Rosalind Chao
Rosalind Chao
Biography
​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
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
147
Gender
Female
Birthday
1957-09-23 (67 years old)
Place of Birth
Anaheim, California, USA
Acting

2025

Freakier Friday as Pei-Pei

2025

Sacramento as Dr. Murray

2024

3 Body Problem as Ye Wenjie

2023

Not an Artist as Kimmy

2022

The First Lady as Tina Tchen

2021

Sweet Tooth as Mrs. Helen Zhang

2021

Together Together as Dr. Andrews

2021

The Starling as Fawn

2020

Mulan as Hua Li

2020

Magic Camp as Lorraine (uncredited)

2019

The L Word: Generation Q as Grace Lee

2019

Plus One as Angela Mori

2019

The Laundromat as Gu Kailai

2017

Tragedy Girls as Mayor Campbell

2016

This Is Us as Anna

2016

The OA as Patricia Knoller

2016

The Catch as Kohana Takashi

2016

Better Things as Caroline

2015

Code Black as Jae Eun

2015

Sin City Saints as Mrs. Wu

2015

The Muppets as Woman #1

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

2011

Shameless as Doctor

2010

Hawaii Five-0 as Governor Keiko Mahoe

2010

The Event as Doctor

2009

Castle as Mimi Tan

2009

Trauma as Therapist

2007

Private Practice as Lillie Jordan

2007

Tell Me You Love Me as Cynthia

2007

Nanking as Chang Yu Zheng

2005

Grey's Anatomy as Kathleen Patterson

2005

Bones as Mandy Oh

2005

Ben 10 as Councilwoman Liang (voice)

2005

Just Like Heaven as Fran

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

The O.C. as Dr. Kim

2003

10-8: Officers on Duty as Lt. Maggie Chen

2003

Freaky Friday as Pei-Pei

2003

Inhabited as Ms. Montane

2002

Monk as Arleen Cassidy

2002

Without a Trace as Helen Collins

2002

MDs as Angela Yuan

2001

Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Mrs. Zhuang

2001

According to Jim as Sally Wu

2001

Six Feet Under as Cindy

2001

Citizen Baines as Dr. Judith Lin

2001

I Am Sam as Lily

2001

Impostor as Newscaster (uncredited)

2001

The Man from Elysian Fields as Female Customer

2001

Three Blind Mice as Li Mei Chen

2000

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Michelle Huntley

2000

Gideon's Crossing as Claire Hines

2000

Enemies of Laughter as Carla

1999

The Parkers as Prof. Thornhill

1999

Family Law as Dr. Seabourne

1999

The West Wing as Jane Gentry

1999

Get Real as Anne Collins

1999

Once and Again as Tami Seitz

1998

Brimstone as Nina Chou

1998

What Dreams May Come as Leona

1997

Dharma & Greg as Patricia

1997

The End of Violence as Claire

1996

The Daily Show as Self

1996

Arliss as Karen

1996

Special Report: Journey to Mars as Dr. Lin Yo Yu

1996

To Love, Honor and Deceive as Sydney's Best Friend

1994

Chicago Hope as Allison Granger

1994

ER as Dr. Theresa Chow

1994

The Magic School Bus as Mrs. Li (voice)

1994

Under Suspicion as Not available

1994

North as Chinese Mom

1994

Love Affair as Lee

1994

Web of Deception as Dr. Sheila Prosser

1993

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Keiko O'Brien

1993

The Joy Luck Club as Rose Hsu Jordan

1992

Intruders as Dr. Jenny Sakai

1992

Memoirs of an Invisible Man as Cathy DiTolla

1991

Thousand Pieces of Gold as Lalu / Polly

1990

Drug Wars: The Camarena Story as Thanh Steinmetz

1990

Against the Law as Toy Feng

1990

Denial as Terry

1990

Last Flight Out as Tra Duong

1988

White Ghost as Thi Hau

1988

Shooter as Lan

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

thirtysomething as Willa Camden

1987

Tour of Duty as Li Kiem

1987

Max Headroom as Angie Barry

1987

Private Eye as Kai-Lee

1987

Spies as Not available

1987

The Tribulations of a Chinese Gentleman as 莲花 (Lian Hua)

1987

Beauty and the Beast as Lin Wong

1987

Slam Dance as Mrs. Margaret Bell

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

The A-Team as Alice Heath

1983

AfterMASH as Soon-Lee Klinger

1983

Going Berserk as Kung Fu Girl

1983

The Terry Fox Story as Rika Noda

1982

American Playhouse as Ku Ling

1982

St. Elsewhere as Mary Wilson

1982

Bring 'Em Back Alive as Shala

1982

Moonlight as Daphne Wu

1981

Falcon Crest as Li-Ying Chi

1981

An Eye for an Eye as Linda Chan

1981

Twirl as Kim King

1980

The Big Brawl as Mae

1980

Bride of the Incredible Hulk as Receptionist

1979

A Man Called Sloane as Soom Nuk

1978

The Amazing Spider-Man as Emily Chan

1978

Diff'rent Strokes as Miss Chung

NaN

The Joy Luck Club 2 as Rose Hsu Jordan

1979

The Ultimate Impostor as Lai-Ping

1978

Diff'rent Strokes as Ming Li

1977

The Incredible Hulk as Receptionist

1977

How the West Was Won as Li Sin

1976

Battle of the Network Stars as Not available

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

Emergency! as Kathy

1972

Anna and the King as Princess Serena

1968

Here's Lucy as Linda Chang Wong