Comedienne and actress Caroline Rhea will be master of ceremonies for the 2011 Black Tie Dinner, set for Nov. 12 at the Sheraton Dallas, BTD officials announced this week. Organizers called the addition of Rhea “the latest in a fresh approach” for the dinner.
Caroline Rhea
Although Rhea started out as a stand-up comedian working in New York, she ended up moving to Hollywood to pursue an acting gig. Her small-screen debut came in the NBC series Pride and Joy, with Jeremy Piven, but her breakout role was as “Aunt Hilda” in WB’s Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. When Rosie O’Donnell left her syndicated talk show in 2002, she chose Rhea as her replacement, and the show was renamed, obviously enough, The Caroline Rhea Show. And she was the host of The Biggest Loser in its first three seasons.
Those of us who have kids and therefore watch The Disney Channel Cartoons (along with those of us who like watching Disney Channel cartoons just because they’re fun), may recognize Rhea also as the voice of Linda Flynn, the clueless mom on Phineas and Ferb.
But Rhea’s biggest “gay cred” came from her role as Noleta Nethercott in Del Shores’ Sordid Lives: The Series. (She stepped into the role when Delta Burke, who played Noleta in the Sordid Lives movies, wasn’t able to re-create the part on the small screen.)
BTD Co-Chair Nan Arnold, in a statement released today, praised Rhea’s “fresh, smart and spontaneous approach to comedy,” adding that Rhea’s “innate curiosity and formidable talents give her the natural abilities we’re looking for in a master of ceremonies.”
In other Black Tie Dinner news this week, online table captain table sales started today. For more information, go here. And BTD officials also said this week that they expect to announce the 2011 Kuchling Humanitarian Award winner very soon. So stay tuned.
