}

In the Los Angeles premiere of Bill Finn and James Lapine's musical March of the Falsettos (1982), for which she won a Drama-Logue Award, she played Trina. She played Mary Jane Wilkes in the La Jolla Playhouse premiere of Big River (1984). At South Coast Repertory she appeared in the world Premiere of On the Jump. She played Dot in the West Coast premiere of Sunday in the Park with George at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater (1986).{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

In 1991, Chartoff and fellow voice actor Michael Bell conceived the Grayway Rotating Drain, a device that recycles shower and sink greywater to flush toilets in the home. In 1992 they collaborated with Ronald K. Ford who applied for, and in 1994 received a patent on the product .*{{US patent|5274861}}, "Gray water recycling system" (Jan. 4, 1994)

{{cite web |url=http://www.graywayrotatingdrain.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805144936/http://www.graywayrotatingdrain.com/ |url-status=live |archive-date=5 August 2018 |title=GRAYWAY ROTATING DRAIN - Graywater Recycling Device |website=graywayrotatingdrain.com |via=archive.org |access-date=23 September 2018 }}{{cite web|url=http://members.aol.com:80/graywaydrain2003/questions.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031118183540/http://members.aol.com/graywaydrain2003/questions.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 November 2003|title=Grayway FAQ|publisher=AOL|access-date=23 September 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IO1HAAAAIBAJ&pg=5228,4455295&dq=melanie+chartoff&hl=en|title=Melanie Chartoff is also an inventor|newspaper=Record-Journal|date=1992-09-28|access-date=July 2, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=&d=PTXT&s1=5,274,861.PN.|title=United States Patent: 5274861 - Gray water recycling system|author=|date=|website=uspto.gov|access-date=23 September 2018}}

Chartoff's first voice-over work was a guest role on Challenge of the Superfriends. She has continued her work as an in-demand voice actress and also takes occasional TV and stage roles. Chartoff works as a coach to both actors and non-actors to make them more charismatic in public performances.{{Cite web|title=Charismatizing|first=Melanie|last=Chartoff|url=https://charismatizing.com/|access-date=June 9, 2020|publisher=Charismatizing.com}} In 2005, she interviewed Laraine Newman for Autograph Collector magazine. Chartoff writes for The Huffington Post, The Jewish Journal, [http://www.defenestrationmag.net Defenestration Magazine], and The Funny Times. She performs her original material at such Los Angeles venues as Comedy Central's "Sit n' Spin," "Tasty Words," and "I Love a Good Story."{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

From 1991 to 2008, Chartoff voiced Didi Pickles and her mother Grandma Minka on the Nickelodeon series Rugrats, for which she won a Daytime Emmy. She continued to voice Didi on the Rugrats spin-off series, All Grown Up!. For the 2021 revival series of the same name, Chartoff was replaced by actress Ashley Spillers.{{cite web|url=https://www.screenrant.com/rugrats-reboot-ashley-spillers-tommy-dewey-interview/|title=Ashley Spillers & Tommy Dewey Interview: Rugrats|last=Hullender|first=Tatiana|date=May 26, 2021|publisher=Screen Rant|accessdate=August 23, 2021}}

Aside from Drama-Logue and Daytime Emmy Awards, she was awarded by the City of Hope for creating and producing the yearly event Halloween for Hope to benefit children's cancer research and received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Mayor of Los Angeles for her concerts for the homeless. Chartoff is listed in Who's Who in California, and Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

On July 5, 2013, Chartoff married psychologist Stan Friedman, her longtime boyfriend.{{cite web|url=https://registry.theknot.com/melanie-chartoff-stan-friedman-july-2013-ca/7052242|title=melanie chartoff and stan friedman Wedding Registry|website=The Knot|access-date=November 18, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hitberry.com/actress-melanie-chartoff-and-husbad-stan-friedman-married-last-year-already-fighting-like-old-married-couple|title=Actress Melanie Chartoff and husband Stan Friedman, married last year, alreading fighting like old married couple!!!|website=HitBerry|date=September 27, 2015|access-date=November 18, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishjournal.com/culture/meant2be/ready-play-role/|title=She was ready to play this role|website=Jewish Journal|date=June 16, 2017|first=Melanie|last=Chartoff|access-date=November 18, 2023}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{IMDb name|153589|Melanie Chartoff}}
• [https://patents.google.com/patent/US5274861 Patent 5274861 information]
• [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-27-re-160-story.html "Actress Stars as Inventor"], Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
• [http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/section/synopsis/show/132062 Profile], TheaterMania.com. Retrieved July 2, 2015.

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Category:1948 births

Category:Living people

Category:Actresses from New Haven, Connecticut

Category:Adelphi University alumni

Category:American sketch comedians

Category:American stage actresses

Category:American television actresses

Category:American voice actresses

Category:American women comedians

Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners

Category:Jewish American actresses

Category:American women inventors

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:21st-century American actresses

Category:20th-century American comedians

Category:21st-century American comedians

Category:20th-century American inventors

Category:21st-century American Jews

Category:Comedians from Connecticut

Category:Jewish American comedians

Category:Jewish women comedians