Suzanne Whang (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

:황보희, September 28, 1962 – September 17, 2019) was an American television host, comedian, radio host, author, minister, writer, producer, and political activist. She is best known for having been the host of the

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, ...

series ''

House Hunters ''House Hunters'' is an American unscripted television series that airs on HGTV and is produced by Pie Town Productions. Each episode follows people making a decision about a new home purchase or rental. Format ''House Hunters'' follows indiv ...

'' for nine years, and for her recurring role as manicurist Polly Chae on ''

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

'' for four seasons. Suzanne also starred as Divina the maid / wannabe actress in the

Here TV Here TV is an American premium television network targeting LGBT audiences. Launched in 2002, Here TV is available nationwide on all major cable systems, fiber optics systems, and Internet TV providers as either a 24/7 premium subscription channe ...

sitcom '' From Here on OUT''.

Personal life

Whang was Korean-American. Her parents were born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, South Korea. She was born in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county i ...

. She held a B.A. in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and an M.Sc. degree in

cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...

from Brown University. As a graduate student, she conducted research with

William H. Warren William H. Warren Jr. is an American psychologist who is currently the Chancellor's Professor at Brown University, focusing on perception and action, visual control of locomotion, and spatial navigation In computing, spatial navigation is the abili ...

on visually guided action. Whang completely recovered from stage 4 breast cancer, wrote and performed a solo show about her journey, and was writing a book about her experiences. On October 19, 2013, Whang married long-time boyfriend Jay Nickerson at The

Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew The Church of Saint Paul and Saint Andrew is a historic United Methodist church located in the Upper West Side of New York City, New York, on West 86th Street. The Church is known for being socially liberal and for accepting all people. Th ...

in Manhattan. The two had met decades prior, working together in theater. Whang died on September 17, 2019, in her Los Angeles home, after a 13-year battle with cancer, eleven days shy of her 57th birthday. Her remains were later cremated.

Career

Whang hosted ''

'' from 1999 to 2007 on

and had a recurring role as Polly the spa manager on NBC's drama ''

''. She made her television debut as a "Road Warrior" (remote correspondent) on the FX network's two-hour morning show ''Breakfast Time'' in the 1990s, and later co-hosted the network's ''Pet Department''. In 2002, Whang won the Best Up & Coming Comedian Award at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival, for her controversial alter ego character, Sung Hee Park. Whang won the first annual

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

Award at the 2004 New York Comedy Festival. She made a guest appearance on ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It ...

'' in the episode "Poison" in a brief cameo as a local TV reporter. Since January 2011, Whang had portrayed Carol Cheng,

Brenda Barrett Brenda Barrett is a fictional character from the ABC Daytime soap opera, '' General Hospital''. The role was originated by Vanessa Marcil on September 18, 1992. After a six-year run with the show, the character was believed to have died after her ...

's wedding planner and rumored to have been involved with

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ...

, on the TV series '' General Hospital''. In November 2011 Whang joined the cast of '' Don't Tell My Mother'', a monthly storytelling event in which celebrities share true stories they'd never want their mothers to know.

Filmography

*1990: ''A Matter of Degrees'' as Student *1992: ''

HouseSitter ''Housesitter'' is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Oz, written by Mark Stein, and starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. The premise involves a woman with con-artist tendencies who worms her way into the life of a rese ...

'' as Moseby's Secretary *1994: '' Personal fX: The Collectibles Show'' (TV Series) as Field Host *1994: '' Personal fX: Breakfast Time'' (TV Series) as Road Warrior *1996: '' Personal fX: The Pet Department'' (TV Series) as Co-Host *1996: ''

Fox After Breakfast The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and ...

'' as Road Warrior *1999: '' V.I.P'' (TV Series) as Diana Lu *1998: ''New Attitudes'' as Co-Host *2000: ''

18 Wheels of Justice ''18 Wheels of Justice'' is an American crime drama series that aired from 2000 to 2001 on TNN. It starred Lucky Vanous as federal agent Michael Cates (posing as a truck driver, with a Kenworth T2000 semi-truck), and G. Gordon Liddy as Jacob Cal ...

'' as N/A *2001: '' The Chronicle'' (TV Series) as Christy Kwan *2001: '' NYPD Blue'' (TV Series) as Dr. Kim *2001: '' Norm'' as Woman #3 *2002: ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy i ...

'' as Foreperson *2002: ''

Robbery Homicide Division ''Robbery Homicide Division'' (''RHD'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 27, 2002 to April 21, 2003, created by Barry Schindel with executive producers Michael Mann and Sandy Climan. Overview Th ...

'' (TV Series) as Reporter *2002: ''

Strong Medicine ''Strong Medicine'' is an American medical drama with a focus on feminism, feminist politics, health issues and class conflict that aired on the Lifetime Television, Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It was created and produced in part by Who ...

'' (TV Series) as Dr. Sporich *2002: ''Seoul Mates'' (short) as Sung Hee Park *2003: '' Melvin Goes to Dinner'' as Extra *2003: ''Date or Disaster'' as Sock Puppet Actor *2004: ''The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story'' as Second Reporter *2004 '' Still Standing'' (TV Series) as Patron *2004: '' Ring of Darkness'' as Television Reporter *2005-2008: ''

'' (TV Series) as Polly Nguyen *2005: ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

'' as Nurse Lee *2005: ''

Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...

'' as Medical Examiner *2005: '' Constantine'' as Mother *2005: ''

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the ...

'' as Anesthesiologist *2005: ''Now That's Funny'' (video) *2005: ''

Traci Townsend ''Traci Townsend'' is a 2006 comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy b ...

'' as Rosa *2005: ''Fresh News'' (video short) *2006: '' Brothers & Sisters'' (TV Series) as Carly *2006: '' Material Girls'' as TV News Anchor *2006: ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or re ...

'' (TV Series) as Mrs. Lee *2006: ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

'' as Linda Porter *2006: ''

Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal drama and comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 2004 ...

'' as Juror # 1 *2006: ''

'' (TV Series) as Reporter *2009: ''Un-Broke: What You Need to Know About Money'' as Anchorwoman *2009: ''Twice as Dead'' as Courier Person *2010: ''

The Secret Life of the American Teenager ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (often shortened to ''Secret Life'') is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It aired on ABC Family from July 1, 2008 to June 3, 2013. The series received mixed to s ...

'' as Fern *2011: '' General Hospital'' as Carol Cheng *2013: ''

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

'' (TV Series) as Olive Garden *2014: ''

Anger Management Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully.Schwarts, Gil. July 2006. Anger Management', July 2006 The Office Politic. Men's Health magazine. Emmaus, PA ...

'' (TV Series) as Bank Teller *2014: '' From Here on OUT'' as Divina Sung Hee (series regular) *2014: '' Hell's Kitchen'' as Herself (dining room guest) *2015: '' Kingdom'' (TV Series) as Dr. Lynn Bennett *2016: ''

Angel from Hell ''Angel from Hell'' is an American single-camera fantasy sitcom created by Tad Quill. The series was greenlit to order on May 8, 2015, by CBS, and premiered on January 7, 2016. On February 8, 2016, CBS cancelled the series and pulled it from the ...

'' as Woman *2017: '' The Mick'' (TV Series) as Dr. Frenkel / Female Doctor *2019: '' For the People'' (TV Series) as Lori Pak

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whang, Suzanne 1962 births 2019 deaths People from Arlington County, Virginia American actresses of Korean descent American women comedians Yale College alumni Brown University alumni Actresses from Virginia American television actresses Comedians from Virginia Deaths from breast cancer Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians