Standup 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. She 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 it up with ''Rhea's
Anatomy
, her one-hour special for Bravo, and Give Me My Remote'' for
Showtime. Even as recently as New Year's Eve 2024, Rhea continues to perform live comedy shows.
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 (and later,
The WB) series
Sabrina the Teenage Witch and for her recurring role on the latest incarnation of
Hollywood Squares. Rhea is also well known for her voice role as
Linda Flynn-Fletcher on the long-running
Disney Channel animated series
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
Sordid Lives: The Series for Logo, and a sequel film
A Very Sordid Wedding. In 2004, she appeared in the
Christmas comedy film Christmas with the Kranks. In 2005, Rhea appeared in
The Perfect Man, playing a co-worker of Jean (
Heather Locklear) and had a recurring role on the
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
Fox animated series
Two 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 that toured fairs in the US and Canada, including the
Calgary Stampede. In 2017, she began a recurring role on ABC's revival of
Match Game. She appeared in 21 episodes, her last airing in October 2020. Rhea has competed on Bravo's
Celebrity Poker Showdown and
GSN's
World Series of Blackjack, and has 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 from ones chosen by Rhea and her two guest comedian co-hosts. The show lasted for one season. In 2019, Rhea began appearing as Judy, the grandmother, in the Disney Channel sitcom
Sydney to the Max, which premiered January 25, 2019 and ran for three seasons until November 2021. The role got her a spot amongst a team of contemporary moms on the network for an episode of
Celebrity Family Feud which aired in 2020.
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. ==Personal life==