Yee Keung Victor Wong (traditional Chinese: 黃自強; simplified
Chinese: 黄自強; pinyin: Huáng Zìqiáng; Jyutping: Wong4
Zi6koeng4; July 30, 1927 â€" September 12, 2001) was an American
actor, artist, and journalist. A fourth-generation Chinese-American,
he appeared in numerous supporting roles throughout the 1980s and
1990s. He is widely known for his role as Chinese sorcerer Egg Shen in
John Carpenter's 1986 cult film Big Trouble in Little China, royal
adviser Chen Bao Shen in the Best Picture-winning historical epic The
Last Emperor, rural storekeeper Walter Chang in the Comedy horror film
Tremors and Grandpa Mori Tanaka in the 3 Ninjas tetralogy.Wong was
born in San Francisco and lived in Chinatown near the Stockton Street
Tunnel to Chinese parents. His father, Sare King Wong, was born and
raised in Guangdong province, and later moved to Shanghai as a news
journalist. His mother was a devout Christian who took the family to
the First Chinese Baptist Church every week. Wong was the eldest of
five; his siblings were Sara Wong Lum, Zeppelin Wong, Shirley Wong
Frentzel, and Betty Wong Brown. He was fluent with both English and
Cantonese, which helped lead his acting career to Hong Kong.Wong and
his family moved to Courtland, California when he was two years old
after his father took a job as teacher and principal at a school for
the children of local Chinese laborers. The family would move back to
Chinatown within three years and his father would be active in local
politics. He would live in Sacramento, California for much of his
adult life.Wong studied political science and journalism at the
University of California, Berkeley and Theology at the University of
Chicago under Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin Buber. In
Chicago, Wong joined The Second City comedy troupe and stayed with
Langston Hughes. Wong returned to San Francisco for the summer, taking
part in a theatre production and never returning to Chicago; he
resumed his studies at the San Francisco Art Institute under Mark
Rothko, earning a master's degree in 1962.
Chinese: 黄自強; pinyin: Huáng Zìqiáng; Jyutping: Wong4
Zi6koeng4; July 30, 1927 â€" September 12, 2001) was an American
actor, artist, and journalist. A fourth-generation Chinese-American,
he appeared in numerous supporting roles throughout the 1980s and
1990s. He is widely known for his role as Chinese sorcerer Egg Shen in
John Carpenter's 1986 cult film Big Trouble in Little China, royal
adviser Chen Bao Shen in the Best Picture-winning historical epic The
Last Emperor, rural storekeeper Walter Chang in the Comedy horror film
Tremors and Grandpa Mori Tanaka in the 3 Ninjas tetralogy.Wong was
born in San Francisco and lived in Chinatown near the Stockton Street
Tunnel to Chinese parents. His father, Sare King Wong, was born and
raised in Guangdong province, and later moved to Shanghai as a news
journalist. His mother was a devout Christian who took the family to
the First Chinese Baptist Church every week. Wong was the eldest of
five; his siblings were Sara Wong Lum, Zeppelin Wong, Shirley Wong
Frentzel, and Betty Wong Brown. He was fluent with both English and
Cantonese, which helped lead his acting career to Hong Kong.Wong and
his family moved to Courtland, California when he was two years old
after his father took a job as teacher and principal at a school for
the children of local Chinese laborers. The family would move back to
Chinatown within three years and his father would be active in local
politics. He would live in Sacramento, California for much of his
adult life.Wong studied political science and journalism at the
University of California, Berkeley and Theology at the University of
Chicago under Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin Buber. In
Chicago, Wong joined The Second City comedy troupe and stayed with
Langston Hughes. Wong returned to San Francisco for the summer, taking
part in a theatre production and never returning to Chicago; he
resumed his studies at the San Francisco Art Institute under Mark
Rothko, earning a master's degree in 1962.
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