Over a half-century into his career, Minneapolis-born actor James Hong gets his star

After seven many years in present enterprise, Minneapolis-born actor James Hong lastly was offered a star on Hollywood’s Stroll of Fame Tuesday. 

Actor Daniel Dae Kim, who began a crowdfunding marketing campaign in 2020 to boost the $55,000 wanted for the star, and actress Jamie Lee Curtis spoke at Hong’s ceremony. Hong did not put together any speech for the afternoon, saying he needed “to really feel the second.”

“I am not that form of individual. I simply wish to really feel the second, what I imply?” he mentioned to an viewers Tuesday afternoon. “Simply be right here and see all of you folks that I have not seen in a very long time.”

Kim’s crowdfunding marketing campaign took solely 4 days to achieve its financial objective. Curtis applauded Kim’s efforts on the ceremony, saying “with out Daniel, none of that is gonna occur.” She additionally let free an expletive in expressing how a lot Hong deserved this honor. 

“It is about f***ing time that we’re right here honoring James Hong with a star on the Hollywood Stroll to Fame!”

Curtis additionally addressed why Hong selected her to talk at his ceremony, calling one another “survivors.” She says they first met on the set of the critically acclaimed film, Every part, In all places, All At As soon as, and made a connection.

“James and I had been drawn to one another that first day — we bonded,” she mentioned, with Hong sitting beside her. “We held palms, we laid on the ground, and we regarded into one another’s eyes and located mutual respect and actual belief [towards one another].”

Kim identified through the ceremony that solely 0.69% of the celebs on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame belong to Asian Individuals. 

“Formally… 2,723 stars are on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame. Nineteen of them are for Asian-Individuals,” Kim mentioned.

Previous to the ceremony, Hong informed Selection Journal that he was overwhelmed by the respect. 

“I wish to thank all of the followers and mates who donated their cash. It boggles my thoughts to suppose that there is sufficient individuals on the market who would try this,” he mentioned. “And I do not know who they’re, so I am going to simply must thank them by means of [Variety Magazine’s] article.”

Background

James Hong was born the son of Chinese language immigrants in Minneapolis, however was moved to Hong Kong on the age of 5 years previous, in line with Selection.

He later returned to the US on the age of 10. Hong graduated from Minneapolis Central Excessive College in 1947. 

When Kong reached his school years, he studied civil engineering on the College of Minnesota within the early Fifties, per the College of Minnesota Alumni Affiliation. 

He later received a level from the College of Southern California, after which labored in Los Angeles County for about 18 months as a highway engineer, taking sick depart and PTO to work in motion pictures, ultimately quitting to grow to be a full time actor.

Hong additionally served time for the US Military within the Korean Battle. He mirrored on his expertise with China Perception, saying he was caught between a rock and arduous place at instances.

“I have no idea if I might have appreciated to go to conflict in Korea however let’s admit it that with a G.I. cap and this face charging on the Korean military, the Koreans would attempt to kill me. However then if we had been to retreat and I circled and ran again, the Individuals would attempt to kill me too as a result of they might suppose I’m an enemy in disguise. I positively suppose I might have been shot from one aspect and the opposite,” he remarked.

Filmography

Hong received his breakthrough when he appeared on Groucho Marx’s recreation present You Guess Your Life in 1950. He did impersonations of Groucho, James Cagney and others, which led to a “flood of fan mail” and helped land Hong an agent, in line with IMDb.

The actor began his profession in 1952, seven many years in the past. He mentioned his early profession with Deadline, saying there weren’t any “roles as a precept individual in American society” as a Chinese language American actor. 

“I’m a Chinese language American actor and there was nothing for me, and how will you take that slap within the face forwards and backwards annually?” he informed the publication in 2018. “Being from Minnesota, I’m a fighter, . I used to be an artist and needed one thing extra as a result of it’s a lifetime of labor. You simply don’t wish to get a paycheck to grow to be a cliché individual.”

“At first, I performed all these roles, however they had been all houseboys, laundry males, railroad staff and villains, all the time the dangerous man or all the time the persecuted Chinaman, all the time being saved by a white individual. There have been no roles as a precept individual in American society.”

As of 2022, Hong has appeared in over 650 works of movie and performs, and is acknowledged as one of the “prolific and well-recognized Asian-American character actors of flicks and tv,” in line with IMDb.

Hong appeared in 4 movies that had been nominated for Greatest Image on the Oscars: Love is a Many-Splendored Factor (1955), The Sand Pebbles (1966), Chinatown (1974) and Certain for Glory (1976). 

Different notable motion pictures and exhibits Hong has performed a job in embody: Turning Purple (2022), Massive Bother in Little China (1986), the Kung Fu Panda movies, quick movies and animated collection (2008-present), Mulan (1998), Balls of Fury (2007), Wayne’s World 2 (1993) and plenty of extra.

Hong is likely one of the founders of the East-West Gamers, often known as the oldest Asian American theater in Los Angeles. He additionally served because the president and constitution member of the Affiliation of Asian Pacific American Artists.