'Acting was my bloodlust': CT author, 'Rugrats' voice actress talks about new book, cartoon reboot FacebookTwitterEmail Melanie ChartoffNicolette Jackson Pownall Photography Actress and author Melanie Chartoff was only 8 years old when her first published work reached the masses: a poem that was part of an advertisement for a home improvement business published in the New Haven Register in the 1950s. Chartoff, 72, fell in love with acting and theater early on, too. Growing up, she remembers getting roles in plays at Yale University as part of its drama club; this was before the school allowed women in 1969. She would also see pre-Broadway tryouts at the Shubert Theater. At home, she would regularly sing and harmonize with her mother to musical theater albums rented from area libraries.