Victor Wong
Encyclopedia
Victor Wong (Chinese
: 黃自強; pinyin
: Huáng Zìqiáng) was a Chinese American
character actor
who appeared in supporting roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
and Theology at the University of Chicago
under Paul Tillich
, Reinhold Niebuhr
and Martin Buber
. When he returned to San Francisco, Wong resumed his studies at the San Francisco Art Institute
under Mark Rothko
.
theatre and later landing larger roles on the stages New York City
. In October 1980, Wong made his Asian American Theater Company
(AATC) debut in San Francisco by appearing in their production of Paper Angels by Genny Lim
. He was on Social Security Disability Insurance
at the time.
His stage work led to television work and eventually, into movies. In between film roles, Wong lived in Sacramento, California
, where he supported the local performing arts. In 1992, he acted in the Hong Kong
film, Cageman
(笼民). He later starred as the grandfather in the popular 3 Ninjas
franchise, and the cult-classics, Big Trouble in Little China
and Tremors
.
Film director Wayne Wang
called Victor Wong his role model for living life. Director Bernardo Bertolucci
had trouble with Victor on the set of The Last Emperor
amid arguments over historical authenticity and cut most of Wong's scenes in the film, which won the Best Picture Oscar for 1987.
He retired from acting in 1998 after suffering two strokes, which also contributed to his death on September 12, 2001 from heart failure. Wong was 74 years old.
, Victor Wong had his first art exhibition at the City Lights Bookstore
. During this time, Wong befriended Lawrence Ferlinghetti
.
He illustrated Oranges, Dick McBride
's first collection of poetry, which was handset and printed at the Bread and Wine Mission in 1960.
He met Jack Kerouac
in the early 1960s, who chronicled their meeting in his novel Big Sur
(1962). In the novel, Wong is characterised as "Arthur Ma".
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 黃自強; pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Huáng Zìqiáng) was a Chinese American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
who appeared in supporting roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Education
Victor Wong studied political science and journalism at the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and Theology at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
under Paul Tillich
Paul Tillich
Paul Johannes Tillich was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. Tillich was one of the most influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century...
, Reinhold Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian and commentator on public affairs. Starting as a leftist minister in the 1920s indebted to theological liberalism, he shifted to the new Neo-Orthodox theology in the 1930s, explaining how the sin of pride created evil in the world...
and Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
. When he returned to San Francisco, Wong resumed his studies at the San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
under Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
.
Acting career
After his news career ended, Wong turned to acting, starting in the local Asian AmericanAsian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
theatre and later landing larger roles on the stages New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In October 1980, Wong made his Asian American Theater Company
Asian American Theater Company
Asian American Theater Company is a non-profit theatre performance company based in San Francisco.-Background:The Asian American Theater Company was established in 1973 by playwright Frank Chin to develop and present original works of theatre about Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent...
(AATC) debut in San Francisco by appearing in their production of Paper Angels by Genny Lim
Genny Lim
Genny Lim is an American poet, playwright, and performer.-Life:She graduated from San Francisco State University, and from Columbia University in 1973.She teaches at the New College of California....
. He was on Social Security Disability Insurance
Social Security Disability Insurance
Social Security Disability Insurance is a payroll tax-funded, federal insurance program of the United States government. It is managed by the Social Security Administration and is designed to provide income supplements to people who are physically restricted in their ability to be employed...
at the time.
His stage work led to television work and eventually, into movies. In between film roles, Wong lived in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, where he supported the local performing arts. In 1992, he acted in the Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
film, Cageman
Cageman
Cageman is a 1992 Hong Kong film directed by Jacob Cheung.-Cast and roles:* Dennis Chan - Councillor Tsui* Roy Chiao - Koo Yiu-Choo* Joe Junior - Charlie* Ku Feng - Luk Tung* Teddy Robin - Tong Sam* Lau Shun - Taoist* Tats Lau - Man gambling...
(笼民). He later starred as the grandfather in the popular 3 Ninjas
3 Ninjas
3 Ninjas is a 1992 American martial arts comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub, starring Victor Wong, Michael Treanor, Max Elliott Slade, and Chad Power. It was the only 3 Ninjas film released by Touchstone Pictures, while the others were released by TriStar Pictures...
franchise, and the cult-classics, Big Trouble in Little China
Big Trouble in Little China
Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 American martial arts comedy film directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi rescue Wang's green-eyed fiancee from bandits in San Francisco's Chinatown...
and Tremors
Tremors (film)
Tremors is a 1990 American science fiction horror comedy film directed by Ron Underwood, based on a screenplay by Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson, and starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross and Reba McEntire...
.
Film director Wayne Wang
Wayne Wang
Wayne Wang is a Chinese American film director.-Biography:Wang was born and raised in Hong Kong, and named after his father's favorite movie star, John Wayne...
called Victor Wong his role model for living life. Director Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
had trouble with Victor on the set of The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor is a 1987 biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, whose autobiography was the basis for the screenplay written by Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci. Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures...
amid arguments over historical authenticity and cut most of Wong's scenes in the film, which won the Best Picture Oscar for 1987.
He retired from acting in 1998 after suffering two strokes, which also contributed to his death on September 12, 2001 from heart failure. Wong was 74 years old.
Association with the Beat Generation
In the 1950s, while studying art under Mark RothkoMark Rothko
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
, Victor Wong had his first art exhibition at the City Lights Bookstore
City Lights Bookstore
City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected titles related to San Francisco culture. It was founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence...
. During this time, Wong befriended Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...
.
He illustrated Oranges, Dick McBride
Dick McBride (poet)
Richard William McBride is an American beat poet, playwright and novelist. He worked at City Lights Booksellers & Publishers from 1954-1969.-Life:...
's first collection of poetry, which was handset and printed at the Bread and Wine Mission in 1960.
He met Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
in the early 1960s, who chronicled their meeting in his novel Big Sur
Big Sur (novel)
Big Sur is a 1962 novel by Jack Kerouac. It recounts the events surrounding Kerouac's three brief sojourns to a cabin in Bixby Canyon, Big Sur, owned by Kerouac's friend and Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti...
(1962). In the novel, Wong is characterised as "Arthur Ma".
Family
- Two daughters: Emily and Heather.
- Three sons: Anton, Lyon, and Duncan
- Married to Olive Thurman Wong, Carol Freeland, Robin Goodfellow and Dawn Rose.
- His son, Lyon Wong, died in 1986 after being attacked by a young man while walking home in Sacramento.
- Brother of Sara Wong Lum, Zeppelin Wong, Shirley Wong Frentzel, Betty Wong.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart is a 1985 film directed by Wayne Wang.It is an American comedy film starring Laureen Chew, Kim Chew, Victor Wong, Cora Miao, and Joan Chen.-Plot:... |
Uncle Tam | |
| Year of the Dragon Year of the Dragon (film) Year of the Dragon is a 1985 film directed by Michael Cimino, starring Mickey Rourke, Ariane Koizumi and John Lone. The screenplay was written by Cimino and Oliver Stone and adapted from the novel by Robert Daley.... |
Harry Yung | ||
| 1986 | Big Trouble in Little China Big Trouble in Little China Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 American martial arts comedy film directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi rescue Wang's green-eyed fiancee from bandits in San Francisco's Chinatown... |
Egg Shen | |
| Shanghai Surprise Shanghai Surprise Shanghai Surprise is a 1986 British adventure comedy film starring then-newlyweds Madonna and Sean Penn, produced by George Harrison's HandMade Films and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer... |
Ho Chong | ||
| The Old Man | |||
| 1987 | Chen Pao Shen Chen Baochen Chen Baochen Chinese official, hailing from Fujian province in southeast China. During the last years of the Qing dynasty, he served as sub-chancellor in the Grand Secretariat and as vice president of the Board of Rites... |
||
| Prince of Darkness Prince of Darkness (film) Prince of Darkness is a 1987 horror film directed, written, and scored by John Carpenter. The film is the second installment in what Carpenter calls his "Apocalypse Trilogy", which began with The Thing and concludes with In the Mouth of Madness .-Plot:The movie opens with a dying priest clutching... |
Prof. Howard Birack | ||
| 1988 | Bloodsport Bloodsport (film) Bloodsport is a 1988 American martial arts film directed by Newt Arnold and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb and Leah Ayres. The film is based on the claimed adventures of Frank Dux, and was followed by three sequels Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite , Bloodsport III and Bloodsport 4: The... |
Fighter | |
| 1989 | Fatal Vacation Fatal Vacation Fatal Vacation is a 1989 Hong Kong action/suspense film written by Nam Yin and directed by Eric Tsang. The project was filmed on locations in the Philippines.-Synopsis:... |
Grandpa | Alternative Title: An le zhan chang |
| Eat a Bowl of Tea | Wah Gay | ||
| Life Is Cheap...But Toilet Paper Is Expensive | Blind Man | ||
| 1990 | Tremors Tremors (film) Tremors is a 1990 American science fiction horror comedy film directed by Ron Underwood, based on a screenplay by Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson, and starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross and Reba McEntire... |
Walter Chang | |
| Solo | Frank | Short film | |
| 1991 | Mystery Date Mystery Date For the Milton Bradley board game, see Mystery Date .Mystery Date is a 1991 teen comedy film directed by Jonathan Wacks and starring Ethan Hawke, Teri Polo, and Brian McNamara.-Cast:*Ethan Hawke as Tom McHugh*Teri Polo as Geena Matthews... |
Janitor | |
| 1992 | 3 Ninjas 3 Ninjas 3 Ninjas is a 1992 American martial arts comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub, starring Victor Wong, Michael Treanor, Max Elliott Slade, and Chad Power. It was the only 3 Ninjas film released by Touchstone Pictures, while the others were released by TriStar Pictures... |
Grandpa Mori Tanaka | |
| Cageman Cageman Cageman is a 1992 Hong Kong film directed by Jacob Cheung.-Cast and roles:* Dennis Chan - Councillor Tsui* Roy Chiao - Koo Yiu-Choo* Joe Junior - Charlie* Ku Feng - Luk Tung* Teddy Robin - Tong Sam* Lau Shun - Taoist* Tats Lau - Man gambling... |
Sissy | Alternative title: Long min | |
| Fyodor | |||
| 1993 | Old Chong the Piano Teacher | ||
| 1994 | 3 Ninjas Kick Back 3 Ninjas Kick Back 3 Ninjas Kick Back is a 1994 American sequel to the film 3 Ninjas. It received mostly negative reviews from critics. This is the only 3 Ninjas film with a video game adaptation... |
Grandpa Mori Tanaka | |
| 1995 | 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up is a 1995 American martial arts comedy film and a sequel to the films 3 Ninjas and 3 Ninjas Kick Back. The film was directed by Sang-ok Shin.-Plot synopsis:... |
||
| Da mao xian jia | Uncle Nine | ||
| Henry Nakai | |||
| Jade Jade (film) Jade is a 1995 erotic thriller film written by Joe Eszterhas, produced by Robert Evans, directed by William Friedkin and starring David Caruso, Linda Fiorentino, Chazz Palminteri, Richard Crenna and Michael Biehn. The original music score was composed by James Horner... |
Mr. Wong | ||
| 1996 | Chi Chi | ||
| Paper Dragons | |||
| 1997 | Seven Years in Tibet Seven Years in Tibet (1997 film) Seven Years in Tibet is a 1997 film based on the book of the same name written by Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer on his experiences in Tibet between 1944 and 1951 during the Second World War, the interim period, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army's invasion of Tibet in 1950. The film... |
Chinese 'Amban' | |
| 1998 | 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain is a 1998 American martial arts film, and the fourth and last installment in the 3 Ninjas franchise.... |
Grandpa Mori Tanaka |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975–1976 | Search for Tomorrow Search for Tomorrow Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the... |
||
| 1985 | Nightsongs | Fung Leung | Television film |
| 1988 | Beauty and the Beast | Dr. Wong | Episode: "China Moon" |
| 1989 | A Fine Romance | Lon Mo Wah | |
| 1990 | Legacy | Larry Chow | |
| Forbidden Nights Forbidden Nights Forbidden Nights is a 1990 television film directed by Waris Hussein. The film is based on the article The Rocky Course of Love in China, written by Judith Shapiro. The film was shot in Hong Kong and stars Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson, who both co-starred in Little House on the Prairie... |
Ho | Television film | |
| Midnight Caller Midnight Caller Midnight Caller is a dramatic NBC television series created by Richard DiLello, which ran from 1988 to 1991. It was one of the first television series to address the dramatic possibilities of the then-growing phenomenon of talk radio... |
Phil Wong | Episode: "Language Barrier" | |
| 1994 | Due South Due South Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie... |
Coo | Episode: "Chinatown" |
| 1996 | Poltergeist: The Legacy Poltergeist: The Legacy Poltergeist: The Legacy is a Canadian horror television series which ran from 1996 to 1999. The series tells the story of the members of a secret society known as the Legacy, and their efforts to protect humankind from occult dangers... |
Lee Tzin-Soong | Episode: "Fox Spirit" |
External links
- Victor Wong
- Asian Week obituary
- Victor Wong at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...