Known for Acting
Rosalind Chao (born September 23, 1959) 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.
Born
September 23, 1957 (age 69)
Birthplace
Los Angeles, California, USA
Filmography
50 films, 94 shows


Freakier Friday
2025 · 1h 50m · US
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 challenges that come when two families merge, Tess and Anna discover lightning might indeed strike twice.


Sacramento
2025 · 1h 29m · US
When free-spirited Rickey suddenly reappears in father-to-be Glenn’s life, the two former best friends embark on a spontaneous road trip from LA to Sacramento.


Not an Artist
2023 · 1h 37m · US
In an exclusive artist-in-residency program overseen by an enigmatic patron (RZA), artists in turmoil face a make-or-break ultimatum: unlock their full creative potential or abandon art forever. Yet, the unexpected intrusion of an outsider (Matt Walsh) jeopardizes the program's delicate balance.


The Starling
2021 · 1h 43m · CA
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.


Together Together
2021 · 1h 30m · US
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 quickly challenge their perceptions of connection, boundaries and the particulars of love.


Mulan
2020 · 1h 55m · US
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, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father. She is spirited, determined and quick on her feet. Disguised as a man by the name of Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her innermost strength and embrace her true potential.


Magic Camp
2020 · 1h 40m · US
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 finds inspiration in his ragtag bunch of rookie magicians.


The Laundromat
2019 · 1h 36m · US
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.


Plus One
2019 · 1h 38m · US
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 fever.


Tragedy Girls
2017 · 1h 38m · US
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 and cement their legacy as modern horror legends.


Stockholm, Pennsylvania
2015 · 1h 39m · US
A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after living with her abductor for 17 years.


Knife Fight
2013 · 1h 39m · US
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.


Nanking
2007 · 1h 28m · US
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 of thousands of Chinese. In the midst of this horror, a small group of Western expatriates banded together to save 250,000. Nanking shows the tremendous impact individuals can make on the course of history.


Just Like Heaven
2005 · 1h 35m · US
Shortly after David Abbott moves into his new San Francisco digs, he has an unwelcome visitor on his hands: winsome Elizabeth Masterson, who asserts that the apartment is hers -- and promptly vanishes. When she starts appearing and disappearing at will, David thinks she's a ghost, while Elizabeth is convinced she's alive.


Life of the Party
2005 · 1h 27m · US
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


Inhabited
2003 · 1h 35m · US
A family dismisses their daughter's claims of "fairies" living in the playhouse in their new home's backyard, until they discover another girl described the same beings in their home, decades before.


Freaky Friday
2003 · 1h 37m · US
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 fiancé. When a magical fortune cookie switches their personalities, they each get a peek at how the other person feels, thinks and lives.


I Am Sam
2001 · 2h 12m · US
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. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations as a parent start to become a problem and the authorities take her away. Sam convinces high-priced lawyer Rita to take his case pro bono and in turn teaches her the value of love and family.


Impostor
2001 · 1h 42m · US
A top-secret government weapons designer is arrested by a clandestine government organization on suspicion of being a clone created by the hostile alien race wanting to take over Earth.


Three Blind Mice
2001 · 1h 40m · US
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 fight against a tenacious district attorney, and evidence connected to the man's wife.


The Man from Elysian Fields
2001 · 1h 46m · US
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 with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.


Enemies of Laughter
2000 · 1h 30m · US
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 decides to film Paul's life, and turn his romantic disasters into a comedic documentary. When a beautiful young director decides to produce the real-life romantic comedy, Paul realizes that Cupid may be poised with his bow and arrow.


What Dreams May Come
1998 · 1h 53m · US
After Chris Nielsen dies in a car accident, he is guided through the afterlife by his spirit guide, Albert. His new world is beautiful and can be whatever Chris imagines. Even his children are there. But, when his wife, Annie, commits suicide and is sent to hell, Chris ignores Albert's warnings and journeys there to save her. Upon arrival, Chris finds that rescuing Annie will be more difficult than he'd imagined.


The End of Violence
1997 · 2h 1m · DE
In Hollywood, the lives of a successful film producer, his wife, a police detective and a surveillance agent intersect after a botched abduction.


Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
1997 · 1h 34m · US
Interviews and film clips re-create the glorious history of the American western.


To Love, Honor and Deceive
1996 · 1h 34m · US
Sydney Carpenter is a devoted mother to her young son, and is now accustomed to the puzzling existence of her mysterious, non-communicative husband, Matthew. When her husband and son are suddenly lost at sea after a boating accident, Sydney's comfortable existence is shattered. Although overwhelmed by her grief, Sydney cannot ignore the strange pieces from her husband's past that continue to make their way into the present.


Special Report: Journey to Mars
1996 · 2h · US
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 then the problems start. The landing computer malfunctions; Captain Eugene T. Slader gets very sick; and back on Earth, it is discovered that big financial corporations have an interest in the failure of the mission - and we, the viewers, can see it all live on television.


Love Affair
1994 · 1h 48m · US
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 sent to take them to a larger island. They agree to meet in New York three months later to see if the attraction is real. One shows up but the other doesn't. However, a chance meeting brings them together again.


North
1994 · 1h 27m · US
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 lawsuit against them. The judge rules that North should either find new parents or return to his own parents within two months. Thus North starts off on a journey around the world to find parents that really care about him.


Web of Deception
1994 · 1h 33m · US
A forensic psychatrist of the Police Department falls for a fatal attraction that threatens to terminate his marriage, his career and his life.


The Joy Luck Club
1993 · 2h 19m · US
Through a series of flashbacks, four Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China explore their pasts.


Memoirs of an Invisible Man
1992 · 1h 39m · US
After a freak accident, an invisible yuppie runs for his life from a treacherous CIA official while trying to cope with his new life.


Thousand Pieces of Gold
1991 · 1h 45m · US
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, the property of a saloon owner who renames her, China Polly, and plans to sell her as entertainment for the locals. Refusing to become a whore, Lalu ultimately finds her own way in this strange country filled with white demons.


Last Flight Out
1990 · 1h 35m
Fact-based story set in Saigon on April, 1975, shortly after U.S. combat troops have withdrawn, and immediately before Communist forces overrun the city. American citizens try to help South Vietnamese refugees escape on the last commercial flight that will be permitted to leave the city.


Denial
1990 · 1h 43m · US
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 relationship threatens to consume them.


White Ghost
1988 · 1h 28m · US
July '72. Vietnam. Lt. Steve Shepard missing in action. Presumed dead...15 years later he's still there.


Shooter
1988 · 1h 40m
"Shooter" (a.k.a., Matt Thompson, a.k.a., Gruwald) is a photographer in 1967 Saigon, Vietnam. Working out of a news agency for a major magazine, Thompson gets involved in the lives of the soldiers he meets and "shoots." There's Ngoc, the Vietnamese photo lab tech; Klause, a German photographer swiping Buddhas; Rene, a French photographer who carries an AK-47; Stork, Matt's superstitious roommate who is also a photographer; Rizzo, the irascible editor; Lan, an American-educated Vietnamese reporter; and Tracey, an embassy worker who is Matt's former flame.


Slam Dance
1987 · 1h 39m · UK
When framed for the murder of a sultry blonde, an underground cartoonist is drawn into a web of corruption, blackmail and deceit.


The Tribulations of a Chinese Gentleman
1987 · 2h 6m · CN
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 kill him.


Going Berserk
1983 · 1h 25m · CA
John Bourgignon, a drummer-chauffeur engaged to the daughter of a United States senator, encounters a sleazy film director, the leader of an aerobics cult, and other crazed characters in the days leading up to his wedding.


The Terry Fox Story
1983 · 1h 37m · CA
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.


Moonlight
1982 · 1h 36m · US
A fast-food delivery man for a New York Chinese restaurant gets involved with international terrorists and is recruited by undercover agents to help track down the leader in this prospective pilot.


Twirl
1981 · 1h 40m · US
Best friends compete for the title of "Miss Twirl" (similar to a Miss America contest with the primary category of competition being -- what else? -- twirling!). The real test, however, is whether their friendship will survive through the contest with the pressure and interference from their parents to win.


An Eye for an Eye
1981 · 1h 46m · US
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 decides to fight alone and follows a trail of drug traffickers into unexpected high places.


The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
1981 · 1h 34m · US
The Harlem Globetrotters' chartered plane crash lands on the atoll inhabited by the happily marooned Gilligan and fellow castaways, and they all must play basketball against a specially programmed squad of robots controlled by a mad scientist.


Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge
1980 · 1h 32m · US
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 released as a feature.


The Big Brawl
1980 · 1h 35m · HK
A young Asian American martial artist is forced to participate in a brutal formal street-fight competition.


Bride of the Incredible Hulk
1980 · 1h 35m · US
In one of the saga's most emotional stories, David Banner travels to Hawaii to find Dr. Caroline Fields, a psychiatrist who has developed a hypnotherapy technique that could cure him. Discovering they share the burden of an incurable condition—Caroline suffers from a terminal illness—the two fall in love and marry, offering Banner a glimpse of happiness. However, tragedy looms when Jack McGee's relentless pursuit and a devastating hurricane threaten their brief moment of peace.


Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women
1979 · 1h 40m · US
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 kill all men.


The Ultimate Impostor
1979 · 1h 37m · US
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 rescue a Russian submarine commander, a defector who has been kidnapped by an agent for another nation.