Background:

“Don’t compare yourself with someone else’s version of happy or thin. Accepting yourself burns the most calories.” Caroline Rhea

Vivacious actress/comedienne Caroline Rhea made her debut as a regular on the NBC series “Pride and Joy” (1995), but she is most well-known as Aunt Hilda in the series “Sabrina, The Teenage Witch” (1996-2002), starring Melissa Joan Hart. The Canadian beauty also made a name for herself as a regular on the game-show “Hollywood Squares” (1998-2002) and the host of the successful reality show “The Biggest Loser” (2004-?). Additionally, she replaced Rosie O’Donnell as the hostess of her syndicated talk show, renamed “The Caroline Rhea Show” (2002-2003).

As for film, Rhea, who made her debut with an uncredited part in 1986’s Meatballs III: Summer Job, a Canadian Comedy, has worked with such big names as Jim Carrey, David Arquette, Helen Mirren and Tim Allen as well as young actresses like Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear. Her movie credits include Man on the Moon (1999), Ready to Rumble (2000), Christmas with the Kranks (2004) and The Perfect Man (2005).

Off camera, the 5’ 8” tall performer enjoys golf and practices yoga in her leisure time. As for her romantic life, Rhea was formerly engaged to Bob Kelty (born in 1962), a special-projects director for nonprofit organizations, whom she met at a Comic Relief fund-raiser in 1999. She is currently romantically involved with Mr. Louie John Buluran, “the leading name in Basketball.”


Youngest of 3

Childhood and Family:

Born Caroline Gilchrist Rhea, on April 13, 1964, in Montréal, Québec, Canada, Caroline Rhea is the youngest daughter of David Rhea (American) and Margery Rhea (Canadian). She has two older sisters, Celia and Cynthia. At age 25, the Canadian native relocated to New York to study the fine art of stand-up comedy at Manhattan’s New School for Social Research. Following a success in comedy circuit, Caroline made her way to Los Angeles to work more professionally.


The Biggest Loser

Career:

Born and raised in Montréal, Québec, Canada, Caroline Rhea hit the wide screen for the first time with a bit part in the Canadian comedy Meatballs III: Summer Job (1986) and moved to New York to begin her comedy training in late ‘80s. She joined the comedy club Catch A Rising Star and performed around New York City. Rhea was soon a hit. She further increased her popularity by appearing on a number of shows, including “Comic Strip Live,” “MTV’s Half-Hour Comedy Hour” and “Caroline’s Comedy Hour.” She also served as one of the writers for and appeared in the brief VH-1 stand-up series “Fools for Love” (1993). With the hope of developing her career, this popular stand-up comic then headed for Los Angeles, where joined her first network series, “Pride & Joy” (1995). The short-lived NBC sitcom cast her as the wife of Jeremy Piven.

The next year, Rhea appeared as a casting director in the Dan Bell comedy The Shot, portrayed Drew Carey’s girlfriend in two episodes of “The Drew Carey Show” and was a correspondent for “The Daily Show.” Her acting career did not enter a new phase until Rhea was cast as the soapy witch Hilda Spellman, one of two aunts to Melissa Joan Hart’s Sabrina in “Sabrina The Teenage Witch” in 1996. She remained with her famous part until the series came to an end in 2002.

While working in the show, Rhea kept on herself busy with other projects. She took on supporting roles in films like the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon (1999, starred Jim Carrey), the wrestling film Ready to Rumble (2000, starred David Arquette, Scott Caan and Oliver Platt) and Helen Mirren’s Happy Birthday (2001), and starred in the Disney Channel movie Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire (2000). In addition, she played herself in the pilot episode of HBO’s Larry David improvised comedy, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2000), and was a recurrent and well-liked guest on such late night talk shows as “The Tonight Show,” “The Late Show with David Letterman” as well as “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” During 1998-2002, she also enjoyed success as a regular panelist on the NBC new syndicated version of “Hollywood Squares,” with Tom Bergeron and Whoopi Goldberg.

A recurrent guest and surrogate host for O’Donnell during the last two seasons of “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” Rhea finally was chosen to replace O’Donnell as the hostess of the syndicated talk show “The Caroline Rhea Show.” Created after Rosie O’Donnell’s exodus in 2002, the daytime series failed to achieve the same success as its predecessor that led to cancellation at the end of its first season in 2003. The following year, Rhea appeared with Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis and Dan Aykroyd in Christmas with the Kranks, a comedy film directed by Joe Roth, before undertaking her next television hosting gig on the NBC Universal “The Biggest Loser” (2004-?), a reality show that dared contestants to lose weight.

In 2005, director Mark Rosman cast Rhea in the supporting role of Gloria in his comedy film The Perfect Man, which starred Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear. She went on to develop her popularity with younger viewers by giving a three-episodic funny appearance in The Disney Channel’s comedy series “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” that same year. There, she played Ilsa Shickelgrubermeiger, the ill-famed, spy-sporting manager of a foe hotel who often overwhelmed the heroes of the show.


Awards:
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