Russell Wong (Chinese: 王盛德; Jyutping: Wong4 Sing6 Dak1:born March 1, 1963) is an American actor. Born in New York, Wong attended Santa Monica City College while training to become a dancer. With the desire of becoming an actor, he moved to Hong Kong in 1983, where he learned Cantonese and martial arts, leading to his first film role in The Musical Singer (1985), directed by Dennis Yu. His first English-language film was Tai-Pan (1986).
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Early life
Wong was born in Troy, New York, to a Chinese-American father William S. Wong and Dutch-American mother Connie Van Yserloo (d. 2024). Wong's father emigrated to the United States from Shandong Province, China.
Wong attended Santa Monica City College and trained to be a dancer.
Career
He went on to work with director Wayne Wang in Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989) and The Joy Luck Club (1993). He also had supporting roles in China Cry: A True Story (1990) and New Jack City (1991). He landed the lead role in the TV series Vanishing Son (1994), which is regarded as one of the first American dramatic television series to feature an Asian lead. His breakthrough performance came after he starred opposite Jet Li in the action film Romeo Must Die (2000). He reunited with Li in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), portraying General Ming Guo. Wong is credited with helping to change the way Asians are represented in American film and television.
Wong is one of the first actors of Chinese descent to hold a leading role in a primetime American television series, portraying Jian-Wa with Chi Muoi Lo portraying Wago in the highly rated critically acclaimed Vanishing Son, first in a series of a made-for-television films followed by a 13-episode syndicated series. He has appeared in numerous films and series including Abel Ferrara's China Girl, New Jack City, The Joy Luck Club, Takedown, The Monkey King, Romeo Must Die, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
In 2014, Wong finished shooting a horror series entitled Grace which was shot in Singapore for HBO Asia, and also directed by Serangoon Road co-director Tony Tilse.
Outside film and television, Wong played the protagonist Nicholas Kang in the video game True Crime: Streets of LA (2003). He also lent his voice to the video game Stranglehold (2007).
Personal life
His two brothers Michael Wong and Declan Wong are also actors. During his time as a dancer, Wong was in a relationship with a fellow dancer Eartha Robinson from the mid-1980s. Their daughter, Eja Robinson-Wong, was born in 1988. Wong and Robinson's relationship was ended by 1993. In 2003, Wong married Hong Kong fashion designer Flora Cheong-Leen. The couple divorced in 2012.
Wong is trained in several martial arts, including Taekwondo, Shoji Ryu Karate, and Fu Jow Pai Kung fu.