Bitty Schram

Posted December 10, 201014 yr

Elizabeth Natalie "Bitty" Schram (born July 17, 1968) is an American actress, most widely known for playing Sharona Fleming in the television series Monk.

Born in Mountainside, New Jersey, Bitty Schram studied at the University of Maryland on a tennis scholarship and graduated with a degree in advertising design. Having known for numerous years that she wanted to act, she pursued roles in both film and television as well as Broadway theater. The role that initially brought her note was Evelyn Gardner in the Penny Marshall directed film, A League of Their Own. Schram's character was the focus of the now famous line, "There's no crying in baseball!" During 1993-95, she had a role in the original Broadway production of Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor.

In 2002, Schram landed a major role opposite Tony Shalhoub on the USA mystery series Monk. USA Network released her mid-way through the show's third season, stating they "decided to go in a different creative direction with some of its characters"; MSNBC reported that "some members of the series’ supporting cast, including Schram, Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford, attempted to renegotiate the terms of their contract" and cited Schram's departure as evidence of the industry's "hard line against raise-seeking actors who aren’t absolutely essential to the show." Sharona's role as Monk's assistant was replaced by Natalie Teeger, played by Traylor Howard.

Schram returned to Monk for an episode during the show's eighth and final season entitled "Mr. Monk and Sharona" on October 23, 2009 on USA Network.