Yasbeck was born in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash, Ohio, the daughter of Dorothy Louise Mary (née Murphy), a homemaker, and John Anthony Yasbeck, a butcher and grocery store owner. Her father was of Lebanese descent, while her mother was of Irish ancestry. As a child, Yasbeck was featured on the package art for the Betty Crocker Easy-Bake Oven. Years later, in 2000, she was presented with a new Easy-Bake Oven on the show I've Got a Secret, for which she was a regular panel member.
She spent her primary and secondary years at two different Catholic schools: Summit Country Day School and Ursuline Academy. She then enrolled in the theater program at the University of Detroit, but didn't graduate. In 1983, after the deaths of both of her parents, her father from a heart attack and her mother from emphysema, Yasbeck moved to New York City.
Early into her acting career, she appeared in Rockhopper, an unsold CBS television pilot from 1985. Yasbeck has had guest-starring roles in many television shows, including Dallas, Spies, Werewolf, J.J. Starbuck, Magnum, P.I., China Beach, and Murphy Brown. She auditioned for the role of Elaine Benes on Seinfeld. She played Olivia Reed for four months between 1986 and 1987 on the long-running daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives. She also played the starring role of the mermaid Madison in the Disney television movie Splash, Too in 1988 (the role of Madison was originated by Daryl Hannah in the 1984 movie Splash). Playing a mermaid in Splash, Too was a fulfillment of a childhood dream for Yasbeck, as she loved mermaids when she was 5 years old after watching a Disney movie that featured mermaids. Yasbeck has also had starring roles in the sitcoms Wings, Alright Already, and Life on a Stick and in movies such as House II: The Second Story, Pretty Woman, Problem Child, Problem Child 2, and The Mask. She has twice worked with Mel Brooks, in 1993's Robin Hood: Men in Tights and 1995's Dracula: Dead and Loving It.

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