Bitty Schram

Schram is from Mountainside, New Jersey, and she attended Jonathan Dayton High School, where she was a competitive athlete. She studied at the University of Maryland, College Park on a tennis scholarship and graduated with a degree in advertising design. Bitty was a nickname she decided to use when she became an actress. Schram is Jewish.

The role that initially brought her fame was Evelyn Gardner, the Rockford Peaches' right fielder, in the Penny Marshall film A League of Their Own. Her character was the recipient of the classic admonition by manager Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), "There's no crying in baseball!" Her character was also the mother of the obnoxious little boy, Stilwell. During 1993–1995, she appeared 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 Network series Monk. She was released midway through the show's third season. The network stated it had "decided to go in a different creative direction with some of its characters." The Hollywood Reporter 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[s]" 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." Levine and Gray-Stanford remained on the show. Natalie Teeger, played by Traylor Howard, replaced Schram's character as Monk's assistant. Schram made a guest appearance on one episode of the show's eighth and final season, titled "Mr. Monk and Sharona".