Judy Gold

This stand-up comic stood tall (6'3") in NYC and L.A. comedy clubs, cable specials, and TV guest spots before joining the talented ensemble of the disappointing "All-American Girl" (ABC, 1994-95), a would-be breakthrough sitcom about the Asian American experience. Gold played Gloria, the sharp-tongued white girlfriend and department store co-worker of Margaret Cho. As much of Gold's material deals with her relationship with her mother, her sensibility fit in well with the themes of the sitcom but the show itself was a critical and ratings flop. She next signed on for a brief stint on "The City," an ABC daytime soap in December 1995, playing wisecracking bartender Judy Silver but she still aspired for evening TV success.

Some months earlier, Gold had written and headlined her own CableACE Award-winning stand-up comedy special, "HBO Comedy Half-Hour: Judy Gold." She had also been cast in an ill-fated UPN sitcom, "Blame It on Ernie," starring Ernie Sabella, which never made it to air though three episodes were filmed. (The fledgling network withdrew from its 13-episode commitment.) A supporting role in a 1995 Fox TV-movie, "Here Come the Munsters" did not bode well for Gold's acting career. She was wise to refocus on her stand-up comedy and writing talents, appearing on "Comic Relief VII" (HBO, 1995) and the following year's "Comic Relief's 10th Anniversary" special. Gold also garnered an appreciative nod from the 1996 American Comedy Awards as Best Female Club Comic. (She did not win.) Gold began expressing her comic views as a student at Rutgers, entertaining her dormitory roommates. She went on to become a frequent guest on "The Arsenio Hall Show" and cable comedy shows like "Stand-up Spotlight" (VH-1) and "Evening at the Improv" (A&E). Gold made her first TV guest shot on ABC's "Roseanne" playing a clerk in a Big and Tall clothing store, hardly a stretch. After a series of disappointments, her TV career rebounded as she became a producer-writer for "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" (syndicated, 1996-2002), a hit daytime talk/variety series featuring another female comedy talent.