You have reached the official site of one of the most well-known actors in the world. James Hong has been in over 450 feature movies and TV shows and is still going strong. Mr. Hong has entertained millions as Lo Pan in "Big Trouble in Little China", the voice of Chi Fu in "Mulan", and appeared opposite popular stars like Harrison Ford in "Blade Runner" and Jack Nicholson in "Chinatown" and "The Two Jakes". His television credentials include Kung-Fu (both past and present), Hawaii 5-0, Seinfeld, Chicago Hope, and scores of others.

Versatility has been James Hong's trademark throughout his nearly forty-five years as an actor and entertainer. His film roles have ranged from Faye Dunaway's ominous butler in "Chinatown" to a nerd master in "Nerds in Paradise".

Born in Minneapolis and "becoming too Americanized," Hong was sent by his father to Hong Kong for a Chinese elementary education. He returned to the United States shortly before the outbreak of World War II and entered school in Minneapolis at the age of ten without knowing a word of English. He somehow caught up, and in college he studied civil engineering to please his parents. He started at the University of Minnesota and ultimately graduated from the University of Southern California.

His first stint in show business was performing in a nightclub comedy duo with his partner, Don Parker. His flair for comedy led to a spot as a contestant on "You Bet Your Life," where his impersonation of host Groucho Marx earned him a contract at a popular San Francisco club, Forbidden City. After college, he did work at a Los Angeles civil engineering job for a while. He quit the instant he was cast into three feature films, the first with Clark Gable in "Soldier of Fortune" and the third one being the 1955 hit "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" with William Holden and Jennifer Jones.

Despite the scarcity of roles for Asian-Americans in Hollywood, Hong worked frequently and landed a regular role on a television series as Number One Son to J. Carrol Naish on "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan". He has been a steadily employed actor ever since. He has also produced, directed, and distributed feature films, such as "Catherine's Grove," "The Vineyard," etc. He has many more in the works, including some in China.

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An Interview with James Hong, Man of a Thousand Faces

            - by Susie Ling

 James Hong has been working fifty years in the Hollywood industry.  He has had over 450 roles in movie and television, perhaps more than any other actor.  His first non-credited role as an Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) member was in "Soldier of Fortune" starring Clark Gable.  He went on in 1955 to play a "communist soldier" in "Blood Alley" with John Wayne and then a bigger part as "fifth brother" with William Holden in "Love is a Many Splendored Thing."  He did about eight to ten voices in the movie "Godzilla".  He is more well known for his roles in the 1980s and 1990s such as Dr. Chew in "Blade Runner" (1997) and the voice of Chi Fu in Disney's "Mulan" (1998).   A most recognizable Asian actor and voice, James Hong continues to work in the industry creating more faces and characters.

 James Hong was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 22 February 1929:

     "My father, Frank W. Hong, came across the St. Lawrence from Canada.  My grandfather came in the railroad days.  When he earned some money, he went back to Toisan to get married.  My father was born in China when grandfather already returned to the U.S.  But they didn't have citizenship or legal rights, so father came as a "paper son" through Canada to Chicago near the turn of the century. 

     There were too many Chinese in Chicago.  They heard that Minneapolis was a good place to go.  My father started in the laundry business in Minneapolis and then became a restaurant owner.  He had a swanky club there during the Depression days that catered to White people.  He owned a lot of restaurants.   

    Father became president of the Hip Sing Tong (which rivaled the On Leung Association).  He was a leader in the fight for Chinese American rights.  I remember he went to see the attorney general and all that.  That's where I got my aggressive quality from.

    When he had enough money, he, in turn, returned to Toisan to marry my mother.  They were actually earlier betrothed.  As a young girl, she had to live with her husband-to-be's family to do all the work.  Then she was plucked from the village and brought to Minneapolis – in the middle of nowhere with no relations.  All those early pioneering women went through those difficulties.     

    We lived in downtown Minneapolis.  There was a Presbyterian church in Minneapolis that ran a Sunday school for Chinese Americans.  There were about fifty adults and children in all of the Twin Cities area.  I went to that school a lot with Miss Brown and Miss May who taught piano.  It was the only time I got any real Christmas presents – a red wagon."

     When James was five years old, his father returned the family to Hong Kong for fear that they were assimilating into American lifestyle too fast.  But with World War II approaching, they re-migrated to Minneapolis when James was ten.  James began performing.  His father would encourage him to make patriotic speeches in Chinese in front of a podium during Sunday meetings.  While the family did not intend for James to take on acting, he joined the drama club in junior high and high school.  While majoring in civil engineering at the University of Minnesota, James did stand-up comedy.  According to James in a separate interview, "Being Asian American, you couldn't really do any plays…  What would they do with a Chinese American on stage in Shakespeare?   In those days, the thinking was very narrow.  So there wasn't a chance to do any plays, drama, and such.  They wanted me in radio, but I didn't want to be just a voice.  I wanted to be seen.  And so, I said, 'what’s next to do?' and I loved comedy, so I started doing impersonations and that got me quite far locally" (Brinkley).

     James joined up with Donald Parker to establish "Hong and Parker," a stand-up comedic team.  After some local success, Hong and Parker decided to try a bigger market in Los Angeles, where Hong already had some relatives.  They came out to Hollywood in 1953.  Hong enrolled for his senior year at University of Southern California:

     "I was struck by the number of Chinese in college.  I joined the student clubs and they were tightly knitted.  I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about Chinese Americans.  LA Chinese were much more cliquish; they clung together for their social needs.  It had good and bad consequences.  The circle was small and you relied too much on your own community and parents.  In Minnesota, you had to survive as you were only one Chinese amongst thousands of Whites.  You begin to think more like a Caucasian.  You became more aggressive."

     Upon graduation, Hong obtained an engineering position with the Los Angeles County Road Department.  He would use sick leaves and vacation time to do acting.  After a year and a half, Hong quit to do acting fulltime.  He never looked back, working steadily on many movies and television roles.

    Hong like other Asian American actors faced much discrimination in the industry, but he fought back:

     "We formed an informal group of concerned actors.  We went down and told the producer of "Confessions of an Opium Eater" (1962 with Vincent Price) that we didn't like all the stereotypes of Chinatown and tongs.  But Albert Zugsmith wouldn't listen.   A lot of other Chinese worked on that film either because they needed the money or they didn't see anything wrong.  Today, we would boycott.  We had put another group together to see casting directors about putting more Asian Americans on TV and movies.  They said they would try.  SAG union members today are still advocating for minority rights.  And it's still not happening.  You don't see too many Asians on TV series.  We are still not getting our fair share of representation.  They just give us lip service.  At a recent SAG meeting, I saw about 200 young Asian Americans.  They are very discouraged because there just aren't a lot of roles out there.  In the fifty years I've been in this Hollywood industry, there has been very little improvement.  We need more regulars and guests on good roles in TV series."

    "Keye Luke said one time to me, 'Jim, you're too impatient.  Take your time.  Wait until the Chinese have the atomic bomb and then we'll get noticed.'  Well, Chinese already have the atomic bomb so I guess Keye Luke wasn't exactly right.  China is a world power, but Chinese Americans are still not getting representation.  Sometimes I think if China would buy more American movies and insist on more fair representation.  If China would use their economic power to push Hollywood to compliance…  Still, when Japan was on the top of the economic market, Japanese Americans didn't exactly benefit either.  And China has very little interest in Chinese American affairs."

     While Hong credits the 1960-70s Asian American movement for having helped improve racial understanding, he feels progress has been slow.  Hong and other Asian American actors established East West Players in 1965, an institute dedicated to encouraging Asian Americans in theater.  According to this first and foremost Asian American theater company, about 75% of Asian American performers in action unions living in Los Angeles have worked at East West Players.