Rosalind Chao

Rosalind Chao B.J.
Chao at the Just Like Heaven premiere in Los Angeles, California (September 8, 2005)
Born	September 23, 1959 (1959-09-23) (age 52) Anaheim, California, USA
Nationality	United States
Ethnicity	Chinese
Education	Bachelor of Journalism
Alma mater	Marywood School University of Southern California Pomona College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1972–present
Spouse	Simon Templeman

Rosalind Chao ( /ˈrɒzəlɪnd ˈtʃaʊ/;^[1] born September 23, 1959 (1959-09-23))^[2][3] is a Chinese American actress. Chao's most prolific roles have been as a star of CBS' AfterMASH portraying South Korean refugee Soon-Lee Klinger for both seasons, and the recurring character Keiko O'Brien with 27 appearances on the syndicated science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Chao is married to voice actor Simon Templeman.^[2]

Early life

Born in Anaheim, California as a first-generation Californian of Chinese descent,^[4][5] Chao's parents ran a successful Chinese American pancake restaurant, Chao's, across the street from Disneyland, and employed her there from an early age.^[5] After moving from Garden Grove to Villa Park, California, Chao was enrolled at Marywood, an all-girls school where she was the only non-Caucasian student.^[6] She graduated from Pomona College in 1978.^[7]

Career

Chao's parents were instrumental in her decision to pursue acting;^[4] she began 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.^[6] She later performed in television commercials and guest starred on TV series in her teenage years. Her first acting role was in the CBS sitcom Here's Lucy, but she was first noticed performing in another CBS sitcom: 1972's short-lived Anna and the King as the eponymous king's (Yul Brynner) eldest daughter.^[2]

Dropping out of 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,^[6] she soon returned to acting.^[2][4]

Re-commitment

Remembering Chao from Anna and the King,^[4] television producer Burt Metcalfe provided her big break with the role of Soon-Lee, a South Korean refugee, in the final episodes of the TV series M*A*S*H.^[2] Soon-Lee married longtime starring character Maxwell Klinger (Jamie Farr) in the series finale "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen",^[8] the most-watched television episode of all time (as of 2010^[update]). Chao continued playing the character in the M*A*S*H sequel: 1983's AfterMASH, her first role billed at co-starring status.^[9]

Post-M*A*S*H

Chao regularly portrayed the Japanese exo-botanist Keiko O'Brien (née Ishikawa) on both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) with eight appearances in the former and 19 in the latter before DS9's end in 1999.^[10] In 2010 a preliminary casting memo for The Next Generation from 1987 was published, revealing that Chao was originally considered for the part of Enterprise security chief Tasha Yar.^[11]

Performance credits

Television

• Here's Lucy (1972)
• Anna and the King (1972)
• Kojak (1977), Grace Chen - The Summer of '69"^[12]
• The Amazing Spider Man (1979) - "The Chinese Web"^[12]
• Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women (1979), Flower^[12]
• Diff'rent Strokes (1982), Miss Chung - recurring role^[2]
• Moonlight (1982)^[12]
• M*A*S*H (1983), Soon-Lee - episodes "As Time Goes By" and "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen"
• AfterMASH (1983—1985), Soon-Lee Klinger
• The A-Team (1986), - "Point of No Return"^[12]
• Falcon Crest (1986), Li-Ying - recurring role^[2]
• Paper Angels (1986) - first lead role on television^[2]
• Last Flight Out (1990), Tra Duong^[12]
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991—1992), Keiko O'Brien (née Ishikawa) - recurring role (8 appearances)^[4][10]
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993—1999), Keiko O'Brien (née Ishikawa) - recurring role (19 appearances)^[4][10]
• Murder, She Wrote (1995), Phoebe - "Nailed"^[12]
• ER (1999), Dr. Chao - "Humpty Dumpty"^[12]
• Citizen Baines (2001), Judith Lin^[13]
• The O.C. (2003), Dr. Kim - guest star recurring role^[2]
• Monk (2003), Arleen Cassady - "Mr. Monk Goes Back to School"^[12]
• Tell Me You Love Me (2007) - recurring role^[2]

Film

• The Ultimate Imposter (1979)^[12]
• The Big Brawl (1980), Mae^[14]
• An Eye for an Eye (1981), Linda Chan^[14]
• The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island (1981)^[12]
• Twirl (1981), Kim King^[12]
• The Terry Fox Story (1983), Rika^[2]
• Slam Dance (1987), Mrs. Bell^[14]
• White Ghost (1988), Thi Hau^[14]
• Denial (1991)^[15]
• 1000 Pieces of Gold (1991), Lalu Nathoy/ Polly Bemis^[14]
• Megaville (1991)^[13]
• Intruders (1992)^[13]
• Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), Cathy DiTolla^[14]
• The Joy Luck Club (1993), Rose^[14]
• Web of Deception (1994)^[15]
• Love Affair (1994), Lee^[14]
• North (1994), Chinese Mom^[14]
• To Love, Honor and Deceive (1996)^[13]
• The End of Violence (1997), Claire^[14]
• What Dreams May Come (1998), Leona^[14]
• Three Blind Mice (2001)^[15]
• Enemies of Laughter (2000), Carla^[14]
• I Am Sam (2001), Lily^[14]
• Freaky Friday (2003), Pei-Pei^[14]
• Life of the Party (2005), Mei Lin^[13]
• Just Like Heaven (2005), Fran^[14]
• Nanking (2007), Chang Yu Zheng^[14]
• The Rising Tide (2009), Narrator^[16]

Theatre

• Some Girl(s) (2008), Lindsay^[17]

References

1. ^ Rosalind Chao (2007) (AOL Video). Nanking: 'Nanking - Unscripted'. New York City, United States: Moviefone. http://video.aol.com/video/nanking-rosalind-chao-and-sonny-saito-unscripted/1828395. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} "Rosalind Chao Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Yahoo! Inc. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800126114/bio. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
3. ^ "Rosalind Chao Biography". The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.. http://movies.nytimes.com/person/12317/Rosalind-Chao/biography. Retrieved 2008-08-19. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Rosalind Chao Biography". Fandango. http://www.fandango.com/rosalindchao/biographies/p12317. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Rosalind Chao (2007-02-04) (YouTube). Sundance Film Festival '07 - Nanking Party. Gilbert, Arizona, United States: Greening Productions. Event occurs at 00:00:50. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf7TY8RggHc. Retrieved 2008-06-02. "Well, most people ... don't feel bad. I grew up with Chinese parents, and I learned nothing about it [...]. Nothing." 
6. ^ ^{a b c} Hodgins, Paul (2008-02-01). "A career made from scratch". The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, California, United States: Terry Horne). http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/rosalind-89509-chao-actress.html. Retrieved 2008-02-02. "Former Star Trek actress Rosalind Chao talks about her latest work with playwright Neil LaBute." 
7. ^ Pomona College Alumni Directory 2000, p. 40.^{[verification needed]}
8. ^ "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen". M*A*S*H. CBS. 1983-02-28. No. 16, season 11.
9. ^ RJ. "AfterMASH: Main Article" (embedded video). M*A*S*H, Finest Kind. http://www.finest-kind.net/articles/aftermash.php. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
10. ^ ^{a b c} "Keiko O'Brien" (Wiki). Memory Alpha. Wikia. http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Keiko_O'Brien. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
11. ^ "T'Bonz" (2010-08-26). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Casting Memo Unearthed". http://www.trektoday.com/content/2010/08/star-trek-the-next-generation-casting-memo-unearthed/. Retrieved 2010-08-27. 
12. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} "Rosalind Chao - Ovreview - MSN Movies". MSN Movies. MSN. http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity/rosalind-chao/. Retrieved 2010-02-15. 
13. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Rosalind Chao Filmography". Fandango.com. Fandango. http://www.fandango.com/rosalindchao/filmography/p12317. Retrieved 2008-04-09. 
14. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p} "Rosalind Chao". The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.. http://movies.nytimes.com/person/12317/Rosalind-Chao/filmography. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
15. ^ ^{a b c} "Rosalind Chao Filmography". Yahoo! Movies. Yahoo! Inc.. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800126114/filmography. Retrieved 2008-04-09. 
16. ^ "US-China Institute :: calendar :: the rising tide" (in American English). Los Angeles, California, USA: USC US-China Institute. Archived from the original on 2011-04-03. http://www.webcitation.org/5xfxwtiIQ. Retrieved 2011-04-03. 
17. ^ BWW News Desk (2008-01-15). "LaBute's 'Some Girl(s)' Opens Feb.6 at Geffen Playhouse". BroadwayWorld.com. http://LosAngeles.BroadwayWorld.com/article/LaButes_Some_Girls_Opens_Feb6_at_Geffen_Playhouse_20080115. Retrieved 2008-01-20. 

External links

• Rosalind Chao at the Internet Movie Database
• Rosalind Chao at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

Persondata
Name	Chao, Rosalind
Alternative names
Short description	American actress
Date of birth	1959-09-23
Place of birth	Anaheim
Date of death
Place of death