MELISSA PETERMAN

Melissa Peterman brings her comedic talents to The WB's hit comedy "Reba" as the impossibly perky dental hygienist Barbra Jean who is married to Reba's ex-husband. Peterman hails from Minneapolis, Minn. After graduating from Minnesota State University with theater as one of her majors, she was cast as Madeline Monroe in Hey City Theater's production of Tony & 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 which boasts such alumni as Louie Anderson, Peter Tolan 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' Oscar-winning movie Fargo. She recently wrapped the family comedy Recipe For Disaster and appeared in the feature comedy How High with Fred Willard, Hector Elizondo, Spalding Gray and Method Man. 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 and continues to write her own material with 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. Peterman currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, fellow actor John Brady

*Birthday: July 1