"Actors are a lot like professors on dissertation committees - it's a lot of ego, a lot of rallying for position, there is a lot at stake in every single interaction."
Mayim Chaya Bialik (born December 12, 1975 in San Diego, California) is an American actor, author, and neuroscientist. She showcased her talents in many roles as a child, before landing a starring role in Blossom. She took a break from acting to pursue her education, graduating with a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA in 2007.
Her best known roles include:
- Blossom: Blossom Russo
- The Big Bang Theory: Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler
- Beaches: Young CC Bloom—Bialik's breakout role, although she had appeared in Beauty and the Beast in 1987.
- Jeopardy!: Guest host from May 31 to June 11, 2021 after the death of original host Alex Trebek, and became permanent host in Season 38 after the resignation of Mike Richards, alternating the hosting position with Ken Jennings before announcing her departure from the syndicated series early in Season 40 in December 2023 after going on strike in the summer of that year.
- Call Me Kat: Kat
Some tropes associated with the actress include:
- Actor-Shared Background: Like Amy Farrah Fowler, Mayim Bialik holds a PhD, though hers is in the related field of neuroscience rather than Amy's neurobiology one. Both are closely related fields, however, so it still counts.
- Career Resurrection: Mayim's career, which outside of voice acting had largely taken a back seat to her education following the conclusion of Blossom, received a much-needed revival following her casting as Amy Farrah Fowler.
- The Cast Showoff: Did a lot of singing and dancing in her early roles.
- Celebrity Star: On What Not to Wear, where she gave up her Outdated Outfit. The episode also featured a guest spot from her old co-star Jenna von Oÿ. While she avoided the worst I Was Quite a Fashion Victim levels of some of the guests, as a parent to small children while completing her education, her comfortable, frumpy look was somewhat justified.
- Separated-at-Birth Casting: Some thought this of her role in Beaches.
- Written-In Infirmity: Early in Season 6 of The Big Bang Theory; some episodes shot around an injury to Mayim's hand suffered in a car accident.