Rosalind Chao

Rosalind Chao is an American actress of Chinese heritage Chaos most notable roles are as South Korean refugee SoonLee Klinger on CBS AfterMASH as Keiko OBrien on both Star Trek The Next Generation and Star Trek Deep Space Nine Dr Kim on The OC Rose Hsu Jordan in The Joy Luck Club 1993 and Hua Li Mulans mother in the liveaction 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 Californiabased 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 Heres 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 CBSowned Hollywood radio station KNX she soon returned to acting Her big break was with the role of SoonLee a South Korean refugee in the final episodes of the TV series MASH SoonLee married longtime starring character Maxwell Klinger Jamie Farr in the series finale Goodbye Farewell and Amen the mostwatched US sitcom television episode of all time as of 2021 Chao continued playing the character in the MASH sequel series AfterMASH 1983 her first role billed at costarring status Chao regularly portrayed the Japanese exobotanist Keiko Ishikawa OBrien 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 Shes had recurring roles as Miss Chung on season 5 of Diffrent Strokes Li Ying on season 5 of Falcon Crest Dr Judith Lin on Citizen Baines Dr Kim on seasons 1 3 of The OC Pastor Jin on Dont Trust the B in Apartment B Mrs Wu on Sin City Saints Caroline on Better Things and Tina Tchen on The First Lady Shes guest starred on numerous shows including This is Us Code Black The Catch blackish The OA Hawaii FiveO Castle Forever Law Order Criminal Intent Bones The Event CSI Private Practice Greys 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 ATeam St Elsewhere Riptide MASHOne Day at a Time 1981 Emergency The Incredible Hulk 1978 Heres 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 Mulans 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