Debra Jo Rupp (born February 24, 1951 in Glendale, California) is an American actress, best known for her role as Kitty Forman on the sitcom That '70s Show, a role she has played since 1998. Rupp was raised in Massachusetts, graduating from Masconomet Regional High School in Topsfield, Massachusetts in 1970. She went on to attend the University of Rochester in New York state, graduating in 1974.
Her first acting role was Sheila, a topless dancer at a strip club where the character Erica Kane worked briefly on All My Children, in 1980. She started her acting career full-time in the late 1980s, guest-starring on such shows as Kate & Allie and Blossom. She moved on to a bigger role on the television series Davis Rules, and acted on several episodes of Friends, as Alice Knight, a home economics teacher who fell in love with Phoebe Buffay's brother. It was these performances on Friends that earned her notice among the That '70s Show casting department.
Rupp quit smoking in 2000, which was highly publicized and caused her to gain twenty-five pounds. In subsequent years, Rupp controlled her weight and kicked smoking for good. On That '70s Show, Kitty Forman's smoking addiction was also written out of the show, in tune with Rupp's new lifestyle choice.
Twenty-five years after All My Children gave Rupp her first acting job, she returned for one episode in December 2005 as a homeless woman named Victoria.
She occasionally appeared on Seinfeld as Jerry's booking agent.
