Amy Yasbeck is an American film and TV actress, possibly best known for the films "Problem Child," "Robin Hood: Men In Tights" and "Dracula: Dead And Loving It."
Yasbeck was born with half-Irish, half-Lebanese descent in Cincinnati, Ohio, the John and Dorothy Yasbeck, a butcher and grocery store owner. As a child, she 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 series, "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 the loss of both of her parents, her father from a heart attack and her mother from emphysema, Yasbeck moved to New York to follow a career as an actress.
Yasbeck has had starring roles in the TV shows "Wings," "Alright Already" and "Life on a Stick" and in the movies "The Mask," "Pretty Woman," "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" (which shared of the same cast members as the 1993 Robin Hood parody). She also played the part of Madison the mermaid in the Disney TV movie "Splash, Too" in 1988, reprising the role originated by Daryl Hannah in the 1984 movie "Splash." She played Olivia Reed for two years on the long-running daytime soap opera "Days of our Lives." She also appeared once on the Disney series "That's So Raven" as the mother of one of the main characters, Chelsea.
In late 2007, plans surfaced of a potential That's So Raven spinoff featuring Yasbeck and her TSR daughter Chelsea Daniels (Anneliese van der Pol) and their life, with occasional appearances by Raven-Symone. 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.
Yasbeck was married to the late actor, John Ritter, from 1999 to 2003; the two of them working together often in several projects. She first met him at director Dennis Dugan's house during a read-through for 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 considering he was almost 15 years Yasbeck's senior.
Yasbeck and Ritter also starred together in "Problem Child 2" and guest-starred together as a couple in an episode of "The Cosby Show" in 1991. Ritter also guest-starred as her estranged husband in the "Wings: episode Love Overboard. Off screen, the couple had a daughter, Stella Dorothy, in 1998 and married in 1999.
After Ritter's death of an aortic dissection on September 11, 2003, Yasbeck gave her blessing to the continuation of his sitcom, "8 Simple Rules," where it was ultimately decided that Katey Sagal's character would assume the lead role as a widow. Afterward, Yasbeck appeared on Larry King Live on June 16, 2008, to discuss heart disease in the wake of television personality Tim Russert's death.