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Chalke was born in Ottawa, Canada, and raised in Vancouver, Canada, as one of three daughters. Her father is a lawyer and both her parents are mediators who also run a child adoption agency. Two years ago, she accompanied her parents to China to coordinate the adoption of several orphans there when the family decided to take a side trip to neighboring Tibet. After hiking to a native sky burial at 17,000 feet, Chalke experienced another frightening incident when her father became severely ill with high-altitude sickness. "Waiting to go down the mountain was the most intense night of my life," she recalls, but her father survived.

When Chalke was 8, she began appearing in local Vancouver musical theater productions (Until I discovered that I couldn't sing). A few years later, she became a youthful environmental reporter on the Canadian series, Kids' Zone. Chalke then got her big break in 1993 when she was cast as daughter Becky Conner in the hit comedy Roseanne, replacing actress Lecy Goranson.

When Roseanne concluded in 1997, the outdoorsy Chalke returned to Vancouver and gladly remained in her hometown when she starred in her favorite role as a cowgirl in the Canadian series Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy for two seasons. Her television movie credits include I've Been Waiting for You, Stand Against Fear, A Child's Wish, Dying to Belong, Our Mother's Murder, Dead Ahead and Woman on the Ledge.

Chalke now returns to comedy as she portrays an ambitious intern who is not afraid to speak her mind. She's kind of a smarty-pants, she says. "She's sarcastic and fun, competitive and driven, and although she might appear to be just out for herself, you'll learn that she's just nervous about being a good doctor."

In her leisure time, Chalke prefers cooking with friends (especially Thai and sushi), playing the guitar, hiking, skiing (she's an instructor), snowboarding, kayaking and reading. In addition, she speaks French and German. She also volunteers at a hospice for terminally ill children and works for the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.

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