Caroline Rhea- Comedy genius

Whenever we think of the aunties from Sabrina, one of the first things that we remember is the constant bickering between the two of them. One has always been portrayed as being much more sensible than the other, no matter what universe you step into.

This was fully evident in Sabrina the Teenage Witch by Caroline Rhea’s brilliant portrayal of Hilda Spellman.

What you didn’t know is that Caroline had a lot of experience beforehand in giving us belly laughs long before we knew her as Hilda in Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Get to know Caroline Rhea

Born on the 13th April it makes Caroline an Aries and she certainly lives up to the typical traits we would associate with this firey sign. Bold, energetic, fun, charismatic and lively. All the good makings of a true comedian at heart.

In 1986, Caroline started to perform as a stand up comedian in venues such as Catch a rising Star and the Comic Strip. She appeared next to some of the most well known comedians to this day such as Chris Rock, Marc Maron and Jim Gaffigan.

She started to make filmed appearances on MTV with her acts and on Comic Strip live. Caroline was also given some one hour and half hour specials on HBO, Bravo and Showtime. One that fondly stands out is ‘Rhea’s Anatomy’ so we can definitely see her humor pouring through even from the name of the show.

Eventually Caroline Rhea decided to try and pursue an acting career and landed a role in ‘Pride and Joy’ for NBC which then led her to getting cast as Aunt Hilda for Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Playing Hilda Spellman

Caroline Rhea came to the role of aunt Hilda in 1996 when she was thirty two years old and played the character until 2003.

She described her character as a pyromaniac since Hilda was always setting things on fire accidentally or blowing things up which can be seen throughout the show with failed potions and other antics.

Not only did Hilda set things on fire but she also supported ‘Salem’ as he tried to conquer the world and as punishment she was sentenced to taking care of Salem in his cat form for the rest of his life.

Although Hilda’s character is known as the more lighthearted, fun and bubbly one of the two aunts her character actually had a pretty tragic backstory. She had been engaged to a warlock Drell who was the head of the witches council who left her at the altar more than once when they were supposed to be getting married. Hilda has numerous failed relationships throughout the series but eventually she does find true love and marries.

Caroline Rhea after Sabrina

After Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Caroline Rhea continued her acting career and was in the Disney show Phineas and Ferb playing Linda. She also played the grandmother Judy in Sydney to the Max, another Disney show.

She has appeared in numerous other movies and shows such as Mom’s got a Date with a Vampire, Christmas with the Kranks, The Perfect Man and another recurring role in The Suite life of Zack and Cody.

Not only has she had roles in movies and shows but she had her own talk show called the Caroline Rhea show and Caroline & Friends.

She certainly has been keeping herself busy over the years and this is just a fraction of what she has been doing over the years.

Caroline has also done some charity work and appeared in a special of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ and won an impressive $125,000 for her chosen charity.

Guest Appearance in CAOS

In 2020 she had an appearance in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in the last season for two episodes. This was when Sabrina was transported to another reality and onto a tv set, which was Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Here Caroline played Aunt Hilda again and it was such a fun throwback from the show we all know and love today to the 90’s.

Of course it was still much darker than what the 90’s show was but it was still fun nonetheless.

Caroline said that she loved the New Aunt Hilda in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and the show is ‘Amazing’ but just ‘too scary’.

What was your favorite memory of Caroline from Sabrina? Let us know in the comments.