Rosalind Chao

Rosalind Chao is an actress who played Keiko O'Brien in and . She appeared in eight episodes of Next Generation and nineteen episodes of Deep Space Nine. She also played a Pah-wraith (possessing Keiko O'Brien) in the Deep Space Nine fifth season episode .
Before being cast as Keiko in the episode , she originally auditioned and was considered for the role of Natasha Yar, according to a 1987 studio memo. Her costume from "Data's Day" was later sold off on the web. 
==Life and career==
Chao was born in Anaheim, California to Chinese parents (unlike her Star Trek character who is a Japanese national), who were performers at the Beijing Opera before immigrating to the United States where they opened a successful pancake business. She began acting at the age of five.
She earned a journalism degree at the University of Southern California, however, after a year as a radio newswriting intern at the CBS-owned Hollywood radio station KNX, she returned to acting.
Chao has been married to actor and fellow Next Generation guest star Simon Templeman since 1989. They have a son and a daughter.
She has remained friends with her Star Trek "husband", Colm Meaney and attended his wedding in Beverly Hills on March 15, 2007. At Grand Slam XV, Meaney said "It was lovely having my TV wife at my wedding". 
===Television===
Her first credited screen role was in a 1970 episode of Lucille Ball's series, Here's Lucy, entitled "Lucy the Laundress" (directed by Herb Kenwith). Her first major acting role was in the 1972 television series Anna and the King, in which she played Princess Serena. Samantha Eggar, Keye Luke, and Brian Tochi were also regulars in this short-lived series.
She later guest-starred in episodes of series such as Kojak (with Stephen McHattie, Thalmus Rasulala, and Sam Gilman), The Incredible Hulk (with Mariette Hartley and the voice of Ted Cassidy), How the West Was Won (with Fionnula Flanagan, Keye Luke, Robert Ito, and Bill Zuckert, directed by Joseph Pevney), and Emergency! (with Kevin Tighe and John de Lancie, written by Hannah Louise Shearer).
Her breakthrough role came in 1983, when she played Soon-Lee Klinger in the penultimate and final episodes of with David Ogden Stiers and Hamilton Camp. She reprised the role in the 1983-85 series as a regular. Wendy Schaal, Anne Haney, and Noble Willingham appeared in recurring roles and William Sadler, Jerry Hardin, K Callan, David Graf, Biff Yeager, Eve Smith, Armin Shimerman, Leslie Bevis, Paul Willson, and Danny Nero played guest roles on this show.
Chao also had recurring roles on other popular series, such as , in which she played Miss Chung, and , in which she played Li Ying (starring Robert Foxworth, with Concetta Tomei and Jill Jacobson, directed by Reza Badiyi).
In the 1980s, Chao guested on series such as (starring William Daniels, Norman Lloyd, Christina Pickles, Ed Begley, Jr., and with Kavi Raz, Jennifer Savidge, France Nuyen, and Alfre Woodard), (starring Dwight Schultz, with Jeff Imada, directed by Robert Bralver), (starring Matt Frewer, with Concetta Tomei, George Coe, Andreas Katsulas, W. Morgan Sheppard, and Charles Rocket), (starring Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman, with Keye Luke), Tour of Duty (with Lloyd Kino), and Miami Vice (with Bob Gunton and James Saito).
In the 1990s, aside her Star Trek role, Chao mostly played one-time guest roles on television, which included episodes of (with David Clennon), (with Daphne Ashbrook and Wayne Péré), (1995, starring Roxanne Hart and Jayne Brook), and (starring Eriq La Salle and Lily Mariye, with [[Bob Minor
]]).
Chao also had recurring roles on (with Jeff Kober, Albie Selznick, and Karole Selmon), (with James Cromwell, Joanna Cassidy, Danny Goldring, Andy Milder, Abby Brammell, and Ellen Albertini Dow), and (with April Grace, Jeri Ryan, Autumn Reeser and Michael Nouri).
She guested, among others, in episodes of (starring Martin Sheen, with Spencer Garrett), (starring Billy Campbell and Susanna Thompson, with Paul Dooley), (with Mitchell Ryan), (starring Ted Levine, with Jamie McShane and Michael Reisz), (starring Enrique Murciano, with Jeff Austin), According to Jim, and (with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Tzi Ma, and Melissa George).
In the 2010s and 2020s, Chao continued her television career with recurring roles in , The Neighbors (starring Toks Olagundoye, with George Takei and Seth Morris), Sin City Saints, Code Black, and (starring Pamela Segall], with Diedrich Bader, Dominic Burgess, Lawrence Pressman, and Usman Ally).
She also guest-starred in series like (starring Paul Guilfoyle, Wallace Langham, and Liz Vassey), (with Steven Weber), Bones, Shameless (with Dennis Cockrum), Castle (with Penny Johnson, Linda Park, and Derek Graf, produced by Rob Bowman), (starring Daniel Dae Kim, developed by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman), where she portrayed another character named Keiko, (starring Jenifer Lewis), and This Is Us.
In 2024, Chao had her first regular television role since AfterMASH, co-starring in Netflix' , featuring Russell Yuen.
===Film===
Chao has also made appearances in many films, including Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992, with Michael McKean, Jim Norton, Shay Duffin, Sam Anderson, Ellen Albertini Dow, and Aaron Lustig), (1993, co-starring Tamlyn Tomita and France Nuyen, with Lauren Tom and Nicholas Guest), North (1994, with Jason Alexander, Keone Young, Lauren Tom, and Fritz Sperberg), (1998, starring Robin Williams, with Scott Trimble, based on the novel by Richard Matheson), (2001, with Brent Spiner and Ken Jenkins), (2003, with Willie Garson), (2005, with Ron Canada and Willie Garson) and Life of the Party (2005, with Clifton Collins, Jr., John Ales, and David Clennon).
Chao appeared in films such as (2015, with Jason Isaacs and Tom Wright), The Laundromat (2019, with James Cromwell), Plus One (2019, starring Jack Quaid, with Ed Begley, Jr., Tom Virtue, and Time Winters), and (2020, with Tzi Ma).
== Star Trek appearances ==
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** (also as a Pah-wraith)
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** (Season 6)
** (Season 7)
== External links ==
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Category:Performers
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