Rosalind Chao
Rosalind Chao 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
Credits
- 2025 · Freakier Friday as Pei-Pei
- 2024 · Sacramento as
- 2024 · 3 Body Problem as Ye Wenjie
- 2022 · The First Lady as Tina Tchen
- 2021 · The Starling as Fawn
- 2021 · Sweet Tooth as Mrs. Helen Zhang
- 2021 · Together Together as Dr. Andrews
- 2020 · Mulan as Hua Li
- 2020 · Magic Camp as Lorraine (uncredited)
- 2019 · The L Word: Generation Q as Grace Lee
- 2019 · The Laundromat as Gu Kailai
- 2019 · Plus One as Angela Mori
- 2017 · Tragedy Girls as Mayor Campbell
- 2016 · The OA as Patricia Knoller
- 2016 · This Is Us as Anna
- 2016 · Better Things as Caroline
- 2016 · The Catch as Kohana Takashi
- 2015 · Code Black as Jae Eun
- 2015 · The Muppets as Woman #1
- 2015 · Sin City Saints as Mrs. Wu
- 2015 · Stockholm, Pennsylvania as Dr. Andrews
- 2014 · black-ish as Dr. Stone
- 2014 · Forever as Frenchman
- 2014 · Intelligence as Sheng-Li Wang
- 2013 · Knife Fight as Kate - Focus Group Moderator
- 2012 · The Neighbors as Barb Hartley
- 2012 · Ruth & Erica as Helen
- 2012 · Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 as Pastor Jin
- 2011 · Shameless as Doctor
- 2010 · Hawaii Five-0 as Governor Keiko Mahoe
- 2010 · The Event as Doctor
- 2009 · Trauma as Therapist
- 2009 · Castle as Mimi Tan
- 2007 · Private Practice as Lillie Jordan
- 2007 · Tell Me You Love Me as Cynthia
- 2007 · Nanking as Chang Yu Zheng
- 2005 · Ben 10 as Councilwoman Liang (voice)
- 2005 · Just Like Heaven as Fran
- 2005 · Bones as Mandy Oh
- 2005 · Grey's Anatomy as Kathleen Patterson
- 2005 · Life of the Party as Mei Lin
- 2004 · W.I.T.C.H. as Joan Lin / Mandy (voice)
- 2004 · Center of the Universe as Dr. Geisler
- 2004 · Medical Investigation as Dr. Kramer
- 2004 · Century City as Doctor
- 2003 · 10-8: Officers on Duty as Lt. Maggie Chen
- 2003 · Inhabited as Ms. Montane
- 2003 · The O.C. as Dr. Kim
- 2003 · Freaky Friday as Pei-Pei
- 2002 · Without a Trace as Helen Collins
- 2002 · MDs as Angela Yuan
- 2002 · Monk as Arleen Cassidy
- 2001 · I Am Sam as Lily
- 2001 · Impostor as Newscaster (uncredited)
- 2001 · According to Jim as Sally Wu
- 2001 · Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Mrs. Zhuang
- 2001 · Three Blind Mice as Li Mei Chen
- 2001 · Citizen Baines as Dr. Judith Lin
- 2001 · The Man from Elysian Fields as Female Customer
- 2001 · Six Feet Under as Cindy
- 2000 · Enemies of Laughter as Carla
- 2000 · Gideon's Crossing as Claire Hines
- 2000 · CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Michelle Huntley
- 1999 · The West Wing as Jane Gentry
- 1999 · Once and Again as Tami Seitz
- 1999 · Family Law as Dr. Seabourne
- 1999 · Get Real as Anne Collins
- 1999 · The Parkers as Prof. Thornhill
- 1998 · Brimstone as Nina Chou
- 1998 · What Dreams May Come as Leona
- 1997 · Dharma & Greg as Patricia
- 1997 · The End of Violence as Claire
- 1997 · Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western as Self
- 1996 · To Love, Honor and Deceive as Sydney's Best Friend
- 1996 · Arliss as Karen
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self
- 1996 · Special Report: Journey to Mars as Dr. Lin Yo Yu
- 1994 · Love Affair as Lee
- 1994 · ER as Dr. Theresa Chow
- 1994 · Chicago Hope as Allison Granger
- 1994 · Under Suspicion as
- 1994 · The Magic School Bus as Mrs. Li (voice)
- 1994 · North as Chinese Mom
- 1994 · Web of Deception as Dr. Sheila Prosser
- 1993 · The Joy Luck Club as Rose Hsu Jordan
- 1993 · Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Keiko O'Brien
- 1992 · Intruders as Dr. Jenny Sakai
- 1992 · Memoirs of an Invisible Man as Cathy DiTolla
- 1991 · Thousand Pieces of Gold as Lalu / Polly
- 1990 · Against the Law as Toy Feng
- 1990 · Last Flight Out as Tra Duong
- 1990 · Denial as Terry
- 1990 · Drug Wars: The Camarena Story as Thanh Steinmetz
- 1988 · White Ghost as Thi Hau
- 1988 · Shooter as Lan
- 1987 · Slam Dance as Mrs. Margaret Bell
- 1987 · thirtysomething as Willa Camden
- 1987 · Star Trek: The Next Generation as Keiko Ishikawa
- 1987 · Star Trek: The Next Generation as Keiko O'Brien
- 1987 · Jake and the Fatman as Elaine Nakasone
- 1987 · Beauty and the Beast as Lin Wong
- 1987 · Tour of Duty as Li Kiem
- 1987 · Private Eye as Kai-Lee
- 1987 · The Max Headroom Show as Angie Barry
- 1987 · Spies as
- 1987 · The Tribulations of a Chinese Gentleman as 莲花 (Lian Hua)
- 1986 · Jack and Mike as Holly Sykes
- 1985 · Stingray as Colette Tran
- 1984 · Murder, She Wrote as Phoebe Campbell
- 1984 · Miami Vice as Mai Ying
- 1984 · Riptide as Lucy
- 1983 · Going Berserk as Kung Fu Girl
- 1983 · AfterMASH as Soon-Lee Klinger
- 1983 · The Terry Fox Story as Rika Noda
- 1983 · The A-Team as Alice Heath
- 1982 · St. Elsewhere as Mary Wilson
- 1982 · Bring 'Em Back Alive as Shala
- 1982 · Moonlight as Daphne Wu
- 1982 · American Playhouse as Ku Ling
- 1981 · Falcon Crest as Li-Ying Chi
- 1981 · Twirl as Kim King
- 1981 · An Eye for an Eye as Linda Chan
- 1981 · The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island as Hotel Clerk
- 1981 · Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge as Emily Chan
- 1980 · The Big Brawl as Mae
- 1980 · Bride of the Incredible Hulk as Receptionist
- 1979 · Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women as Flower
- 1979 · A Man Called Sloane as Soom Nuk
- 1979 · The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo as Leslie Chiu
- 1972 · Kung Fu as Dancer (uncredited)
- Future · The Joy Luck Club 2 as Rose Hsu Jordan
- 1979 · The Ultimate Impostor as Lai-Ping
- 1978 · Diff'rent Strokes as Miss Chung
- 1978 · Diff'rent Strokes as Ming Li
- 1978 · The Amazing Spider-Man as Emily Chan
- 1977 · The Incredible Hulk as Receptionist
- 1977 · How the West Was Won as Li Sin
- 1977 · The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries as Lily
- 1976 · Battle of the Network Stars as
- 1975 · One Day at a Time as Gloria
- 1973 · Kojak as Grace Chen
- 1972 · ABC Afterschool Special as The Kurmese Ambassador's Daughter
- 1972 · M*A*S*H as Soon-Lee
- 1972 · Anna and the King as Princess Serena
- 1972 · Emergency! as Kathy
- 1968 · Here's Lucy as Linda Chang Wong
- 1962 · The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self