CAROLINE RHEA

'Caroline Gilchrist Rhea' (born April 13, 1964) is a Canadian stand-up comedian and actress who is the original host of the reality show ''The Biggest Loser'' on NBC. She is also known for her role as Hilda on ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'', and for replacing Rosie O'Donnell as the hostess of her syndicated talk show, renamed ''The Caroline Rhea Show''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

See also

Footnotes

External links

Biography

Early life

Rhea was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to an American father, David Rhea, and a Canadian mother, Margery. She has two sisters, Cynthia and Celia. She attended The Study, an all-girls private school in Westmount, Quebec. Rhea is fluent in English and French. She moved to New York in 1989 to study stand-up comedy at the New School for Social Research.

Career

Rhea has said that her true training came from her first gigs at the comedy club Catch A Rising Star. Performing around New York City, she quickly gained a reputation, and a name in the city's competitive comedy scene. These performances were augmented with appearances on ''MTV's Half-Hour Comedy Hour'', ''Comic Strip Live'' and ''Caroline's Comedy Hour''. She decided to move to Los Angeles for a career in Hollywood, debuting in NBC television series ''Pride & Joy'' co-starring with Jeremy Piven. She gained most fame for her role as "Aunt Hilda" on the ABC and The WB's ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'', as well as being a regular on the most recent incarnation of ''Hollywood Squares'', with Tom Bergeron and Whoopi Goldberg (in the center square).
In 2002, Rhea landed her own syndicated daytime talk show, ''The Caroline Rhea Show''. Rosie O'Donnell had hand-picked Rhea as her replacement. Rhea next went on to host the autumn series, ''The Biggest Loser'' on NBC, which was the first weight loss reality show in which overweight members of 2 teams try to lose the most weight, which began in 2004. Her show proved to be so popular in the first season, that ''The Biggest Loser'' would continue to air the show in around 70 countries, making Rhea a star phenomenon. She stayed on the show for 3 seasons until NBC announced on February 20, 2007 that Rhea will no longer be hosting "The Biggest Loser", due to her returning to stand-up comedy; she was replaced by ''Days of our Lives'' star Alison Sweeney.
She has appeared in Comic Relief 8, as well as the Ms. Foundation's "Women of Comedy from Caroline's Comedy Club" (no relation to Rhea). She also appeared as a contestant on a special edition of ''Who Wants to be a Millionaire''. She had her own stand-up special as part of Bravo's three-part Funny Ladies series, along with Joan Rivers and Paula Poundstone. Rhea has also had a recurring role on the hit Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody as ''Ilsa Shickelgrubermeiger-Von Helsing der Keppelugerhofer'' who is an inspector turned manager of the rival hotel. In the series, she is well known for a large mole on her cheek.
Rhea will next appear on the upcoming FOX animated series ''Two Dreadful Children''.
She also is seen playing Poker in the show Celebrity Poker. Also appears on the July 2, 2007 episode of GSN's "World Series of Blackjack." She appeared as a backup guitarist in the 2006 Click.
She now does the voice of Mom in Phineas and Ferb, a new animated show with Ashley Tisdale, Mitchel Musso, & Alyson Stoner.

See also

★ Humour of Quebec

★ List of Quebec comedians

Footnotes

External links

★ CarolineRhea.com

★ TV.com - The Caroline Rhea Show

★ Biggest Loser Club Official Site

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