Alice Amter (born 11 May 1966 in Birmingham) is an English actress, best known for her character Mrs. Koothrappali in the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory and Dr. Kapoor on Hot in Cleveland. Born Alice Edwards, she grew up in Handsworth before moving to Edgbaston, Leamington Spa and Rubery. Whilst living in Leamington Spa she spent time in a children's home on Warwick New Road. Her single German mother later cared for her. Amter attended Milverton Junior and Infant School and she received a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages and International Relations from Wolverhampton University.She has lived in France, Germany, Japan (where she taught English in the early 1990s), and the United States. She moved to Los Angeles, California in the early 1990s. Despite her best-known role as "Mrs. Koothrappali", she has said she has no Indian ancestry.