What Happened To Melissa Rauch After The Big Bang Theory?

Fans of "The Big Bang Theory" know Melissa Rauch as the pint-sized, baby-voiced, waitress-turned-microbiologist Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz. Bernadette was originally meant to be merely a guest role, but she turned out to be a major player in the cast. This was lucky for Melissa Rauch, who admitted on "The Jennifer Hudson Show" in 2023, "I was literally at the unemployment office the week before that job."

Melissa Rauch was born in New Jersey and earned a BFA from Marymount Manhattan College. She began her career in stand-up and starred in a successful one-woman show called "The Miss Education of Jenna Bush," before landing her coveted role on "The Big Bang Theory."

Since the sitcom wrapped in 2019, Rauch has gone on to pursue different projects, both personally and professionally. Rauch has been busy with charity work, voice-acting roles, and a brand-new sitcom that has her back in the spotlight. The actor is a mom to two children, and she still thinks of her "Big Bang" co-stars as family. Read on to learn more about what Melissa Rauch has been up to since saying goodbye to Bernadette.

In 2019, Melissa Rauch branched out into the literary world with her book, "The Tales of Tofu." The book is geared toward children and incorporates a cute story, about a little cube of tofu, with family-friendly recipes to promote healthy eating. Rauch's daughter, Sadie, whom she shares with her husband Winston Rauch, was a toddler when the book was published, and served as inspiration for the book's message. "I find that whenever you're trying to introduce your kid to anything, books are such a great way to do that," Rauch told People. "When I was teaching my daughter about brushing her teeth, we had a book on brushing your teeth, and once she sees it in the pages she's excited then to implement it into her life."

As for the yummy recipes in the book, the actor shared that she and her daughter enjoyed preparing the tofu-based meals together, even if Sadie was mostly just watching. "If I'm holding [Sadie] on my hip and we're putting things in the blender, she's very, very interested in that," she said. "It's exciting even from just a young age having [kids] get involved in the process, and then they feel excited to try what they made." Rauch also emphasized the importance of being present during family time, and how reading was a great way to do that. "It's very important [to] me that, with my daughter, phones [are] away and it's just about our special time together," she shared.

In May of 2020, Melissa Rauch announced the birth of her second child, a son named Brooks Rauch. The actor took to Instagram to share her happy news, posting a sweet pic of a tiny blue hat with the name "Brooks" stitched onto the brim. Baby Brooks was welcomed by Rauch and her husband, along with their first child, Sadie.

But Rauch's son entered the world in a somewhat unusual manner, as he was born during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. This meant that Rauch gave birth alone, with only medical personnel by her side. "Although the hospital I was delivering at did allow birth partners, my husband had to stay home with our daughter since our original plan of having family come to town — as well as our backup plans — were no longer options due to COVID-19," Rauch shared in an essay for Glamour.

In Brooks' birth announcement Rauch gave a special shout-out to the "front-line heroes" — her doctors and nurses — adding, "Words can't describe how grateful I am to have this baby boy join our family, but to say that it is a surreal time to be bringing life into the world is an understatement." Rauch used her signature humor to dub herself and other expectant mothers at the time "Pandemamamas." Rauch also made sure to address those who experienced loss or difficulty during pregnancy, writing, "I am no stranger to loss on the road to motherhood." Rauch suffered a miscarriage before becoming pregnant with her first child, an experience she has been vocal about.

Fans of "The Big Bang Theory" would recognize the high-pitched voice of Bernadette Rostenkowski anywhere, but Melissa Rauch sounds quite different from her character in real life. On an episode of "The Rubin Report" in 2013, Rauch shared the inspiration for Bernadette's voice. 

"Bernadette's voice is very similar to my mother's, except without the Jersey accent ... it's not quite that high but it's in that tone," she explained. Bernadette's voice was actually Rauch's own creation, as she decided to do it during her audition in order to stand out. "I was just very nervous in that waiting room and there were so many people there ... and I just wanted to try something different," the actor shared on co-star Mayim Bialik's podcast, "Mayim Bialik's Breakdown" in 2023.

Rauch's talent for doing voices has served her well in the entertainment industry, as she has voiced characters on series such as "Ant-Man" and "Robot Chicken," as well as the animated film "Batman and Harley Quinn." After "The Big Bang Theory" wrapped, Rauch continued to do voice work, most notably on the popular children's series "The Chicken Squad" as Dinah and "Firebuds" as Beth Bayani.

Melissa Rauch gained popularity starring on "The Big Bang Theory," and one young fan inspired her to use her celebrity platform for a charitable cause. Oscar Keogh was just 3 years old when he was diagnosed with a type of terminal brain cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. Oscar's mother reached out to Rauch via Instagram, as her son was a big Bernadette fan, and the two formed a friendship. Oscar tragically died at the age of 5, and Rauch and the Keogh family started Oscar's Kids, a non-profit to raise funds and bring awareness to this rare and devastating form of pediatric cancer.

Regarding her inexperience in the non-profit realm, Rauch told Forbes, "As far as my background, and not having experience running a charity, the only thing I can authentically say is that I had the passion for becoming an advocate for this cause based on one of the most inspirational friendships in my life with Oscar Keogh's family." In 2021, Oscar's Kids received sponsorships and funding from the NFL, the Four Seasons Maui, Carvel, and Lilysilk, among others. The money raised went to Stanford where researchers worked on treatments and a cure for DIPG.

Rauch told Forbes, "I feel like with having the platform that I do, and being so grateful to have that, it was paramount to me that I do something good with that and try and make a difference."

In November 2022, Melissa Rauch appeared on an episode of "Celebrity Jeopardy!" alongside "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Ray Romano and comedic actor and writer Joel Kim Booster. The show was hosted by Rauch's former "Big Bang Theory" co-star and brainiac Mayim Bialik, and the celebrities' winnings went toward their favorite charities. Rauch played for her own charity, Oscar's Kids, and did her best to win big, but came up short with a final score of $0. "I think I completely blacked out on that entire experience," she joked on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in 2024. Thankfully, she and Romano's charities were each awarded $30,000 anyway, as Booster moved on to the next round.

Rauch's "Celebrity Jeopardy!" stint also yielded a pretty funny meme. The visual is Rauch standing at the podium with a big smile on her face with the words "Yes, I'm sure about it" at the bottom. According to Rauch, her own mother uses the meme to troll her. "Whenever I'm on the phone with her or saying anything that I'm saying with confidence that I'm maybe not 100% correct with, she sends me this meme," the actor told Seth Meyers.

In 2023, Melissa Rauch returned to the small screen in a big way, starring on "Night Court," a reboot of the popular '80s sitcom. Rauch plays Judge Abby Stone, daughter of the show's original judge, Harry T. Stone. Harry Anderson, who played Judge Harry Stone in the '80s version, sadly died in 2018, but members of the original cast reprised their roles in the reboot, including Marsha Warfield as bailiff Roz, and John Larroquette as lawyer Dan Fielding.

Rauch gushed about her co-star Larroquette on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," describing their relationship as having "a major imbalance." "He's just a powerful presence," Rauch explained. "Me, on the other hand, I hang on him like I am an Elf on the Shelf."

Rauch, whose husband is an executive producer on the show, admitted that her kids think she's a judge in real life and that she hasn't bothered to correct them. "They've seen the posters for it and their like, 'Mom's a judge!' and I'm like, 'Yes I am,'" the actor revealed on the "The Jennifer Hudson Show." In May of 2024 it was announced that "Night Court" had been renewed for a third season, proving that Rauch's star power is as impressive as her TV occupation.

Melissa Rauch may not be a judge in real life, but she is technically qualified to officiate weddings. In fact, it was through interacting with the live studio audience for her starring role on "Night Court" that inspired her decision to become ordained.

"What I like to do is go out into the studio audience and marry our audience members, which is so exciting," Rauch said during an appearance on "The Talk" in 2023. "I just feel bad because I never told them I'm not ordained. So, there might be people operating as such, and if that's the case I apologize. But, if we get a Season 2, I will be ordained and then you could come back," the actor said. Luckily, the show was renewed and Rauch made good on her promise.

She explained on an episode of "Today" in 2024, "So, over our hiatus I officially got ordained so that I can actually marry people in our audience." Rauch said that so far she's mostly done vow renewals but she did get the opportunity to marry one happy couple.

"The Big Bang Theory" ran for 12 seasons beginning in 2007 until 2019. Fans of the show fell in love with its ensemble cast which included Melissa Rauch when her character Bernadette Rostenkowski first appeared in Season 3. All these years later, the cast is still close, as Rauch explained to ET. "We've never fallen out of love," she said, describing her ongoing relationships with former co-stars Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Mayim Bialik, Kunal Nayyar, and Jim Parsons.

Aside from staying friendly, the actors have occasionally reunited on professional projects as well. Rauch has appeared on Bialik's podcast, as well as on "Celebrity Jeopardy!" with Bialik as the host. Rauch and Nayyar had a mini reunion when Nayyar guest-starred on Rauch's hit sitcom "Night Court" in 2024. Even sitcom veteran and original "Night Court" star John Larroquette was thrilled to see the former castmates working together again. "You can't help but enjoy their rapport and their camaraderie," he said.

"I think, yeah, I think we'll always be a part of each other's lives," Rauch shared with ET. "We're just always in each other's hearts and it's just family forever."