Biography
Born in the Chinatown section of Minneapolis, Hong was sent to his family's native Hong Kong for his earliest education, but returned to the US at age 10 and later studied engineering at USC. An interest in acting led to study with famed teacher Jeff Corey, and in the early 1950s Hong began appearing on such celebrated TV anthologies as "CBS Playhouse" and "Playhouse 90". His earliest feature appearances include Henry King's sudsy interracial …
Career Milestones
| Earliest TV appearances include work on such noted anthology dramas as "Playhouse 90" and "CBS Playhouse" in the 1950s | ||
| Received early education in Hong Kong | ||
1939 | Returned to the U.S. at age 10 (date approximate) | |
1955 | Earliest Hollywood feature film appearances included minor roles in Henry King's "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" and "Soldier of Fortune" | |
1957 | Played Barry Chan, Charlie's "number one" son on the syndicated detective series "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan" | |
1965 | An original founding member of East West Players, one of the first Asian American theatre organizations | |
1971 | TV miniseries debut, "Vanished" (NBC) | |
1971 | TV-movie debut, "The Forgotten Man" (ABC) | |
1972 | Made recurring appearances on ABC television series "Kung Fu" | |
1974 | Played Faye Dunaway's butler in "Chinatown" | |
1977 | Played recurring role of Wang the bar cook on the CBS detective series "Switch" | |
1982 | Played Hannibal Chew, the genetic designer in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" | |
1984 | Appeared in the martial arts films "Missing in Action" and "Ninja III - The Domination" | |
1986 | Played the immortal ghost sorcerer Lo Pan in John Carpenter's "Big Trouble in Little China" | |
1990 | Feature writing and directorial debut, "The Vineyard"; also played a leading role | |
1990 | First feature producing credit, as an associate producer of "Caged Fury" | |
1990 | Recreated role of Khan the butler from "Chinatown" (1974) for the sequel "The Two Jakes" | |
1991 | Appeared in the six-part interview documentary "Naked Hollywood" | |
1991 | Played the maître d' on the famous "The Chinese Restaurant" episode of "Seinfeld" (NBC) | |
1993 | Played Cassandra's father, martial arts expert Mr. Wong in "Wayne's World 2" | |
1998 | Provided voice for character of Chi Fui in Disney animated feature "Mulan" | |
2002 | Voiced Daolon Wong, an evil wizard on the Kids' WB animated series "Jackie Chan Adventures" | |
2003 | Provided voice for Professor Chang on the Cartoon Network's "Teen Titans" | |
2004 | Voiced Mandarin on the ABC family series "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!" | |
2008 | Appeared in the sci-fi feature "The Day the Earth Stood Still" | |
2008 | Voiced Mr. Ping in animated feature "Kung Fu Panda" | |
2011 | Reprised voiceover role in the sequel "Kung Fu Panda 2" | |
2012 | Cast in action thriller "Safe," Jason Statham | |