Peter Chong (actor)

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.^[1]

Peter Chong
Born	John Kohnie Kuh December 2, 1898 Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Died	January 13, 1985(1985-01-13) (aged 86) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	Oberlin College
Occupation	Actor
Spouses	Soo Yong ​ ​ (m. 1929; div. 1933)​ Eileen Loh ​ (m. 1945)​

Biography

Origins

Chong was born in 1898 at Honolulu, Hawaii.^[2] 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.^[3][4] When he arrived in Los Angeles, he was under contract at Warner Brothers.^[5] He also worked part-time as an interpreter for the Los Angeles Police Department.^[6] For much of his career, he was cast in Japanese, Indonesian, and Hawaiian roles — he didn't play a Chinese role until 1953.^[7]

Personal life

He and his first wife, Ah He "Soo" Young, had a vaudeville act together.^[8] His second marriage was to Eileen Loh, a schoolteacher; they had a daughter together named Molly.

Partial filmography

• The Letter (1929) - Servant (uncredited)
• Mission to Moscow (1943) - Japanese Ambassador Shigemitsu (uncredited)
• Around the World (1943) - Mr. Wong (uncredited)
• Up in Arms (1944) - Japanese Lieutenant (uncredited)
• The Purple Heart (1944) - Mitsuru Toyama
• Betrayal from the East (1945) - Capt. Yasuda (uncredited)
• First Yank Into Tokyo (1945) - Dr. Kai Koon (uncredited)
• The Beginning or the End (1947) - Japanese General (uncredited)
• Intrigue (1947) - Editor
• To the Ends of the Earth (1948) - Joe (uncredited)
• Easter Parade (1948)^[9] - Sam - Don's Valet (uncredited)
• On the Town (1949) - Bartender (uncredited)
• The Reformer and the Redhead (1950) - Henry - Chinese Cook (uncredited)
• Francis Goes to the Races (1951) - Wong, Travers' Servant (uncredited)
• Smuggler's Gold (1951) - Boat Captain (uncredited)
• Smuggler's Island (1951) - Cajo (uncredited)
• Peking Express (1951) - Dining Car Steward (uncredited)
• A Yank in Indo-China (1952) - General Wang
• The World in His Arms (1952) - Wung Lo (uncredited)
• Target Hong Kong (1953) - Mandarin (uncredited)
• Remains to Be Seen (1953) - Ling Tan
• South Sea Woman (1953) - Woo Ching (uncredited)
• Torch Song (1953) - Peter
• Forbidden (1953) - Dr. Sing (uncredited)
• Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) - Chung (uncredited)
• Hell and High Water (1954) - Japanese Eddy (uncredited)
• The Left Hand of God (1955) - Fen Tso Lin - Merchant (uncredited)
• Tribute to a Bad Man (1956) - Cooky
• The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) - Yang
• This Earth Is Mine (1959) - Chu
• The Mountain Road (1960) - Chinese Colonel

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.