Melissa Margaret Peterman (born July 1, 1971) is an American actress and comedienne who is best-known for her role as Barbara Jean in the television comedy series Reba. She was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raised in suburban Burnsville.
After graduating from Minnesota State University, Mankato with theater as one of her majors, she was cast as Madeline Monroe in Hey City Theater's production of Tony n' Tina's Wedding. After more than 600 performances, she went on to work as a writer and performer at the improvisational comedy theater the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, which boasts such alumni as Pat Proft, Louie Anderson, Cedric Yarbrough, Mo Collins and Al Franken. While with the Brave New Workshop, she also performed at the Chicago Improv Festival and the Big Stink Comedy Festival in Austin, Texas.
Peterman made her film debut as "Hooker #2" in the Coen brothers' 1996 movie Fargo. She also appeared in the comedies Recipe for Disaster and How High.
Peterman remains loyal to her comic roots as the host of 15 Minutes of Fem, a comedy showcase for women presented at the Egyptian Theatre. She continues to write her own material and has a one-woman show in the works.
On television, she appeared in the Oxygen sketch comedy show Running With Scissors and guest-starred on Just Shoot Me! and The Pitts.
During her summer hiatus from Reba, Peterman hosted The Sound of Music Sing-a-Long, reprising her hosting gig from last summer's The Wizard of Oz Sing-a-Long, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Peterman can also be seen on the World Cup Comedy Challenge television series and on a celebrity edition of Trading Spaces with her Reba husband, Christopher Rich.
Peterman also played Mrs. Splitz in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.
On October 15, 2007, it was announced that, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Peterman had been cast in a comedy that had been ordered to pilot but had not yet been picked up to air. The comedy is untitled and also stars Cedric the Entertainer and is being produced for ABC. The pilot was taped on October 30, 2007 at the CBS Studio Center in Studio City, California. In December it was announced that the actors had been secured, indicating that the network was still interested. On May 13, 2008, ABC announced that it did not pick up the pilot.
She has continued to work in television. Peterman recently hosted four episodes of the new show CMT Comedy Stage, which was canceled after eight episodes. Melissa returned to CMT on July 18 to host a special, titled Redneck Dreams. She appeared in two episodes of ABC's new show, Wanna Bet? as part of the celebrity panel. Her appearances aired July 28 and August 4. She has taped an episode of Surviving Suburbia where she portrays a counselor. The episode is expected to air in 2009.
On October 29, 2008, Peterman posted on her blog that she is reading for a new pilot, titled Living With Abandon. On January 14, 2009, Peterman returned to her blog and posted that Living With Abandon was not picked up by the FOX network. She also stated she will be appearing in an episode of Rita Rocks. She currently hosts The Singing Bee on CMT. In August 2010, Peterman announced on her Twitter page that she will star in a new sitcom titled Working Class, which will premiere early 2011 on CMT.
Peterman hosted the Red Carpet for the 2010 CMT Music Awards.
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Melissa Peterman
Melissa Peterman - Celebrity Fight Night XVI, Phoenix, March 20 (x7)
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