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Amy Yasbeck

Amy Yasbeck has built a screen career that moves easily between sitcoms, daytime drama, fantasy and big-screen comedy. Born on September 12, 1962, in Blue Ash, Ohio, she studied theater at the University of Detroit before leaving to pursue acting in New York City in 1983. Even before that career began, she had an unusual brush with popular culture: as a child, she appeared on the package art for the Betty Crocker Easy-Bake Oven. After appearing in the unsold 1985 television pilot Rockhopper, Yasbeck played Olivia Reed on Days of Our Lives for four months between 1986 and 1987. Television quickly became a steady part of her career, with guest roles on series including Dallas, Spies, Werewolf, China Beach and Murphy Brown. In 1988, she took the starring role of mermaid Madison in the Disney television film Splash, Too, following the character first played by Daryl Hannah in Splash. Yasbeck’s film work shows a particular comfort with comedy and heightened characters. Her credits include House II: The Second Story, Pretty Woman, Problem Child, Problem Child 2 and The Mask. She also worked twice with Mel Brooks, appearing in Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and Dracula: Dead and Loving It in 1995. Those films sit neatly alongside her sitcom work, which includes starring roles in Wings, Alright Already and Life on a Stick. Later television appearances included an episode of That’s So Raven, in which she played the mother of Chelsea. She was also a regular panel member on I’ve Got a Secret and competed on the syndicated version of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? After taking a hiatus from acting to focus on her family, Yasbeck was cast in Jonathan Hammond’s 2025 short film Fireflies in the Dusk, adding a new chapter to a career shaped by an evident appetite for varied material.