James Hong is everywhere. With 600+ credits under his belt, he might be the most credited actor in Hollywood history.
Without exaggeration, Hong might be the most prolific actor in Hollywood history. With more than 600 credits to his name, he may lay claim to the most credits of any actor, living or dead.
Inspired by Chinese operas in Minneapolis
Hong’s path to stardom started, as many do, as a child practicing in front of a mirror. But he kept his acting aspirations from his parents.
“Well, you know, Chinese parents want you to do some professional jobs rather than be an actor,” Hong says. “Being an actor is like the last rung in the ladder of professions. They don’t even call it a profession because it’s shameful to demonstrate your feelings in front of an audience. You were taught to be kind of quiet and to keep to yourself.”
Still, he received some of his favorite acting inspiration from his father’s herb shop in Minnesota.
“All the laundrymen from Minneapolis had nothing to do on weekends, so they would gather at my father’s store, herb store,” Hong recalls. “I remember that, because we’d have those little wooden stools and they all gathered there, and they hired these Chinese opera people from San Francisco to come and do their thing… I was only a little boy. You watch them with wide eyes, ‘Wow! What a profession.'”
He started his career as a civil engineer
To please his parents, Hong graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in civil engineering. While working for Los Angeles County building roads, he continued to try to find work as an actor and comedian.
His big break came on a TV show called “You Bet Your Life,” hosted by Groucho Marx.
“I did impersonations of Groucho, James Cagney, and so forth,” Hong said.
His appearance was a hit. “I got the second-biggest fan mail ever on the Groucho Marx show,” he said.
That TV appearance landed him an agent, and with it, the start of a career in Hollywood.
“All of a sudden, they wanted me to be in a movie,” Hong said. That movie was “Soldier of Fortune,” a 1955 film starring Clark Gable.
“It was just some kind of experience I never forgot, to act with Clark Gable. Then, right after, I got my union card and I started one after another. I had to quit civil engineering,” Hong said.
Soon enough, he was acting alongside the likes of John Wayne, William Holden and Jennifer Jones.
Hong battled stereotypes along the way
“From then on, it was 10 movies or TV [shows] a year,” Hong recalls.
