Name	Debra Jo Rupp
Height	5' 3"
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	24 February 1951
Place of Birth	Glendale, California, USA
Famous for

California-born, Massachusetts-raised Debra Jo Rupp relocated to New York and started her acting career in the 1980s. Her first job came in 1980 with a guest spot on ABC’s series “All My Children,” playing striptease dancer Sheila, and by the late 1980s, she had begun a full-time career by playing episodic roles in such shows as “Kate & Allie,” “Spenser: For Hire” and “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.” Before long, Rupp made her film debut in the Tom Hanks comedy Big (1988), directed by Penny Marshall. A year later, she added television film acting to her endeavors with Mothers, Daughters and Lovers, playing small role Lottie.

Rupp starred as Mae in the 1990 Broadway revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” along side Kathleen Turner and Charles Durning, before snagging her first recurring role on the ABC comedy series “Davis Rules” (1991). Guest spots on the series “Civil Wars,” “Blossom,” “Family Matters,” “Evening Shade” and “Empty Nest” kept the actress in the public eye until she holdup another recurring gig on the ABC sitcom “Phenom” (1993-94), portraying Sister Mary Incarnata, the Catholic school teacher of a tennis prodigy. Meanwhile, she maintained busy by working on television films In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco (1993), The Odd Couple: Together Again (1993), MacShayne: Winner Takes All and MacShayne: The Final Roll of the Dice (both 1994), and by guest starring on “L.A. Law” (1993), “Hearts Afire” (1994) and “Diagnosis Murder” (1994).

When “Phenom” left the airwaves in 1994, Rupp maintained her small screen presence by making guest appearance on such TV series as NBC’s “Seinfeld” (1995), where he memorably played Jerry’s incompetent manager, Katie. Still in 1995, the virtually ubiquitous Rupp had regular roles on the CBS sitcoms “The Office” and “If Not for You,” but both were short lived. She also appeared in the television film The Invaders and emerged on Hollywood stage with a one-act play presented as part of “Act One ‘95 Evening B,” “Broken Bones.” She continued with a recurring part in the ABC sitcom “The Jeff Foxworthy Show,” a gig she held from 1995 to 1996.

Since her sophomore silver screen effort in 1992’s Death Becomes Her, starring Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis and Goldie Hawn, Rupp did not appear in another film until the Steve Martin comedy Sgt. Bilko (1996), a remake of the popular TV series of the same name. There, she portrayed Mrs. Hall, the wife of Dan Aykroyd’s insensible character, Colonel John T. Hall. She went on to appear on the independent film Clockwatchers (1997), with Lisa Kudrow, and on the comedy/romance Senseless (1998), which starred Marlon Wayans, David Spade and Matthew Lillard.

However, it was Rupp’s television work on the highly successful sitcom “Friends” (1997-1998) that garnered the demanding performer some notice. Playing recurring role Alice, the sister-in-law of Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and the mother of the triplets Phoebe carried, she delivered her greatest visibility that eventually put her on the radar of the “That ‘70s Show” casting department. As a result, she was handed the regular co-starring role of bubbling mother Kitty Forman on this Fox’s popular sitcom in 1998, an assignment she kept until 2006. In addition to giving opportunities to further demonstrate her comic flairs, “That ‘70s Show” served as the true launching point of Rupp’s career.

While working on the show, Rupp also pursued other projects. She provided the voice of Mrs. Mary Lou Moira Angela Darling Helperman on the short-lived animation series Teacher’s Pet (2000) and later reprised her role for the 2004 movie of the same name. She did another voice-over, this time as Mom Rat on Garfield: The Movie (2004), appeared as Ms. Laneworthy on two episodes of the TV series “The Tracy Morgan Show” (2004) and starred as Rosy Marconi in the short movie The Act (2004). She next had feature roles in films Jackson, the comedy Lucky 13 (both 2005) and Spymate (2006), helmed by Robert Vince and starring Chris Potter.

After “That ‘70s Show” came to an end, Rupp could be seen playing Debra Hartnell on a 2006 episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” She is scheduled to play Sylvia Schumacher, the mother of a young break dancer, Justin, who slips into a coma for twenty years following a freak breakdancing accident, in the upcoming comedy film Kickin It Old Skool (2006).