Early life

Rhea was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, the daughter of Marjorie, an antiques dealer, and David Rhea, an obstetrician and gynecologist. She has two sisters, Cynthia and Celia. She attended The Study, an all-girls private school in Westmount, Quebec and Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

Career

Her film debut was as an extra in the film Meatballs III, shot on location near Montreal. She moved to New York in 1989 to study stand-up comedy at the New School for Social Research.

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 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 fame for her role as Aunt Hilda on the ABC (and later, The WB network) television show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, as well as being a regular on the latest incarnation of Hollywood Squares.

In 2002, Rhea landed her own syndicated daytime talk show, The Caroline Rhea Show. Rosie O'Donnell hand-picked Rhea as her replacement. In 2004, Rhea became the first host of the series, The Biggest Loser on NBC, a weight loss reality show in which overweight members of two teams try to lose the most weight. After her 3rd season, Rhea was replaced by Alison Sweeney. In 2005, Rhea was in the movie The Perfect Man, playing a co-worker of Jean (Heather Locklear).

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 appeared as a contestant in 2001 on a special edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, winning $125,000 for her charity. 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 had a recurring role on the hit Disney Channel Original Series, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody as Ilsa Shickelgubermeiger-Von Helsing der Keppelugerhofer, an inspector turned manager of the rival hotel. In the series, she is well known for a large mole on her cheek. She has appeared on Disney's Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire as the mother and also Christmas with the Kranks in 2004. She has competed on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown and GSN's World Series of Blackjack.

She now does the voice of Linda Flynn-Fletcher in Phineas and Ferb, an animated show with Ashley Tisdale, Mitchel Musso, and Alyson Stoner. Rhea will next appear on the upcoming Fox animated series Two Dreadful Children. Caroline Rhea also plays Noleta Nethercott on the TV series Sordid Lives: The Series. She has also been in the original Lifetime Television movie To Be Fat Like Me with Kaley Cuoco. Rhea stars as a down on her luck waitress alongside Justin Guarini and Mircea Monroe in the MarVista Entertainment production of Fast Girl. Rhea has also done a live webcast with author, Meg Cabot.

Rhea currently hosts the Canadian television series Cake Walk: Wedding Cake Edition on Slice, which premiered September 7, 2011. She is also frequently a guest on the revival of Match Game on Canada's The Comedy Network.

In 2013, Rhea hosted a travelling live stage show version of the game show Family Feud which toured fairs in the US and Canada, including the Calgary Stampede.

In 2014, Rhea is the host for The Underfashion Club Femmy Awards at Cipriani 42 Street in New York.

In 2015, Rhea hosted a celebrity Family Feud for the annual Project A.L.S. Gala at Cipriani 42 Street in New York.

Personal life

Rhea and former partner, comedian Costaki Economopoulos have a daughter Ava, who was born in New York on Thursday, October 23, 2008.

Caroline Rhea is a vegan.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Meatballs III: Summer Job	Beach girl #4	Uncredited
1996	Shot, TheThe Shot	Casting director
1999	Man on the Moon	Fridays' Melanie Chartoff
2000	Ready to Rumble	Eugenia King
2000	Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire	Lynette Hansen	Television film
2001	Happy Birthday	Monica
2001	Santa Claus Brothers, TheThe Santa Claus Brothers	Mrs. Claus	Television film
2004	Christmas with the Kranks	Candi
2005	Perfect Man, TheThe Perfect Man	Gloria
2007	To Be Fat Like Me	Madelyn	Television film
2008	Fast Girl	Maddie
2009	Love N' Dancing	Bonnie
2009	Larry the Cable Guy's Hula-Palooza Christmas Luau	Shopper #1, grandma, Mrs. Claus	Television film
2011	Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension	Linda Flynn-Fletcher (voice)	Television film
2012	Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town	Mrs. Diston	Television film
2012	Christmas Consultant, TheThe Christmas Consultant	Maya Fletcher	Television film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Fools for Love	Caroline Rhea	Host
1995	Pride & Joy	Carol Green	6 episodes
1996-2003	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Hilda Spellman	139 episodes
1996	Drew Carey Show, TheThe Drew Carey Show	Bonnie	2 episodes
1997	Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist	Caroline (voice)	Episode: "Big Fat Slug"
1999	Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm	Herself	Television special
2000	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Spidey (voice)	Episode: "The Steadfast Tin Soldier"
2002	Fillmore!	Mrs. Konquist (voice)	Episode: "Nappers Never Sleep"
2004-06	Biggest Loser, TheThe Biggest Loser	Herself	Host
2005-06	Suite Life of Zack & Cody, TheThe Suite Life of Zack & Cody	Ilsa	3 episodes
2007-15	Phineas and Ferb	Linda Flynn-Fletcher (voice)	201 episodes
2008	Sordid Lives: The Series	Noleta Nethercott	12 episodes
2011	Cake Walk: Wedding Cake Edition	Herself	Host
2013	Baby Daddy	Jennifer Perrin	Episode: "On the Lamb-y"
2014	Maron	Herself	Episode: "Nostalgic Sex Buddy"
2014	Manhattan Love Story	Coach Reisner	Episode: "The Ex Factor"
2015	2 Broke Girls	Bonnie	Episode: "And the Disappointing Unit"

Charities

Caroline Rhea supports the following charitable cause: ALS (amyrotrophic lateral sclerosis).

[ Source: Wikipedia ]