Early life

Yasbeck was born in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash, Ohio, the daughter of Dorothy Louise Mary (née Murphy; 1922-1984), a homemaker, and John Anthony Yasbeck (1921-1982), a butcher and grocery store owner. Her father was of Lebanese descent, while her mother was of Irish ancestry. As a child, Yasbeck was featured on the package art for the Betty Crocker Easy-Bake Oven. Years later, in 2000, she was presented with a new Easy-Bake Oven on the show I've Got a Secret, for which she was a regular panel member.

She spent her elementary, middle, and high school years at two different Catholic schools: Summit Country Day School and Ursuline Academy. After losing both of her parents, her father from a heart attack and her mother from emphysema, Yasbeck moved to New York.

Career

Early into her acting career she appeared in Rockhopper, an unsold CBS TV-Pilot from 1985. Yasbeck has had guest starring roles in many television shows including Dallas, Spies, Werewolf, J.J. Starbuck, Magnum, P.I., China Beach and Murphy Brown. She played Olivia Reed for four months between 1986-1987 on the long-running daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives. She also played the part of Madison the mermaid in the Disney television movie Splash, Too in 1988 (the role of Madison was originated by Daryl Hannah in the 1984 movie Splash). Playing a mermaid in Splash, Too was a fulfillment of a childhood dream for Yasbeck as she loved mermaids when she was a little girl at 5 years old after watching a Disney movie that featured mermaids. Yasbeck has also had starring roles in the sitcoms Wings, Alright Already, and Life on a Stick and in movies such as House II: The Second Story, Pretty Woman, Problem Child, Problem Child 2 and The Mask. She has twice worked with Mel Brooks, in 1993's Robin Hood: Men in Tights and 1995's Dracula: Dead and Loving It.

Yasbeck also appeared once on the hit DCOS That's So Raven as the mother of one of the main characters, Chelsea. The episode originally aired on September 22, 2006.

In late 2007, plans surfaced of a potential That's So Raven spinoff featuring Yasbeck and Anneliese van der Pol, who portrayed her daughter, with occasional appearances by Raven-Symoné. The show was scrapped due to van der Pol signing onto a new Broadway play, and Yasbeck wanting to take a break from acting to focus on her family.

She was a contestant on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? in 2010.

Personal life

Yasbeck is the widow of actor John Ritter, with whom she had worked in several projects. She first met him at director Dennis Dugan's house during a read-through of their 1990 movie Problem Child. According to Yasbeck, Ritter forced her to eat a bagel and cream cheese because he thought she was too thin. He also thought she was too young to play his wife in the movie (Ritter was almost 14 years Yasbeck's senior).

Yasbeck and Ritter also starred together in Problem Child 2 (1991) and guest-starred together in an episode of The Cosby Show which aired in 1991. Ritter also guest-starred on Wings as Yasbeck's estranged husband in the season seven episode "Love Overboard". The couple had a daughter, Stella Dorothy in September 1998, and married one year later on September 18, 1999 at the Murphy Theatre in Wilmington, Ohio.

On September 11, 2003, their daughter Stella's birthday, Ritter fell into a coma when rehearsing for 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. He was taken to the hospital by paramedics. He drifted in and out of consciousness and told his feelings to doctors. Initially it was concluded that Ritter was suffering a heart attack. At 10:48 PM that night, Ritter died. The cause of death was actually an aortic dissection stemming from a previously undiagnosed congenital heart defect.

Yasbeck gave her blessing to the continuation of the sitcom, 8 Simple Rules, where it was ultimately decided that Katey Sagal's character would assume the lead role as a widow.

Yasbeck appeared on Larry King Live on June 16, 2008, to discuss heart disease in the wake of television personality Tim Russert's death.

Wrongful death lawsuit

After her husband died, Yasbeck filed a $67 million wrongful death lawsuit against Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center and several doctors who treated him, alleging they misdiagnosed his condition and that contributed to his death. Several of the defendants settled out of court for a total of $14 million, including Providence St. Joseph, which settled for $9.4 million. On March 14, 2008, a jury split 9-3 in favor of the doctors, clearing the physicians of any wrongdoing.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1987	House II: The Second Story	Jana
1990	Pretty Woman	Elizabeth Stuckey
1990	Problem Child	Florence "Flo" Healy
1991	Problem Child 2	Annie Young
1992	The Nutt House	Diane Nutt
1993	Robin Hood: Men in Tights	Maid Marian
1994	The Mask	Peggy Brandt
1995	Home for the Holidays	Ginny Johnson Drewer
1995	Dracula: Dead and Loving It	Mina Seward
1998	Denial	Claudia
1998	The Odd Couple II	Stewardess

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Rockhopper	Sonia Petrova	Unsold CBS TV-Pilot
1986-1987	Days of Our Lives	Olivia Reed
1987	Dallas	Mary Elizabeth	2 episodes
1987	Spies	Margo	Episode: "Right or Wrong"
1987	Werewolf	Deidra	Episode: "Nothing Evil in These Woods"
1987	J.J. Starbuck	Doreen	Episode: "Pilot"
1987-1988	Magnum, P.I.	Diana	4 episodes
1988	China Beach	Airplane Stewardess	Episode: "Pilot"
1988	Splash, Too	Madison Bauer	ABC TV-Movie
1989	Trenchcoat in Paradise	Nan Thompson	CBS TV-Movie
1989	Murphy Brown	Young Lady in Bar	Episode: "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"
1989	Little White Lies	Vicki	NBC TV-Movie
1989	Generations	Carla
1990	Midnight Caller	Mary Lou Harper	Episode: "The Hostage Game"
1990	Poochinski	Frannie Reynolds	Unsold NBC TV-Pilot
1990, 1993	Matlock	Model Lauren Chadwick / Cheryl Atkinson	2 episodes
1991	Murder, She Wrote	Connie Canzinaro	Episode: "Family Doctor"
1991	Dillinger	Elaine	ABC TV-Movie
1991	The Cosby Show	Alicia Evans	Episode: "Total Control"
1992	Get a Life	Evelyn	Episode: "Girlfriend 2000"
1992	Designing Women	Tiffany	Episode: "A Little Night Music"
1992	Quantum Leap	Frankie Washarskie	Episode: "Stand Up"
1993	Street Justice	Nancy	Episode: "The Wall"
1994	Diagnosis: Murder	Karen Davis	Episode: "The Restless Remains"
1994	Dave's World	Julie	Episode: "The Funeral"
1994-1997	Wings	Casey Chapel Davenport
1995	Platypus Man	Wendy	Episode: "Pilot"
1996	Bloodhounds II	Sharon	TV-Movie
1996	Sweet Dreams	Laura Renault	NBC TV-Movie
1997-1998	Alright Already	Renee
1998	Dead Husbands	Betty Lancing	TV-Movie
1999	It's Like, You Know...	Karen	Episode: "The Sweet Smell of Success"
2002	House Blend	Sally Harper	TV-Pilot
2003	Just Shoot Me!	Skyler	Episode: "For the Last Time, I Do"
2005	Life on a Stick	Michelle Lackerson
2006	That's So Raven	Joni Daniels	Episode: "The Ice Girl Cometh"
2007	Shorty McShorts' Shorts	Danielle (voice)	Episode: "Flip-Flopped"
2010	Hot in Cleveland	Hailey Nash	Episode: "The Sex That Got Away"
2013	Modern Family	Lorraine	Episode: "Larry's Wife"
2014	Bones	Diana Malkin	Episode: "The Archaeologist in the Cocoon" Season 8 episode 11

Books

• Yasbeck, Amy (2010). With Love and Laughter, John Ritter. ISBN 978-1-4165-9841-1.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]