Creator / James Hong

"As an actor, demonstrating your feelings in front of people is not what you're supposed to be doing. You're supposed to hold your emotions and control them, and not show them all over the place."

Ng Hon-Cheung (吳漢章), aka James Hong (born February 22, 1929 in Minneapolis, Minnesota), is an American character actor of Chinese descent, and a very, very prolific one at that. He credibly claims more credits than any other actor, living or dead (with the possible exception of Frank Welker); as of November 2022, his entry at IMDb lists 454 credits as "Actor" (starting in 1954), 36 "As Himself", and 39 other miscellaneous credits.

You may remember him as:

• Faye Dunaway's butler in Chinatown (with a cameo in The Two Jakes)
• The Japanese soldier who commits seppuku rather than listen to Ted yammer on in Airplane!
• Hannibal Chew in Blade Runner
• Chuck Norris's nemesis in Missing in Action
• David Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China
• Tia Carrere's dad in Wayne's World 2
• Michelle Yeoh's dad and Stephanie Hsu's grandfather, Gong Gong, in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Name a TV series, from Have Gun – Will Travel to The X-Files to Malcolm in the Middle, and he's probably been in at least one episode. Fans of Seinfeld may remember him as the Maitre d' from the famous "Chinese Restaurant" episode. He also played Maitre d's at Chinese restaurants in Flower Drum Song (1961), All in the Family (1975), Alias (2001) and The Big Bang Theory (2007-8). By his own account, one of his beliefs is to always handle his roles seriously and try to infuse his characters with humanity, even if the character (as was frequently the case in his earliest roles) was written as a one-note ethnic stereotype.invoked

As a voice actor, he has performed such roles as Chancellor Chi-Fu in Mulan and Mr. Ping in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, as well as playing Heng Long in Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death, Azmorigan in Star Wars Rebels, Daolon Wong in Jackie Chan Adventures, Professor Chang in Teen Titans, Uncle Po in Sleeping Dogs (2012), O-Sensei in Batman: Soul of the Dragon, The Elder in Star Wars: Visions, Mr. Gao in Turning Red, and even a couple of characters on Avatar: The Last Airbender (Monk Tashi of the Southern Air Temple and Mayor Tong of Chin Village, to be exact).

He is also a former president of the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists, and co-founder of the East-West Players, a training ground for generations of Asian-American actors coming after him. In 2022, he became the oldest person to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at age 93.

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His extensive body of work includes:

Live-Action Films

• Blood Alley (1955) — Communist Soldier (uncredited)
• Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) — Fifth Brother (uncredited)
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956) — Ogata/Serizawa (voice) (uncredited)
• Flower Drum Song (1961) — Head Waiter
• The Satan Bug (1965) — Dr. Yang
• The Sand Pebbles (1966) — Victor Shu
• Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) — Dr. Chin
• Chinatown (1974) — Khan
• No Deposit, No Return (1976) — Ming Lo
• Bound for Glory (1976) — Chilli Joint Owner
• Go Tell the Spartans (1978) — The Old Man
• The In-Laws (1979) — Bing Wong
• Airplane! (1980) — Japanese General
• True Confessions (1981) — Wong
• Blade Runner (1982) — Hannibal Chew
• Breathless (1983) — Grocer
• Missing in Action (1984) — General Tran
• The Golden Child (1986) — Dr. Hong
• Big Trouble in Little China (1986) — David Lo Pan
• Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987) — Snotty
• Vice Versa (1988) - Kwo
• Hot to Trot (1988) - Boss
• Tango & Cash (1989) - Quan
• The Two Jakes (1990) — Khan
• The Perfect Weapon (1991) — Yung
• Mystery Date (1991) — Fortune Teller
• Wayne's World 2 (1993) — Jeff Wong
• The Shadow (1994) — Li Peng
• Tank Girl (1995) — Che'tsai
• Operation: Dumbo Drop (1995) — Y B'ham
• Bad Company — Bobby Birdsong
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) — Mr. Wu
• Safe (2012) — Han Jiao
• R.I.P.D. (2013) — Grandpa Jerry Chen
• Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) — Gong Gong

Live-Action Television

• The Millionaire (1956) — Lee (1 episode)
• Playhouse 90 (1958) — Soldier (1 episode)
• Peter Gunn (1959) — Johnny Chang (1 episode)
• Zorro (1959) — Chiu Chang (1 episode)
• Bonanza (1960) — Number One, Hop Sing's Cousin (2 episodes)
• Wagon Train (1962) — Ceong Wai Kok (1 episode)
• Have Gun – Will Travel (1962) — Priest (1 episode)
• Perry Mason (1962, 1963) — Louis Kew/Dean Chang (2 episodes)
• The Outer Limits (1963) — Wen Li (1 episode)
• The Fugitive (1965) — Edward Hee (1 episode)
• I Spy (1965-1967) — Various Roles (4 episodes)
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1965, 1966) — Prince Phanong/Mr. Chang (3 episodes)
• I Dream of Jeannie (1966) — Chan (1 episode)
• The Donna Reed Show (1966) — Jim (1 episode)
• The F.B.I. (1966) — Tom Kagawa (1 episode)
• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1967) — Mr. Wong (1 episode)
• Hawaii Five-O (1969-1974) — Various Roles (4 episodes)
• Mission: Impossible (1971) — Yin (1 episode)
• All in the Family (1971, 1975) — Chinese Waiter/Doctor (2 episodes)
• The Bob Newhart Show (1972) — The Man (1 episode)
• Kung Fu (1972-1975) — Various Roles (9 episodes)
• Ironside (1973) — Wilson (1 episode)
• Barnaby Jones (1973) — Sid Ching (1 episode)
• McMillan & Wife (1975) — Bellhop (1 episode)
• Cannon (1975) — Wan Lee (1 episode)
• S.W.A.T. (1975) — Kwan Loon (1 episode)
• Baretta (1976) — Dr. Pao (1 episode)
• The Rockford Files (1976) — Kumagi (1 episode)
• Starsky & Hutch (1977) — Su Long (1 episode)
• The Bionic Woman (1977) — Kurosawa (1 episode)
• Days of Our Lives (1977) — Dr. Haramaki (1 episode)
• The New Adventures of Wonder Woman (1977) — Oshima (1 episode)
• Switch (1977-1978) — Wang (4 episodes)
• The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1978) — Dr. Kirin Kwo Low (1 episode)
• Maude (1978) — Morris Fong (1 episode)
• Charlie's Angels (1978) — Professor Perkins (1 episode)
• Salvage 1 (1979) — Lee Chow (1 episode)
• Taxi (1979) — Wealthy Passenger (1 episode)
• Hart to Hart (1979) — Holy Man (1 episode)
• Diff'rent Strokes (1979) — Mr. Lee (1 episode)
• Fantasy Island (1980) — The Butler (1 episode)
• Soap (1981) — Peking Tom (1 episode)
• Dallas (1981) — Ambassador (1 episode)
• The Dukes of Hazzard (1982) — Billy Joe Fong (1 episode)
• St. Elsewhere (1983) — Mr. Wong (1 episode)
• Dynasty (1983) — Dr. Chen Ling (5 episodes)
• T.J. Hooker (1983) — Mr. Hong/Dr. Hong (2 episodes)
• The Fall Guy (1984) — Chen Ying (1 episode)
• The A-Team (1984, 1985) — Byron Fong/General Chow/Wan Chu (2 episodes)
• Tales from the Darkside (1985) — Chow Ting (1 episode)
• Cagney & Lacey (1985) — Mr. Nguyen (1 episode)
• Airwolf (1985) — General Rangavara (1 episode)
• Hunter (1985, 1988) — Henry Chin/Chang (2 episodes)
• It's a Living (1986) — Minister of Protocol (1 episode)
• Who's the Boss? (1986) — Thomas Ping (1 episode)
• MacGuyver (1986-1991) — Chu/Kuang/Lee Wenying (4 episodes)
• Magnum, P.I. (1987) — Han (1 episode)
• Stingray (1987) — Man with Goatee (1 episode)
• Miami Vice (1987) — Riochi Tanaka (1 episode)
• Tour of Duty (1987-1989) — Jimmy/Colonel Li Trang/Quang (3 episodes)
• Jake and the Fatman (1989) — Hiram (1 episode)
• Seinfeld (1991) — Bruce (1 episode)
• Doogie Howser, M.D. (1992-1993) — Mr. Chen/Gardener (3 episodes)
• The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993-1994) — Lee Pow (3 episodes)
• Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1994, 1996) — The Dalai Lama (2 episodes)
• Lois & Clark (1995) — Grandfather Chow (1 episode)
• Chicago Hope (1995) — Dr. Tsu (1 episode)
• Diagnosis: Murder (1995) — Kwan Lok (1 episode)
• The X-Files (1996) — Hard-Faced Man (1 episode)
• Home Improvement (1996) — Dave (1 episode)
• Murphy Brown (1997) — Supervisor Monk (1 episode)
• Ellen (1997) — Waiter (1 episode)
• Friends (1997) — Hoshi (1 episode)
• Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (1997) — Stan (1 episode)
• The Practice (1998) — Mr. Wong (1 episode)
• The Drew Carey Show (1998) — Government Worker (1 episode)
• The Pretender (1999) — Mr. Lee (1 episode)
• Martial Law (1999-2000) — Weng Chu/Mayor Chang Yen
• The West Wing (2000, 2002) — Chinese Ambassador (2 episodes)
• Charmed (2001) — Zen Master (1 episode)
• Alias (2001) — Joey (1 episode)
• Malcolm in the Middle (2004) — Mr. Li (1 episode)
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2004) — Sweatshop Owner (1 episode)
• The King of Queens (2006) — Mr. Soo (1 episode)
• Las Vegas (2006) — Monk Soli Tendar (1 episode)
• Bones (2007) — Joseph Han (1 episode)
• Chuck (2007) — Ben Lo Pan (1 episode)
• The Big Bang Theory (2007-2008) - Mr. Chen (2 episodes)
• Zoey 101 (2008) — Mr. Takato (1 episode)
• Gigantic (2010) — Restaurant Owner (1 episode)
• I'm in the Band (2010-2011) — Leon (2 episodes)
• A.N.T. Farm (2011) — Kenny (1 episode)
• Pair of Kings (2011-2013) — Timmy Kalooka-Khan (7 episodes)
• 2 Broke Girls (2012) — Mr. Chang (1 episode)
• Key & Peele (2013) — Mr. Shin (1 episode)
• Drunk History (2014) — Hyotaro Inouye (1 episode)
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015) — William May (1 episode)
• Elementary (2016) — Meng Zhou (1 episode)
• The Blacklist (2016) — The Coroner (1 episode)
• The Thundermans (2017-2018) — Grandpa Giddy (2 episodes)
• Hawaii Five-0 (2018) — Jin Leung (1 episode)

Video Games

• True Crime: Streets of LA (2003) - Ancient Wu
• Project: Snowblind (2005) - Dr. Joseph Liaw
• Def Jam Icon (2007) - Dr Chang
• Alpha Protocol (2010) - Hong Shi
• Sleeping Dogs (2012) (2012) - Uncle Po
• Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death (2013) - Heng Long
• Prey (2017) (2017) - William Yu
• Judgment (2019) - Kim

Western Animation

• Dexter's Laboratory (1997, 2001) — Resident Advisor/Mr. Chau (voice) (2 episodes)
• Mulan (1998) — Chi-Fu (voice)
• Jackie Chan Adventures (2002-2004) — Daolon Wong (voice) (18 episodes)
• Teen Titans (2004) — Professor Chang (voice) (1 episode)
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2006) — Monk Tashi/Mayor Tong/Additional Voices (voice) (2 episodes)
• The Life and Times of Juniper Lee (2006) — Uncle Eddie (voice) (1 episode)
• Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! (2006-2008) - Mandarin (voice)
• Kung Fu Panda (2008) — Mr Ping (voice)
• Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) — Mr Ping (voice)
• Archer (2011) — Bucky (voice) (1 episode)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2014) — Endente (voice) (2 episodes)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) (2014, 2017) - Ho Chan (voice) (2 episodes)
• Star Wars Rebels (2015-2016) — Azmorigan (voice) (2 episodes)
• Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) — Mr Ping (voice)
• Sherlock Gnomes (2018) — Salt Shaker (voice)
• Abominable (2019) — Yak Leader (voice)
• Teen Titans Go! (2020) — Turtle (voice) (1 episode)
• Batman: Soul of the Dragon (2021) — O-Sensei (voice)
• Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight (2022) — Mr. Ping (voice)
• Star Wars: Visions (2021) — The Elder (voice)
• Turning Red (2022) — Mr. Gao (voice)
• Wendell & Wild (2022) — Father Bests (voice)
• Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) — Mr. Ping (voice)

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