Rosalind Chao

DOB: 1957-09-23

DOD: -

​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.

Starred In

2005
Movie

Just Like Heaven

2025
Movie

Sacramento

2007
Movie

Nanking

2005
Movie

Life of the Party

2001
Movie

Three Blind Mice

1993
Movie

The Joy Luck Club

1980
Movie

The Big Brawl

1988
Movie

Shooter

1990
Movie

Denial

1988
Movie

White Ghost

1983
Movie

Going Berserk

1982
Movie

Moonlight

1981
Movie

Twirl

1990
Movie

Last Flight Out

2013
Movie

Knife Fight

1994
Movie

North

2003
Movie

Freaky Friday

2025
Movie

Freakier Friday

2017
Movie

Tragedy Girls

1981
Movie

An Eye for an Eye

1987
Movie

Slam Dance

2003
Movie

Inhabited

2020
Movie

Magic Camp

2001
Movie

I Am Sam

2019
Movie

Plus One

2021
Movie

The Starling

2019
Movie

The Laundromat

2020
Movie

Mulan

2001
Movie

Impostor

1994
Movie

Web of Deception

2021
Movie

Together Together

1994
Movie

Love Affair

2023
Movie

Not an Artist

1982
Tv

St. Elsewhere

1981
Tv

Falcon Crest

1972
Tv

M*A*S*H

1968
Tv

Here's Lucy

1998
Tv

Brimstone

2002
Tv

Monk

1984
Tv

Miami Vice

2009
Tv

Castle

1997
Tv

Dharma & Greg

2003
Tv

The O.C.

1999
Tv

The Parkers

1983
Tv

AfterMASH

1973
Tv

Kojak

1987
Tv

Max Headroom

1985
Tv

Stingray

2005
Tv

Ben 10

1994
Tv

Chicago Hope

1994
Tv

ER

1987
Tv

Tour of Duty

1999
Tv

Family Law

2002
Tv

MDs

2014
Tv

Intelligence

2021
Tv

Sweet Tooth

1999
Tv

The West Wing

2014
Tv

Forever

2010
Tv

Hawaii Five-0

2016
Tv

The Catch

1999
Tv

Get Real

1992
Tv

Intruders

1983
Tv

The A-Team

2010
Tv

The Event

2016
Tv

The OA

1972
Tv

Emergency!

1987
Tv

Private Eye

1987
Tv

Spies

2004
Tv

Century City

2009
Tv

Trauma

2004
Tv

W.I.T.C.H.

1984
Tv

Riptide

1986
Tv

Jack and Mike

1996
Tv

Arliss

2012
Tv

Ruth & Erica

2012
Tv

The Neighbors

2011
Tv

Shameless

2015
Tv

Code Black

2014
Tv

black-ish

2016
Tv

Better Things

2015
Tv

The Muppets

2016
Tv

This Is Us

2005
Tv

Bones