Victor Wong(1927-2001)
- Actor
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 (1984). He then appeared in the explosive Mickey Rourke gang movie L'année du 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 defeat the evil "Lo-Pan" in Les Aventures de Jack Burton dans les griffes du Mandarin (1986).
His offbeat style remained in demand with more work in Prince des ténèbres (1987) 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 Ninja Kids (1992), plus he repeated his popular role for the sequels Les 3 ninjas contre-attaquent (1994), 3 Ninjas: Knuckle Up (1995) and for his final film appearance Les 3 ninjas se déchaînent (1998).
Wong retired from acting in 1998 due to ill health, and passed away in September 2001 from heart failure.
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 (1984). He then appeared in the explosive Mickey Rourke gang movie L'année du 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 defeat the evil "Lo-Pan" in Les Aventures de Jack Burton dans les griffes du Mandarin (1986).
His offbeat style remained in demand with more work in Prince des ténèbres (1987) 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 Ninja Kids (1992), plus he repeated his popular role for the sequels Les 3 ninjas contre-attaquent (1994), 3 Ninjas: Knuckle Up (1995) and for his final film appearance Les 3 ninjas se déchaînent (1998).
Wong retired from acting in 1998 due to ill health, and passed away in September 2001 from heart failure.
