---
name: "Ching Wah Lee"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ching-wah-lee"
roles: []
born: "28 June 1901"
died: "2 January 1980"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-19T23:32:34.137552+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ching Wah Lee

Actor. Born 28 June 1901 in San Francisco, California, USA. Died 2 January 1980.

## Details

- **Born:** 28 June 1901, San Francisco, California, USA
- **Died:** 2 January 1980
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0497004/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/940227

## Biography

Ching Wah Lee was a Chinese-American actor born on 28 June 1901 in San Francisco, California. He appeared in supporting roles in several Hollywood films, beginning with *The Good Earth* (1937), in which he played Ching. His other credits include *Daughter of Shanghai* (1937), *China* (1943), *Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo* (1944) as Guerilla Charlie, *Little Mister Jim* (1946), and *Flower Drum Song* (1961) as Professor.

Lee was also a scholar and authority on Chinese art and culture. He conducted guided tours of San Francisco's Chinatown for many years, explaining its history and customs, and maintained a private gallery and museum displaying his collection of art and jade, which he shared with school groups. He died on 2 January 1980 in San Francisco.

*Sources: catalog.afi.com, imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Good Earth* (1937), Fi1m 64, as Ching — [page](https://film.one/film/the-good-earth.md)

## Complete filmography (7)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Flower Drum Song* (1961), as Professor
- *Little Mister Jim* (1947), as Sui Jen
- *Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo* (1944), as Guerilla Charlie
- *China* (1943), as Chang Teh
- *Daughter of Shanghai* (1937), as Quan Lin, Quan Lin (uncredited)
- *The Rainbow Pass* (1937), as Yuan
- *The Good Earth* (1937), as Ching — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/the-good-earth.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ching-wah-lee