Canadian born actress and comedienne Caroline Rhea (pronounced “Ray”) was best known for her quick wit, infectious laugh, and her series “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” (WB, 1996-2003) and “The Biggest Loser” (NBC, 2004-).Born April 13, 1964 in Montreal, Quebec, Rhea made her film debut in an uncredited role in the movie “Meatballs III” (1986), before moving to New York City to study stand-up comedy at the New School of Social Research in 1989. She cut her performing teeth in several area comedy clubs, most notably Catch a Rising Star, before becoming a popular performer on the circuit. Television performances were the next natural step, with Rhea logging appearances on “The Daily Show” (Comedy Central, 1996- ) and “Comic Strip Live (syndicated, 1989-1994). She also wrote for and appeared in a short-lived stand-up series called “Fools for Love” (VH1, 1993), before joining her first network series, “Pride and Joy” (NBC, 1995), in which she played Jeremy Piven’s wife.
The following year, Rhea played Drew Carey’s girlfriend on a pair of episodes of “The Drew Carey Show” (ABC, 1995-2004), before landing the role of frothy witch Hildy Spellman, one of two protective aunts to Melissa Joan Hart’s Sabrina in “Sabrina The Teenage Witch.” Rhea remained with the series until 2002. During this period, Rhea was also extraordinarily busy with other projects: she appeared as herself in the pilot episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO, 2000-); turned up in supporting roles in the Andy Kaufman biopic “Man on the Moon” (1999) and “Ready to Rumble” (2000); enjoyed a rare lead in the Disney Channel feature “Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire” (2000); was a regular panelist on “Hollywood Squares” (NBC, 1998-2002), and was a frequent and popular guest on late night talk shows like ‘The Late Show with David Letterman” (CBS, 1993-), “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” (NBC, 1993-) and “The Tonight Show” (NBC, 1992-).
In 2002, Rhea was handpicked as Rosie O’Donnell’s replacement to host her own daytime talk show. Rhea had been a frequent guest and substitute host for O’Donnell during the last two seasons of her (O’Donnell’s) show (syndicated, 1996-2002), making the selection of Rhea a natural choice. “The Caroline Rhea Show” (syndicated) debuted in 2002 to substantially lower ratings than its predecessor, getting cancelled at the end of its first season in 2003.
The following year, Rhea appeared in the comedy feature “Christmas with the Kranks,” before taking on her second television hosting job on “The Biggest Loser” (NBC, 2004- ) – the reality show which challenged contestants to lose weight. In 2005, she was seen in a supporting role in the Hilary Duff vehicle “The Perfect Man,” which underperformed at the box office. Since then, Rhea continued to cultivate her popularity with younger audiences, with a trio of amusing guest shots on “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” (The Disney Channel, 2005- ), as Ilsa Shickelgrubermeiger-Von Helsing del Keppelugerhofer, the villainous, mole-sporting manager of a rival hotel who frequently plagued the heroes of the series.
