From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the actor. For the
Singaporean photographer, see
Russel Wong.
| Russell Wong |
| Chinese name |
王盛德 (Traditional) |
| Birth name |
Russell Girard Wong |
| Born |
March 1, 1963 (1963-03-01) (age 46)
Troy, New
York, United
States |
| Occupation |
Actor
Photographer |
| Years active |
1985 – present |
| Spouse(s) |
Flora Cheong |
Russell Girard Wong (王盛德, pinyin: Wáng Shèngdé; born March 1, 1963) is an
American actor and photographer, as well as the brother of
actor/model Michael Wong.
Biography
The sixth of seven children, Wong was born in Troy, New York;
the son of Chinese American restaurateur William
Wong and an American artist of Dutch and French descent,
Connie Van Yserloo.[1][2] His
family moved to Albany when he was a baby, where his
father ran a restaurant. When Wong was seven years of age, his
parents divorced, and he moved with his mother to California,
settling near Yosemite. In 1981, Wong graduated from Mariposa
County High School, and that fall enrolled at Santa Monica City College. Wong supported
himself as a photographer and as a dancer (appearing in rock videos
with David Bowie, Donna Summer, and Janet Jackson, among others)
before scoring his first screen roles in 1985, appearing in a Hong
Kong musical called Ge wu sheng ping (aka Musical Dancer)
and in a screen adaptation of James Clavell's best-seller Tai-Pan. A
number of undistinguished television and film roles followed, but
Wong began breaking into better roles in 1989, when he made a
memorable guest appearance on the drama series 21 Jump
Street and won a leading role in Wayne Wang's acclaimed independent romantic
comedy Eat a Bowl of Tea. Supporting
roles in China Cry and New Jack City were to follow, and
Wong found himself working with Wayne Wang again when he was cast
in a role in the film adaptation of Amy Tan's best-selling novel The Joy Luck
Club. Wong finally scored a high-profile breakthrough role
in 1994, when he was cast in the leading role in the short lived TV
series Vanishing
Son, in which he played a Chinese political activist
exiled in America. The show was popular enough to spawn three
sequels, and was later spun off into a syndicated TV series. People
magazine named him one of fifty "Beautiful People" in 1995. After
Vanishing Son ran its course, Wong moved on to more
big-screen work, including major roles in Prophecy II,
The Tracker, and Romeo Must Die, as well as the made-for-TV
epic The Lost Empire.
He is also married to former ballerina and Hong Kong based designer Flora
Cheong-leen.
Filmography
References
External
links
| The
Prophecy series |
|
| Films |
|
|
| Related |
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