A pretty, energetic performer with luxuriant auburn hair, Yasbeck is best known for her sitcom work and for playing shrewish wives, first as the social climbing spouse of Jason Alexander in the box-office hit %22Pretty Woman%22 and then as John Ritter's bossy, supremely shallow wife in %22Problem Child%22 (both 1990). Yasbeck became a part of baby boomer pop history as the little girl on the Easy Bake Oven box at the age of six. Active in community theater in high school, she dropped out of college in Detroit and went to New York to pursue acting. There, she was discovered by a talent agent who spotted her working as a hostess in a restaurant. Yasbeck made her TV debut with the comedy troupe that performed sketches on the revival of %22Love, American Style%22 (NBC, 1985-1986). More work followed with starring roles as the mermaid in %22Splash Too%22 (ABC, 1988), the two-part TV sequel to the highly popular Daryl Hannah-Tom Hanks feature film, and the female lead in the biopic %22Dillinger%22 (ABC, 1991), based on the life of the 1930s gangster. She also had small roles in the series %22J.J. Starbuck%22 the pilot %22Rockhopper%22 (CBS, 1985) and had a recurring role in the final episodes of Tom Selleck's %22Magnum, P.I.%22 (CBS, 1988). She has also appeared in the TV-movies %22Trenchcoat in Paradise%22 (CBS, 1989), %22Little White Lies%22 (NBC, 1989) and co-starred with a talking dog in %22Poochinski%22 (NBC, 1990).
Yasbeck's big-screen career has consisted mostly of comedies which failed to find an audience. She debuted in the low-budget horror parody %22House II: The Second Story%22 (1987), then bounced from one misfire to another: the two %22Problem Child%22 comedies (1990 and 1991), the frenetic %22The Nutty Nut%22 (1992), two disappointing Mel Brooks films (%22Robin Hood: Men in Tights,%22 1993, as the chaste Maid Marian, and %22Dracula: Dead and Loving It,%22 1995), and had a memorable cameo in Jodie Foster's %22Home for the Holidays%22 (also 1995). The only two certified hits she has appeared in are %22Pretty Woman%22 and the action comedy %22The Mask%22 (1994), in which she was a duplicitous reporter.
On episodic TV, Yasbeck marked time with appearances on %22Matlock%22, %22Designing Women%22, %22Dallas%22 and %22The Cosby Show,%22 among others. For one year on the daytime soap %22Days of Our Lives%22 (NBC, 1986-87), she played the villain-turned-heroine Olivia. She achieved her biggest exposure, however, on the long-running sitcom %22Wings%22 (NBC), replacing Farrah Forke as second female lead as of the 1994-95 season. Yasbeck joined the cast as the sister of Helen Chappel (Crystal Bernard), and sometimes love interest of Brian (Steven Weber).
While her %22Wings%22 role has not yet led to big-screen success, Yasbeck has made a number of other TV appearances. In the USA thriller %22Bloodhounds II%22 (1996), she played a therapist, supported Tiffani-Amber Thiessen in another thriller, %22Sweet Dreams%22 (NBC, 1996) and co-hosted the Showtime documentary %22Sex and the Silver Screen%22 (1996).
