Rosalind Chao or Chao Jyalin (趙家玲 Pinyin: Zhào Jīalín) is a Chinese American actress born in Anaheim, California.

Her birthday is somewhat of a mystery. Different sources give 1956; September 23, 1957; September 23, 1959; or September 29, 1964.

Her parents were amateurs in Beijing opera singing, and Rosalind Chao was in some small roles of some operas as a girl. She started shooting commercials at 7. After she graduated from Pomona College, her TV career began.

Chao played as Keiko O'Brien (née Ishikawa), a Japanese botanist, in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the founder and teacher of a school, the wife of engineer Miles O'Brien, and a mother of two.

Chao also appeared in the television series M*A*S*H during the last episodes of the series as Soon-Lee, a Korean woman who fell in love and married Maxwell Klinger.

Chao plays one of the eight main characters in The Joy Luck Club. However, her favourite role is a minor one in What Dreams May Come, where she played flight attendant Leona, the physical manifestation of the protagonist's dead daughter.

Chao has also guest-starred in The West Wing as Jane Gentry, and several episodes of The O.C. as Dr. Kim.

Rosalind Chao is a mother with her husband Simon Templeman.

External Link:

• Rosalind Chao at IMDB.com