Amy Marie Yasbeck is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Casey Chappel Davenport on the sitcom Wings from 1994 to 1997, and for having played the mermaid Madison in the television filmSplash, Too in 1988. She has guest starred in several television shows and appeared in the films ', Pretty Woman, Problem Child, Problem Child 2, The Mask, ' and .
Early life
Yasbeck was born in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash, Ohio, the daughter of Dorothy Louise Mary, a homemaker, and John Anthony Yasbeck, 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 CrockerEasy-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 primary and secondary 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 City.
Career
Early into her acting career, she appeared in Rockhopper, an unsold CBStelevision 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 and 1987 on the long-running daytime soap operaDays of Our Lives. She also played the starring role of the mermaid Madison in the Disney television movie Splash, Too in 1988. Playing a mermaid in Splash, Too was a fulfillment of a childhood dream for Yasbeck, as she loved mermaids when she was 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 ', Pretty Woman, Problem Child, Problem Child 2, and The Mask. She has twice worked with Mel Brooks, in 1993's ' and 1995's . Yasbeck also appeared once on the hit DCOSThat'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 spin-off 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 the syndicated version of 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. Yasbeck and Ritter also starred together in Problem Child 2 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 child on September 11, 1998, and they married one year later on September 18, 1999, at the Murphy Theatre in Wilmington, Ohio. On September 11, 2003, Ritter fell into a coma when rehearsing for 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. He was taken to the hospital by paramedics. Initially, Ritter was thought to be suffering a heart attack. At 10:48 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, as 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. On the September 5, 1990, episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, she said that her "great-great-great uncle" Charles Webb Murphy was the owner of the Chicago Cubs during their championships of the early 1900s.
Wrongful death lawsuit
After her husband John Ritter 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.
