Patrika Darbo (Actor)

Patrika Darbo attends a reception at the 31st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. (Photo: Vince Bucci / Getty Images)

After this pudgy comic actress won the role of Roseanne Barr in the 1994 NBC unauthorized biopic "Roseanne and Tom: Behind the Scenes", Patrika Darbo was seen nationwide defending the concept and insisting she was proud of her work. A stage-trained actress, she had many theatrical successes in Los Angeles before breaking into film and TV, where she often was cast in bit parts and small guest appearances. Her big break came when she starred in the stage production of "Daddy's Dyin' ... Who's Got the Will?" and then reprised the role in the 1990 screen version alongside Beau Bridges and Beverly D'Angelo. Small roles in films like "Leaving Normal" (1992), "In the Line of Fire" (1993, where she was gruesomely murdered by villain John Malkovich) and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (1997) followed. For one season (1991-92), Darbo was cast as Suzanne Somers' sister Penny on the ABC sitcom "Step By Step". In June 1998, she joined the cast of the NBC daytime drama "Days of Our Lives" playing the social conscious wife of a doctor.