Caroline Gilchrist Rhea is a Canadian–American actress, voice artist, and stand-up comedian, who is best known for her role as Hilda Spellman on the ABC show Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She has performed numerous comedy specials, including three one-hour standup specials for HBO, Showtime, and Bravo. She is also known as the voice of Linda Flynn-Fletcher on the Disney Channel series Phineas and Ferb and as a regular on Hollywood Squares with her friend Whoopi Goldberg. Rhea was chosen by Rosie O'Donnell as the new hostess of her syndicatedtalk show and hosted the reality television showThe Biggest Loser on NBC for the first three seasons. She appears regularly on ABC's Match Game with Alec Baldwin and is reprising her roles as Eugenia Scrimmage in the Bruno & Bootsmovie franchise and Noleta Nethercott in A Very Sordid Wedding. She later returned to Disney Channel on the series Sydney to the Max playing the role of Judy.
Rhea moved to New York in 1986 to pursue a career as a comedian and actress. She began performing at venues like Catch a Rising Star and The Comic Strip, where she performed along with comedians including Chris Rock, Louis C.K., Dave Attell, Marc Maron, and Jim Gaffigan. Rhea made her first filmed standup appearances on MTV's Half-Hour Comedy Hour, Comic Strip Live and Caroline's Comedy Hour. Rhea was given a one-hour special for HBO, called One Night Stand. She followed this up with Rhea'sAnatomy, her one-hour special for Bravo, and Give Me My Remote for Showtime.
Film and television
After finding success in New York as a comedian, Caroline moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career in Hollywood, debuting on NBC's television series Pride & Joy, where she co-starred with Jeremy Piven. She later gained widespread fame for her role as Aunt Hilda on the ABC television showSabrina the Teenage Witch and for her recurring role on the latest incarnation of Hollywood Squares. Rhea is also well known for her role as Linda Flynn-Fletcher on the long-running Disney show Phineas and Ferb, for her syndicated daytime talk show, The Caroline Rhea Show, as the original host of The Biggest Loser on NBC, and for playing Noleta Nethercott on the TV series for Logo, which has recently been rebooted as a feature called A Very Sordid Wedding, which premiered in March 2017 in Palm Springs. In 2004, she appeared in the cult classics Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire and Christmas with the Kranks. In 2005, Rhea appeared in The Perfect Man, playing a co-worker of Jean and 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 2007, she starred in the original Lifetime Television movie To Be Fat Like Me opposite Kaley Cuoco and in the Foxanimated seriesTwo Dreadful Children. In 2008, Rhea starred alongside Justin Guarini and Mircea Monroe in the MarVista Entertainment production of Fast Girl. 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 2017, she has had a recurring role on ABC's revival of Match Game. Rhea has competed on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown and GSN's World Series of Blackjack, and also done a live webcast with author, Meg Cabot. In 2018, Rhea began hosting Caroline & Friends on GSN. The series features funny videos of animals and children. The studio audience votes for the best video chosen by Rhea and her two guest comedian co-hosts. In 2019, Rhea began appearing as Judy, the grandmother, in the Disney Channel sitcom Sydney to the Max, which premiered January 25, 2019.
Charity work
Rhea has appeared at Comic Relief as well as the Ms. Foundation's "Women of Comedy from Caroline's Comedy Club". She appeared as a contestant in 2001 on a special edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, winning $125,000 for her charity.
