James Hong may be the most accomplished actor to ever call Minnesota home. But chances are you don't know his name.
Some of today's most popular Asian American actors are working to change that, launching a campaign to get the 91-year-old veteran a star next year on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
"James Hong just might be the most prolific actor in Hollywood history," said "Lost" star Daniel Dae Kim when he started a crowdfunding effort to raise money for the long overdue recognition. "This man epitomizes the term 'working actor,' and that's not even taking into account all he's done to help further representation for actors of color."
Hong, whose body of work includes over 600 film and TV credits, couldn't be more pleased.
"When Daniel told me how many people have contributed, it was hard to believe," said Hong by phone from California this fall. "Because of the coronavirus, money is hard to come by, so I'm very thankful."
Hong, who was born in Minneapolis in 1929 and attended Central High School, got the performance bug while doing comedy sketches as a child at Westminster Presbyterian Church and practicing impressions of stars like James Cagney in his bathroom mirror. His mimicry skills got him booked on WCCO Radio's "Stairway to Stardom," hosted by Cedric Adams, and Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life."
"Groucho wasn't interested in people who impersonated him, but he got interested when one of his writers told him that it was a Chinese boy," Hong said. "The audience roared when I used my pen as a cigar. Then Groucho gave me a spare one. I wish I had kept that cigar."
That 1954 appearance led to two decades of steady work on television, including the role of "Number One Son" on "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan."