Rosalind Chao
Acting
Born: September 23, 1957 (age 69) · Los Angeles, California, USA
Highest Rated
Biography
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.
Known for
Grey's Anatomy
2005
Mulan
2020
Freaky Friday
2003
Bones
2005
Shameless
2011
Just Like Heaven
2005
What Dreams May Come
1998
I Am Sam
2001
Castle
2009
Hawaii Five-0
2010
Ben 10
2005
Star Trek: The Next Generation
1987
Photos (4)
Movies (48)
Freaky Friday
Pei-Pei
Freakier Friday
Mama P
Mulan
Hua Li
Just Like Heaven
Fran
The Laundromat
Gu Kailai
What Dreams May Come
Leona
I Am Sam
Lily
Magic Camp
Lorraine (uncredited)
Impostor
Newscaster (uncredited)
Memoirs of an Invisible Man
Cathy DiTolla
The Big Brawl
Mae
Tragedy Girls
Mayor Campbell
Plus One
Angela Mori
Together Together
Dr. Andrews
An Eye for an Eye
Linda Chan
The End of Violence
Claire
The Joy Luck Club
Rose Hsu Jordan
North
Chinese Mom
The Starling
Fawn
The Man from Elysian Fields
Female Customer
Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge
Emily Chan
Bride of the Incredible Hulk
Receptionist
Going Berserk
Kung Fu Girl
Love Affair
Lee
Special Report: Journey to Mars
Dr. Lin Yo Yu
The Terry Fox Story
Rika Noda
Thousand Pieces of Gold
Lalu / Polly
Slam Dance
Mrs. Margaret Bell
Life of the Party
Mei Lin
The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
Hotel Clerk
Nanking
Chang Yu Zheng
Shooter
Lan
Stockholm, Pennsylvania
Dr. Andrews
Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women
Flower
Web of Deception
Dr. Sheila Prosser
Sacramento
Dr. Murray
Not an Artist
Kimmy
Three Blind Mice
Li Mei Chen
White Ghost
Thi Hau
Moonlight
Daphne Wu
The Ultimate Impostor
Lai-Ping
Enemies of Laughter
Carla
Denial
Terry
Inhabited
Ms. Montane
Twirl
Kim King
The Tribulations of a Chinese Gentleman
莲花 (Lian Hua)
To Love, Honor and Deceive
Sydney's Best Friend
Knife Fight
Kate - Focus Group Moderator
TV Shows (95)
Grey's Anatomy
Kathleen Patterson · 1 eps
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Mrs. Zhuang · 1 eps
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Michelle Huntley · 1 eps
Bones
Mandy Oh · 1 eps
Hawaii Five-0
Governor Keiko Mahoe · 1 eps
Shameless
Doctor · 1 eps
Castle
Mimi Tan · 1 eps
The West Wing
Jane Gentry · 1 eps
Monk
Arleen Cassidy · 1 eps
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Keiko Ishikawa · 1 eps
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Keiko O'Brien · 7 eps
Without a Trace
Helen Collins · 1 eps
Murder, She Wrote
Phoebe Campbell · 1 eps
ER
Dr. Theresa Chow · 1 eps
This Is Us
Anna · 1 eps
American Playhouse
Ku Ling · 1 eps
American Playhouse
Lalu · 1 eps
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Keiko O'Brien · 19 eps
Chicago Hope
Allison Granger · 1 eps
Miami Vice
Mai Ying · 1 eps
Falcon Crest
Li-Ying Chi · 4 eps
M*A*S*H
Soon-Lee · 2 eps
The A-Team
Alice Heath · 1 eps
St. Elsewhere
Mary Wilson · 1 eps
Private Practice
Lillie Jordan · 1 eps
black-ish
Dr. Stone · 1 eps
Emergency!
Kathy · 1 eps
The O.C.
Dr. Kim · 6 eps
Six Feet Under
Cindy · 3 eps
According to Jim
Sally Wu · 1 eps
Arli$$
Karen · 1 eps
The Incredible Hulk
Receptionist · 1 eps
Jake and the Fatman
Elaine Nakasone · 1 eps
Ben 10
Councilwoman Liang (voice) · 1 eps
Family Law
Dr. Seabourne · 1 eps
One Day at a Time
Gloria · 1 eps
Kojak
Grace Chen · 1 eps
ABC Afterschool Special
The Kurmese Ambassador's Daughter · 1 eps
Here's Lucy
Linda Chang Wong · 1 eps
Tour of Duty
Li Kiem · 1 eps
thirtysomething
Willa Camden · 1 eps
Dharma & Greg
Patricia · 1 eps
3 Body Problem
Ye Wenjie · 8 eps
The Parkers
Prof. Thornhill · 1 eps
The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
Lily · 1 eps
Sweet Tooth
Mrs. Helen Zhang · 10 eps
Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23
Pastor Jin · 4 eps
The OA
Patricia Knoller · 1 eps
10-8: Officers on Duty
Lt. Maggie Chen · 4 eps
The Magic School Bus
Mrs. Li (voice) · 2 eps
Code Black
Jae Eun · 2 eps
Better Things
Caroline · 6 eps
Once and Again
Tami Seitz · 1 eps
Medical Investigation
Dr. Kramer · 1 eps
Forever
Frenchman · 1 eps
How the West Was Won
Li Sin · 1 eps
Battle of the Network Stars
1 eps
The L Word: Generation Q
Grace Lee · 1 eps
The Event
Doctor · 2 eps
The Muppets
Woman #1 · 1 eps
The Catch
Kohana Takashi · 1 eps
Get Real
Anne Collins · 1 eps
W.I.T.C.H.
Joan Lin / Mandy (voice) · 1 eps
Brimstone
Nina Chou · 1 eps
Riptide
Lucy · 1 eps
The Neighbors
Barb Hartley · 2 eps
The First Lady
Tina Tchen · 3 eps
The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo
Leslie Chiu · 1 eps
Century City
Doctor · 1 eps
The Amazing Spider-Man
Emily Chan · 2 eps
Stingray
Colette Tran · 1 eps
Intelligence
Sheng-Li Wang · 1 eps
Tell Me You Love Me
Cynthia · 3 eps
Center of the Universe
Dr. Geisler · 1 eps
AfterMASH
Soon-Lee Klinger · 31 eps
Trauma
Therapist · 2 eps
Max Headroom
Angie Barry · 2 eps
Gideon's Crossing
Claire Hines · 1 eps
MDs
Angela Yuan · 1 eps
Anna and the King
Princess Serena · 1 eps
Ruth & Erica
Helen · 1 eps
Bring 'Em Back Alive
Shala · 1 eps
Private Eye
Kai-Lee · 1 eps
A Man Called Sloane
Soom Nuk · 1 eps
Drug Wars: The Camarena Story
Thanh Steinmetz · 3 eps
Under Suspicion
1 eps
Citizen Baines
Judith Lin · 3 eps
Against the Law
Toy Feng · 1 eps
Jack and Mike
Holly Sykes · 1 eps
Intruders
Dr. Jenny Sakai · 2 eps
Sin City Saints
Mrs. Wu · 5 eps
Diff'rent Strokes
Miss Chung · 7 eps
Diff'rent Strokes
Ming Li · 1 eps
Spies
1 eps
Beauty and the Beast
Lin Wong · 1 eps
