James Hong (born February 22, 1929) is an American Character actor, producer and director. He is best known as David Lo Pan in John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, Hannibal Chew in Blade Runner, and Jeff Wong in Wayne's World 2. He is also the voice of Mr. Ping in Kung Fu Panda and Daolon Wong in Jackie Chan Adventures.
James is the voice of the Windmill Monster in the series finale.
Early Life[]
Hong was born on February 22, 1929, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Chinese emigrant parents Ng Fok Hong (aka Frank W. Hong) and Lee Shui Fa. His father emigrated from Hong Kong to Chicago, Illinois, via Canada, and later moved to Minneapolis where he owned a restaurant and was leader of the local Hip Sing Tong. Hong's paternal grandfather was from Taishan.
For his early education, Hong moved to Hong Kong, where he lived in Kowloon, before returning to the United States at the age of 10. He graduated from Minneapolis Central High School. He first developed an interest in performing arts after watching Peking opera performers rehearse at his father's shop.
He studied civil engineering at the University of Southern California, where he concentrated the majority of his free time on moving plates and fixing templates for the drill squad. Hong later became interested in acting and trained with Jeff Corey. Hong was a road engineer in Los Angeles County for seven and a half years, acting during his vacations and sick days. He eventually quit engineering for good to devote himself to acting and voice work full-time.