Rosalind Chao
Rosalind Chao (born September 23, 1959) is an American actress of Chinese heritage. Chao's most notable roles are as South Korean refugee Soon-Lee Klinger on CBS' AfterMASH, as Keiko O'Brien on both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Dr. Kim on The O.C., Rose Hsu Jordan in The Joy Luck Club (1993), and Hua Li, Mulan’s mother, in the live-action version of Mulan (2020). Chao is married to voice actor Simon Templeman; they have 2 children. She began acting at the age of five in a California-based Peking opera traveling company at the instigation of her parents who were already heavily involved, and during the summers they sent her to Taiwan to further develop her acting skills. As a child, she played the daughter of a laundry owner (played by James Hong) on the 1970 episode of Here's Lucy entitled "Lucy the Laundress". For some time, Chao worked at Disneyland as an international tour guide. Deciding not to pursue acting, Chao enrolled in the communications department at the University of Southern California where she earned her degree in journalism. However, after spending a year as a radio newswriting intern at the CBS-owned Hollywood radio station KNX, she soon returned to acting. Her big break was with the role of Soon-Lee, a South Korean refugee, in the final episodes of the TV series M*A*S*H. Soon-Lee married longtime starring character Maxwell Klinger (Jamie Farr) in the series finale "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", the most-watched U.S. sitcom television episode of all time as of 2021. Chao continued playing the character in the M*A*S*H sequel series: AfterMASH (1983), her first role billed at co-starring status. Chao regularly portrayed the Japanese exo-botanist Keiko Ishikawa O'Brien on both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She was also originally considered for the part of Enterprise security chief Tasha Yar. She's had recurring roles as Miss Chung on season 5 of Diff'rent Strokes, Li Ying on season 5 of Falcon Crest, Dr. Judith Lin on Citizen Baines, Dr. Kim on seasons 1 & 3 of The O.C., Pastor Jin on Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment B, Mrs. Wu on Sin City Saints, Caroline on Better Things, and Tina Tchen on The First Lady. She's guest starred on numerous shows including This is Us, Code Black, The Catch, black-ish, The OA, Hawaii Five-O, Castle, Forever, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Bones, The Event, CSI, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, According to Jim, Six Feet Under, The Parkers, Monk, Without a Trace, Dharma & Greg, Once and Again, The West Wing, Family Law, ER, Brimstone, Chicago Hope, Murder She Wrote, thirty something, Jake & the Fatman, Miami Vice, Beauty and the Beast (1988), The A-Team, St. Elsewhere, Riptide, M*A*S*H,One Day at a Time (1981), Emergency!, The Incredible Hulk (1978), Here's Lucy, and more. She has starred in several movies including The Joy Luck Club, North (1994), What Dreams May Come, Impostor, I Am Sam, Freaky Friday (2003), Just Like Heaven, Mulan (2020) as Mulan’s mother, Together Together, and The Starling. In 2019, Chao was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences citing her contributions to critically acclaimed films The Joy Luck Club and I Am Sam.
Born: 23 September 1957
Played In
Freakier Friday
Mama P
Sacramento
Dr. Murray
3 Body Problem
Ye Wenjie
Not an Artist
Kimmy
The First Lady
Tina Tchen
The Starling
Fawn
Sweet Tooth
Mrs. Helen Zhang
Together Together
Dr. Andrews
Mulan
Hua Li
Magic Camp
Lorraine (uncredited)
The L Word: Generation Q
Grace Lee
The Laundromat
Gu Kailai
Plus One
Angela Mori
Tragedy Girls
Mayor Campbell
The OA
Patricia Knoller
This Is Us
Anna
Better Things
Caroline
The Catch
Kohana Takashi
Code Black
Jae Eun
The Muppets
Woman #1
Sin City Saints
Mrs. Wu
Stockholm, Pennsylvania
Dr. Andrews
black-ish
Dr. Stone
Forever
Frenchman
Intelligence
Sheng-Li Wang
Knife Fight
Kate - Focus Group Moderator
The Neighbors
Barb Hartley
Ruth & Erica
Helen
Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23
Pastor Jin
Shameless
Doctor
Hawaii Five-0
Governor Keiko Mahoe
The Event
Doctor
Trauma
Therapist
Castle
Mimi Tan
Private Practice
Lillie Jordan
Tell Me You Love Me
Cynthia
Nanking
Chang Yu Zheng
Ben 10
Councilwoman Liang (voice)
Just Like Heaven
Fran
Bones
Mandy Oh
Grey's Anatomy
Kathleen Patterson
Life of the Party
Mei Lin
W.I.T.C.H.
Joan Lin / Mandy (voice)
Center of the Universe
Dr. Geisler
Medical Investigation
Dr. Kramer
Century City
Doctor
10-8: Officers on Duty
Lt. Maggie Chen
Inhabited
Ms. Montane
Freaky Friday
Pei-Pei
The O.C.
Dr. Kim
Without a Trace
Helen Collins
MDs
Angela Yuan
Monk
Arleen Cassidy
I Am Sam
Lily
Impostor
Newscaster (uncredited)
According to Jim
Sally Wu
Three Blind Mice
Li Mei Chen
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Mrs. Zhuang
Citizen Baines
Judith Lin
The Man from Elysian Fields
Female Customer
Six Feet Under
Cindy
Enemies of Laughter
Carla
Gideon's Crossing
Claire Hines
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Michelle Huntley
The West Wing
Jane Gentry
Once and Again
Tami Seitz
Family Law
Dr. Seabourne
Get Real
Anne Collins
The Parkers
Prof. Thornhill
Brimstone
Nina Chou
What Dreams May Come
Leona
Dharma & Greg
Patricia
The End of Violence
Claire
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
Self
To Love, Honor and Deceive
Sydney's Best Friend
Arli$$
Karen
The Daily Show
Self
Special Report: Journey to Mars
Dr. Lin Yo Yu
Love Affair
Lee
ER
Dr. Theresa Chow
Chicago Hope
Allison Granger
Under Suspicion
The Magic School Bus
Mrs. Li (voice)
North
Chinese Mom
Web of Deception
Dr. Sheila Prosser
The Joy Luck Club
Rose Hsu Jordan
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Keiko O'Brien
Intruders
Dr. Jenny Sakai
Memoirs of an Invisible Man
Cathy DiTolla
Thousand Pieces of Gold
Lalu / Polly
Against the Law
Toy Feng
Last Flight Out
Tra Duong
Denial
Terry
Drug Wars: The Camarena Story
Thanh Steinmetz
White Ghost
Thi Hau
Shooter
Lan
Slam Dance
Mrs. Margaret Bell
thirtysomething
Willa Camden
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Keiko Ishikawa
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Keiko O'Brien
Jake and the Fatman
Elaine Nakasone
Beauty and the Beast
Lin Wong
Tour of Duty
Li Kiem
Private Eye
Kai-Lee
Max Headroom
Angie Barry
Spies
The Tribulations of a Chinese Gentleman
莲花 (Lian Hua)
Jack and Mike
Holly Sykes
Stingray
Colette Tran
Murder, She Wrote
Phoebe Campbell
Miami Vice
Mai Ying
Riptide
Lucy
Going Berserk
Kung Fu Girl
AfterMASH
Soon-Lee Klinger
The Terry Fox Story
Rika Noda
The A-Team
Alice Heath
St. Elsewhere
Mary Wilson
Bring 'Em Back Alive
Shala
Moonlight
Daphne Wu
American Playhouse
Ku Ling
Falcon Crest
Li-Ying Chi
Twirl
Kim King
An Eye for an Eye
Linda Chan
The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
Hotel Clerk
Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge
Emily Chan
The Big Brawl
Mae
Bride of the Incredible Hulk
Receptionist
Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women
Flower
The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo
Leslie Chiu
A Man Called Sloane
Soom Nuk
The Ultimate Impostor
Lai-Ping
Diff'rent Strokes
Miss Chung
Diff'rent Strokes
Ming Li
The Amazing Spider-Man
Emily Chan
The Incredible Hulk
Receptionist
How the West Was Won
Li Sin
The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
Lily
Battle of the Network Stars
One Day at a Time
Gloria
Kojak
Grace Chen
ABC Afterschool Special
The Kurmese Ambassador's Daughter
M*A*S*H
Soon-Lee
Anna and the King
Princess Serena
Emergency!
Kathy
Here's Lucy
Linda Chang Wong
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Joy Luck Club 2
Rose Hsu Jordan