
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 | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.516 |
Birthday | 1957-09-23 |
Place of Birth | Anaheim, California, USA |
Also Known As | Chao Jyalin , Roslind Chao, Розалинд Чао, 赵家玲, 趙家玲, روزالیند چائو, |

1981

The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
5.3/6
The Harlem Globetrotters' chartered plane crash lands on the atoll inhabited by the happily marooned Gilligan and fellow castaways, and they all must...
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The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island

1979

Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women
2.9/7
The all-male crew of an oil company makes an emergency landing on an island and finds itself at the mercy of a tribe of hostile women programmed to ki...
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Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women

1998

What Dreams May Come
7.2/2330
Chris Neilson dies to find himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of. There is one thing missing: his wife. After he dies, h...
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What Dreams May Come

2005

Just Like Heaven
6.962/2368
Shortly after David Abbott moves into his new San Francisco digs, he has an unwelcome visitor on his hands: winsome Elizabeth Masterson, who asserts t...
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Just Like Heaven

2025

Sacramento
0/0
When free-spirited Ricky suddenly reappears in father-to-be Glenn’s life, the two former best friends embark on a spontaneous road trip from LA to Sac...
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Sacramento

1997

The End of Violence
5.3/69
In Hollywood, the lives of a successful film producer, his wife, a police detective and a surveillance agent intersect after a botched abduction.
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The End of Violence

2007

Nanking
7.2/52
The story of the rape of Nanking, one of the most tragic events in history. In 1937, the invading Japanese army murdered over 200,000 and raped tens o...
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Nanking

2005

Life of the Party
6/5
A group of friends plan an intervention to help their pal address his drinking problem. Things go awry when the shrink they hired fails to show up
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Life of the Party

1996

To Love, Honor and Deceive
5.6/5
Sydney Carpenter is a devoted mother to her young son, and is now accustomed to the puzzling existence of her mysterious, non-communicative husband, M...
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To Love, Honor and Deceive

2001

Three Blind Mice
4.8/5
A lawyer defends a man he's known since serving together in Vietnam, who has been accused of murdering three Vietnamese immigrants. Now he'll have to...
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Three Blind Mice

1997

Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
0/0
Interviews and film clips re-create the glorious history of the American western.
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Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western

1993

The Joy Luck Club
7.1/146
Through a series of flashbacks, four Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China explore their pasts.
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The Joy Luck Club

1980

The Big Brawl
5.9/179
A young Asian American martial artist is forced to participate in a brutal formal street-fight competition.
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The Big Brawl

1988

Shooter
5.5/4
"Shooter," aka Matt Thompson aka Gruwald is a photographer in 1967 Saigon, Vietnam. Working out of a news agency for a major magazine, Thompson gets i...
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Shooter

1990

Denial
4/4
A young woman tries to leave her troubled past behind. She meets her old flame by accident and they fall in love again, but this obsessive relationshi...
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Denial

1980

Bride of the Incredible Hulk
6.8/37
David and Carolyn marry in Hawaii and continue to work to find a cure for both their afflictions in a race against time.
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Bride of the Incredible Hulk

1987

The Tribulations of a Chinese Gentleman
6/1
The young Chinese heir to millions in the USA is suddenly destitute. He takes out a life insurace policy on himself and assigns his former teacher to...
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The Tribulations of a Chinese Gentleman

1991

Thousand Pieces of Gold
6.8/10
In 1880s China, young Lalu is sold into marriage by her impoverished father. Rather than becoming a bride, Lalu ends up in an Idaho gold-mining town,...
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Thousand Pieces of Gold

2000

Enemies of Laughter
5.5/2
Nerdy-looking Paul is a neurotic, failed sitcom writer with a lackluster love life. But his best pal has an idea that might turn things around when he...
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Enemies of Laughter

1981

Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge
5.4/43
Spider-Man goes to China to help an official accused of World War II treachery. Two episodes of the TV series "Spider Man" edited together and releas...
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Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge

1988

White Ghost
4.5/14
July '72. Vietnam. Lt. Steve Shepard missing in action. Presumed dead...15 years later he's still there.
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White Ghost

1983

Going Berserk
5.1/35
John Bourgignon, a drummer-chauffeur engaged to the daughter of a United States senator, encounters a sleazy film director, the leader of an aerobics...
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Going Berserk

1982

Moonlight
6/1
A fast-food delivery man for a New York Chinese restaurant gets involved with international terrorists and is recruited by undercover agents to help t...
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Moonlight

1981

Twirl
6/1
Best friends compete for the title of "Miss Twirl" (similar to a Miss America contest with the primary category of competition being (what else?) twir...
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Twirl

1990

Last Flight Out
0/0
Fact based story set in Saigon in April, 1975 shortly after the US combat troops have withdrawn and immediately before the Communist forces over run t...
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Last Flight Out

1979

The Ultimate Impostor
5/1
A series pilot about a secret agent who is armed with skills learned by a computer-brain link-up -- lasting only 72 hours at a time -- and is sent to...
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The Ultimate Impostor

2013

Knife Fight
5.2/35
A political strategist juggling three clients questions whether or not to take the high road as the ugly side of his work begins to haunt him.
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Knife Fight

1994

North
5/255
Eleven-year-old North has had it with his parents. They are always busy with their careers and don't give North the attention he needs, so he files a...
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North

2003

Freaky Friday
6.5/3849
Mother and daughter bicker over everything -- what Anna wears, whom she likes and what she wants to do when she's older. In turn, Anna detests Tess's...
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Freaky Friday

2025

Freakier Friday
0/0
Years after Tess and Anna endured an identity crisis, Anna now has a daughter of her own and a soon-to-be stepdaughter. As they navigate the myriad ch...
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Freakier Friday

2017

Tragedy Girls
6/317
McKayla and Sadie, two death-obsessed teenage girls, use their online show about real-life tragedies to send their small Midwestern town into a frenzy...
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Tragedy Girls

2015

Stockholm, Pennsylvania
5.4/82
A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after living with her abductor for 17 years.
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Stockholm, Pennsylvania

1981

An Eye for an Eye
5.2/107
Sean Kane is forced to resign from the San Francisco Police Department's Narcotics Division when he goes berserk after his partner is murdered. He dec...
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An Eye for an Eye

1987

Slam Dance
4.9/38
When framed for the murder of a sultry blonde, an underground cartoonist is drawn into a web of corruption, blackmail and deceit.
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Slam Dance

2003

Inhabited
6.3/21
After Brad and Meg move to a detached house in need of major repairs after a fire and decades of neglect, they're happy that cheerful teenage son Tyle...
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Inhabited

2020

Magic Camp
6.9/204
Andy, at the urging of his former mentor and Magic Camp owner Roy Preston, returns to the camp of his youth hoping to reignite his career. Instead, he...
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Magic Camp

2001

I Am Sam
7.6/2323
Sam, a neurodivergent man, has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own....
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I Am Sam

1996

Special Report: Journey to Mars
5/3
When the world's first spaceship is close to its goal (Mars), the TV-network GNN begins its live coverage of the last two hours of the mission and the...
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Special Report: Journey to Mars

1992

Memoirs of an Invisible Man
5.905/598
After a freak accident, an invisible yuppie runs for his life from a treacherous CIA official while trying to cope with his new life.
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Memoirs of an Invisible Man

2019

Plus One
6.8/357
Longtime single friends Ben and Alice agree to be each other's respective plus one at every wedding they're invited to during a busy summer of wedding...
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Plus One

2021

The Starling
6.9/289
A woman adjusting to life after a loss contends with a feisty bird that's taken over her garden — and a husband who's struggling to find a way forward...
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The Starling

2019

The Laundromat
6.006/1220
When a widow gets swindled out of insurance money, her search for answers leads to two cunning lawyers in Panama who hide cash for the superrich.
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The Laundromat

2020

Mulan
6.9/6738
When the Emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Chinese Army to defend the country from Huns, Hua Mulan,...
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Mulan

2001

Impostor
6.1/421
A top-secret government weapons designer is arrested by a clandestine government organization on suspicion of being a clone created by the hostile ali...
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Impostor

1994

Web of Deception
3/3
A forensic psychatrist of the Police Department falls for a fatal attraction that threatens to terminate his marriage, his career and his life.
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Web of Deception

1983

The Terry Fox Story
6.1/15
The true story about the Canadian cancer amputee hero who decided to run across Canada on only one leg to raise money for cancer research.
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The Terry Fox Story

2021

Together Together
6.4/154
When young loner Anna is hired as the surrogate for Matt, a single man in his 40s, the two strangers come to realize this unexpected relationship will...
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Together Together

2001

The Man from Elysian Fields
5.8/57
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service where he becomes entwined wi...
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The Man from Elysian Fields

1994

Love Affair
5.4/59
Ex-football star Mike Gambril meets Terry McKay on a flight to Sydney, which is forced to land on a small atoll. They become romantic on board a ship...
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Love Affair


The Joy Luck Club 2
0/0
In the sequel, the mothers become grandmothers and the daughters become mothers in their own right, introducing a new generation exploring their own r...
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