Melissa Rauch plays Judge Abby Stone on the NBC comedy “Night Court” and also serves as an executive producer.  

Rauch is an actress, writer and producer best known for her portrayal of Bernadette Rostenkowski on “The Big Bang Theory.” The show garnered multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations and won a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Comedy Series. The all-star cast received nods for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series from the Screen Actors Guild for six consecutive years. Additionally, her work earned her both Critics’ Choice and People’s Choice Award nominations.  

Her impressive TV career spans such shows as “True Blood,” “Black Monday” and “The Office,” along with lending her voice to a multitude of animated series.

Rauch starred in the feature film “The Bronze,” which she co-wrote and executive produced with her husband, Winston Rauch. The film was the official opening night film selection of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Other notable film credits include Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat”; “Ode to Joy,” alongside Martin Freeman; “I Love You, Man,” with Paul Rudd; Tom DiCillo’s “Delirious”; “Are You Here,” from Matthew Weiner; and the box office hit “Ice Age: Collision Course.”

Rauch received stellar reviews for her play “The Secret Lunches of Chelsea & Ivanka,” which she co-wrote, co-produced and starred in at New York’s Public Theater. She also garnered critical acclaim for her award-winning portrayal of the former president’s daughter in her one-woman stage show which she also co-wrote, “The Miss Education of Jenna Bush,” which enjoyed runs in New York and Los Angeles and was an official selection of the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. The play won top honors at the New York International Fringe Festival, including Outstanding Solo Show and the Audience Favorite Award.

Rauch wrote an essay for Glamour magazine on pregnancy loss, and a subsequent PSA became a powerful healing tool for women across the globe.

In 2021, Rauch launched Oscar’s Kids, a pediatric cancer charity with a focus on finding a cure and treatments for DIPG (an aggressive and terminal brain cancer) and other devastating diagnoses.