Victor Wong's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) A Fine Romance Lon Mo Wah

Main Movie Roles 1998 - 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain 1997 - Seven Years in Tibet 1995 - Da mao xian jia 1995 - 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up 1995 - Jade 1994 - 3 Ninjas Kick Back 1993 - The Joy Luck Club 1990 - Tremors 1988 - Bloodsport 1987 - The Last Emperor 1987 - Prince of Darkness 1986 - The Golden Child 1986 - Big Trouble in Little China 1985 - Year of the Dragon

BIOGRAPHY:

Eccentric looking Chinese-American actor with a slightly drooping face (the result of a bout of Bell's palsy) who studied political science, art & journalism before becoming a news reporter for a San Francisco public TV station in the late 1960s.

Apart from a brief stint in the mid-1970s on the TV soap opera "Search for Tomorrow" (1951), Wong didn't break into movies until he was in his late fifties in the minor telemovie Nightsongs (1985) (TV). He then appeared in the explosive Mickey Rourke gang movie Year of the Dragon (1985), followed by the heart warming Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1985), before scoring the role he is probably best remembered for, as the Chinese wizard "Egg Shen" helping truck driver Kurt Russell (I) defeat the evil "Lo-Pan" in Big Trouble in Little China (1986).

His offbeat style remained in demand with more work in Prince of Darkness (1987), Bloodsport (1988) and then as an opportunistic store owner, who gets more than he bargained for, in the tongue in cheek horror film Tremors (1990). Wong then appeared as the wise grandfather / retired ninja in the kids martial arts adventure 3 Ninjas (1992), plus he repeated his popular role for the sequels 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994), 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995) and for his final film appearance 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998).

Wong retired from acting in 1998 due to ill health, and passed away in September 2001 from heart failure.


TRIVIA:

• Upset at the tragedy of 9-11, and concerned about the fate of his two sons who lived in New York City at the time, Victor, who had already survived multiple strokes, deprived himself of needed sleep while riveted to the TV set for nearly two days. He passed away the late evening of September 12, 2001, of heart failure.
• He was the only actor to appear in all four 3 Ninjas movies.
• Claimed casting directors liked him because of his "lopsided" face, which was caused by Bell's palsy, a facial nerve disorder that struck him in middle age.
• Is not related to the 1930s/40s actor 'Victor Wong (I)' (qv), best remembered for his minor appearances as Charlie the cook in _King Kong (1933)_ (qv) and _The Son of Kong (1933)_ (qv).
• Among his many journeys in life, he was, at varying stages, a teenage Christian evangelist, a Protestant minister-in-training, a Zen Buddhist, a visual artist, a poet, a Beat Generation luminary, a pioneering photographer and broadcast journalist, a comedian, and a Hollywood actor.
• After joining Chicago's "Second City" comedy troupe for a brief period of time, he crashed at the home of 'Langston Hughes' (qv), the famed African-American writer.
• Contracted tuberculosis while a young boy and spent several years in a sanatorium.
• Was a first-generation Chinese American, born in Chinatown, San Francisco, California to Chinese immigrant parents. His father was a Confucian scholar and successful storeowner who became an unofficial mayor of Chinatown.