---
name: "Melissa Rauch"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/melissa-rauch"
fi1m_id: "melissa-rauch"
imdb_id: "nm1851981"
tmdb_id: 1221716
wikidata_id: "Q236364"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "23 June 1980"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 52
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-05T14:00:08.277888+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Melissa Rauch

## Identity

Melissa Rauch

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/melissa-rauch
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** melissa-rauch
- **IMDb ID:** nm1851981
- **TMDB ID:** 1221716
- **Wikidata ID:** Q236364
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Rauch, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q236364, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1851981/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1221716

Actor. Born 23 June 1980 in Marlboro Township, New Jersey, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 23 June 1980, Marlboro Township, New Jersey, USA
- **Active:** 2007–present
- **Also known as:** Melissa Ivy Rauch, Μελίσα Ράους, ملیسا راوش
- **Average Fi1m score:** 52, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 68 (1), 2010s 42 (2), 2020s 57 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 52 to 53 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 3 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Comedy 4, Adventure 1, Animation 1, Crime 1, Drama 1, Family 1
- **Screen time:** 3 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $409m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Rauch, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q236364, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1851981/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1221716

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*The Big Bang Theory*](https://film.one/tv/the-big-bang-theory.md) (68)
- **Netflix:** [*The Laundromat*](https://film.one/film/the-laundromat.md) (48)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Melissa Rauch

> Melissa Rauch makes a high voice sound unexpectedly forceful. We like her precision and comic bite, though the writing too often asks her to repeat a familiar trick rather than develop a character.

Bernadette’s high voice is the first thing we notice in *The Big Bang Theory* (2007); then comes the sharp tongue. Rauch uses the contrast well, giving a small figure enough force to hold her own in an ensemble. We laughed at the bite she gets into that voice, because the delivery makes Bernadette’s feistiness more surprising. It is a precise comic performance in a programme that can be considerably less precise about its jokes.

Rauch joined the series in 2009, moving from a recurring part to the regular cast and staying through its twelfth season. Her pairing with Simon Helberg puts that sharpness inside a sitcom marriage, where her timing is a reliable asset. Our reservation is with the repeated jokes about social awkwardness, which can wear down the performers’ good work. She is a reason to keep watching, but the material does not always repay her care.

With *The Bronze* (2016), she co-wrote, produced and took the lead, a substantial change from her place in a television ensemble. Her work with writing partner Winston Rauch gives her a say in the material as well as its delivery. That makes the crude, repetitive comedy more disappointing. The film asks abrasiveness to sustain a leading character, and too often another insult has to do the work of making that character interesting.

*The Laundromat* (2019) places her Melanie in Steven Soderbergh’s ensemble, but it is no reason to seek her out. We found the film’s villain-hosted revue too easily distracted from its widow, the person who gave us a reason to care. For Rauch, the more revealing work remains in television.

*Night Court* (2023), with Rauch playing Abby Stone opposite John Larroquette and also executive producing, gives her a leading sitcom role. The revival’s reliance on familiar formula makes it a limited advance, despite the greater responsibility. For the clearest evidence of her comic skill, start with Bernadette and accept that the jokes will sometimes be blunter than the delivery.

## Biography

Melissa Rauch is an American actress and comedian. Born on 23 June 1980 in Marlboro Township, New Jersey, she graduated with a BFA from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. She began performing stand-up comedy in Manhattan while at college and appeared as a contributor on VH1's Best Week Ever.

Rauch is best known for playing Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory from 2009 to 2019. She starred in and co-wrote the 2015 sports comedy-drama The Bronze, and appeared in films including I Love You, Man (2009), Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) and The Laundromat (2019), in which she played Melanie. She also voiced Harley Quinn in Batman and Harley Quinn (2017).

Rauch has continued working in television, including a recurring role in True Blood and a lead role as Abby Stone in the revival of Night Court from 2023.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Stuart Fails to Save the Universe* (2026), Fi1m 57, as Bernadette Rostenkowski — [page](https://film.one/tv/stuart-fails-to-save-the-universe.md)
- *The Laundromat* (2019), Fi1m 48, as Melanie — [page](https://film.one/film/the-laundromat.md)
- *Ice Age: Collision Course* (2016), Fi1m 37, as Francine (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age-collision-course.md)
- *The Big Bang Theory* (2007), Fi1m 68, as Bernadette Rostenkowski — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-big-bang-theory.md)

## Complete filmography (26)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Stuart Fails to Save the Universe* (2026), series, as Bernadette Rostenkowski — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/tv/stuart-fails-to-save-the-universe.md)
- *Guys Next Door* (2025), series, as Di / Computer (voice)
- *Night Court* (2023), series, as Abby Stone · Executive Producer
- *Animaniacs* (2020), series, as Marie (voice)
- *Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite* (2020), as Gwen the Cat (voice)
- *The Laundromat* (2019), as Melanie — Fi1m 48, [page](https://film.one/film/the-laundromat.md)
- *Ode to Joy* (2019), as Bethany
- *Black Monday* (2019), series, as Shira
- *Batman and Harley Quinn* (2017), as Harley Quinn (voice)
- *Marvel's Ant-Man* (2017), series, as Wasp / Hope Pym (voice)
- *Ice Age: Collision Course* (2016), as Francine (voice) — Fi1m 37, [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age-collision-course.md)
- *The Bronze* (2016), as Hope Annabelle Greggory · Writer, Executive Producer
- *Flock of Dudes* (2015), as Jamie
- *Scooby-Doo! and the Beach Beastie* (2015), as Kiki Brownstone (voice)
- *The Hotwives of Orlando* (2014), series, as Calliope
- *Are You Here* (2013), as Marie
- *In Lieu of Flowers* (2013), as Carrie
- *Sofia the First* (2013), series, as Tizzy (voice)
- *Wright vs. Wrong* (2010), as Daisy Cake
- *The Condom Killer* (2009), as Audra · Writer, Director, Producer
- *I Love You, Man* (2009), as Woman Jogger Yelling at Sydney
- *Kath & Kim* (2008), series, as Tina
- *True Blood* (2008), series, as Summer — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/tv/true-blood.md)
- *The Big Bang Theory* (2007), series, as Bernadette Rostenkowski — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-big-bang-theory.md)
- *Delirious* (2007), as Megan
- *The Office* (2005), series, as Cathy — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-office-2005.md)

## Gallery

- ![Leslye Headland and Melissa Rauch at Cinema Cafe, Sundance 2015](https://film.one/media/person/9291/gallery-7247f90ca069.jpg) Leslye Headland and Melissa Rauch at Cinema Cafe, Sundance 2015 — https://www.flickr.com/photos/punktoad/, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Leslye_Headland_and_Melissa_Rauch_%2816175073227%29.jpg/1280px-Leslye_Headland_and_Melissa_Rauch_%2816175073227%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Writer Logan Hill, director Leslye Headland and actress Melissa Rauch speak onstage at the Cinema Cafe during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival at Filmmaker Lodge](https://film.one/media/person/9291/gallery-4034bebdd186.jpg) Writer Logan Hill, director Leslye Headland and actress Melissa Rauch speak onstage at the Cinema Cafe during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival at Filmmaker Lodge — PunkToad from oakland, us, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Logan_Hill%2C_Leslye_Headland%2C_and_Melissa_Rauch_at_Sundance_2015.jpg/1280px-Logan_Hill%2C_Leslye_Headland%2C_and_Melissa_Rauch_at_Sundance_2015.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Melissa Rauch at Cinema Cafe, Sundance 2015](https://film.one/media/person/9291/gallery-d576e7a32a12.jpg) Melissa Rauch at Cinema Cafe, Sundance 2015 — https://www.flickr.com/photos/punktoad/, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Melissa_Rauch_%2816173578540%29.jpg/1280px-Melissa_Rauch_%2816173578540%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Melissa Rauch at PaleyFest 2013 for the TV show "Big Bang Theory".](https://film.one/media/person/9291/gallery-f232a3a01219.jpg) Melissa Rauch at PaleyFest 2013 for the TV show "Big Bang Theory". — Dominick D, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Melissa_Rauch_at_PaleyFest_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Melissa Rauch](https://film.one/media/person/9291/gallery-3370951230cd.jpg) Melissa Rauch — Image via TMDB
- ![Melissa Rauch](https://film.one/media/person/9291/gallery-dde36a5d01a1.jpg) Melissa Rauch — Image via TMDB
- ![Melissa Rauch](https://film.one/media/person/9291/gallery-fe9d4c0a2137.jpg) Melissa Rauch — Image via TMDB
- ![Melissa Rauch](https://film.one/media/person/9291/gallery-201ac244d42e.jpg) Melissa Rauch — Original:  Dominick D
Derivative work:  Danyele
 This  image was created with Adobe Photoshop Elements., CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Melissa_Rauch_at_PaleyFest_2013_%28edited%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Melissa Rauch](https://film.one/media/person/9291/gallery-9987899912db.jpg) Melissa Rauch — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/melissa-rauch