Peter Chong (actor)

Peter Chong
Born
John Kohnie Kuh

December 2, 1898
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
DiedJanuary 13, 1985(1985-01-13) (aged 86)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationOberlin College
OccupationActor
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1929; div. 1933)​
Eileen Loh
​
(m. 1945)​

Peter Chong (born John Kohnie Kuh, and sometimes credited as Goo Chong or Peter Chong Goe; December 2, 1898 – January 13, 1985) was a Chinese-American character actor who worked in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s.

Biography

Origins

Chong was born in 1898 at Honolulu, Hawaii. He attended Oberlin College; he eventually earned a master's degree and a PhD.

Acting career

He appeared in a number of Broadway productions and had a vaudeville act before going to Hollywood to work in film. When he arrived in Los Angeles, he was under contract at Warner Brothers. He also worked part-time as an interpreter for the Los Angeles Police Department. For much of his career, he was cast in Japanese, Indonesian, and Hawaiian roles — he didn't play a Chinese role until 1953.

Personal life

He and his first wife, Ah He "Soo" Young, had a vaudeville act together. His second marriage was to Eileen Loh, a schoolteacher; they had a daughter together named Molly.

Partial filmography

References

  1. ↑ Nash, Jay Robert (2019-11-01). The Encyclopedia of Best Films: A Century of All the Finest Movies, K-R. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538134153.
  2. ↑ "McClintick May Run Legend on Cut Rates". The New York Daily News. 22 Oct 1938. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  3. ↑ "Gossip of the Theatre". The Standard Union. 15 Nov 1928. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  4. ↑ "Peter Chong Goe". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  5. ↑ Pollack, Arthur (20 Dec 1946). "Theatre". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  6. ↑ "Chong in Picture". The Los Angeles Times. 14 May 1953. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  7. ↑ "Peter Chong Finally Cast as Chinese". The Valley Times. 18 Feb 1953. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  8. ↑ "Chinese Elope!". The Central New Jersey Home News. 29 Jul 1927. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  9. ↑ Feng, Peter X.; Affron, Charles; Affron, Mirella Jona; Lyons, Robert (2002). Screening Asian Americans. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813530253.