---
name: "Victor Wong"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/victor-wong"
fi1m_id: "victor-wong"
imdb_id: "nm0939378"
tmdb_id: 11395
wikidata_id: "Q964071"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "30 July 1927"
died: "12 September 2001"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-04T19:39:28.167311+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."
---

# Victor Wong

## Identity

Victor Wong

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/victor-wong
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** victor-wong
- **IMDb ID:** nm0939378
- **TMDB ID:** 11395
- **Wikidata ID:** Q964071
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Wong_(actor,_born_1927), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q964071, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0939378/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11395

Actor. Born 30 July 1927 in San Francisco, California, USA. Died 12 September 2001.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 30 July 1927, San Francisco, California, USA
- **Died:** 12 September 2001
- **Active:** 1986–1990
- **Also known as:** Victor Wong Chi-Keung, 黃志強, 黄自强, ویکتور وونگ, Victor Gee Keung Wong
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 67 (3), 1990s 82 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 70 to 62 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 4 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Comedy 3, Action 2, Adventure 2, Drama 1, Fantasy 1, History 1
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $183m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Wong_(actor,_born_1927), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q964071, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0939378/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11395

## Streaming the US now

- **Peacock:** [*Tremors*](https://film.one/film/tremors.md) (82)
- **Apple TV:** [*The Last Emperor*](https://film.one/film/the-last-emperor.md) (80)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Victor Wong

> Victor Wong’s comic authority is well suited to a film whose supposed hero needs help. We like him best as Egg Shen in *Big Trouble in Little China*, while recognising how often his casting stopped at the eccentric older man.

In *Big Trouble in Little China* (1986), Victor Wong’s Egg Shen is a sorcerer helping a truck driver who is spectacularly ill-equipped for the adventure. That gives Wong a useful place in John Carpenter’s comedy, with knowledge that Kurt Russell’s Jack Burton badly needs. We laughed at Jack’s expense, because the man at the centre of the action is so plainly in need of assistance. Wong’s comic authority helps that joke work without requiring him to be the fool.

Wong began his film work as Uncle Tam in Wayne Wang’s *Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart* (1985), then took supporting parts in quick succession through the late 1980s and 1990s. The move into Hollywood genre films did not end the association with Wang: he returned as Old Chong in *The Joy Luck Club* (1993). Wang’s Chinese-American ensemble drama belongs beside the Carpenter films when considering Wong’s work, even if Egg Shen offers the clearest introduction.

In Bernardo Bertolucci’s *The Last Emperor* (1987), he plays Chen Pao Shen, a historical supporting part in a film built around imperial ceremony. The fascination and loneliness of that ceremony make it a more sober setting for his character work. It is an absorbing drama, though its adult protagonist can remain frustratingly remote. Its merits do not make it the obvious place to begin with Wong; Egg Shen gives us a firmer reason to seek him out.

Carpenter used him again as Professor Howard Birack, a physicist confronting supernatural forces, in *Prince of Darkness* (1987). Walter Chang, the comic-relief storekeeper in *Tremors* (1990), offers a less scholarly occupation. These parts help explain the appeal of Wong as a character actor, but also the persistent restriction to older men who provide wisdom, eccentricity or a laugh.

We enjoy that humour, though the repeated assignments can leave us wishing he had been given more to do. Being memorable in a supporting part should not oblige an actor to keep receiving versions of the same one. Start with *Big Trouble in Little China*, and allow for fights that labour and effects that outstay their welcome.

## Biography

Victor Wong (1927–2001) was an American actor of Chinese descent. Before entering acting in his late fifties, he worked as a journalist and television reporter in San Francisco.

He appeared in supporting roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Wong played Egg Shen in *Big Trouble in Little China* (1986), Chen Pao Shen in *The Last Emperor* (1987) and Walter Chang in *Tremors* (1990). Other credits include *The Golden Child* (1986), *Prince of Darkness* (1987) and the *3 Ninjas* series (1992–1998). He collaborated with directors including John Carpenter and Wayne Wang.

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

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Tremors* (1990), Fi1m 82, as Walter Chang — [page](https://film.one/film/tremors.md)
- *The Last Emperor* (1987), Fi1m 80, as Chen Pao Shen — [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-emperor.md)
- *Big Trouble in Little China* (1986), Fi1m 78, as Egg Shen — [page](https://film.one/film/big-trouble-in-little-china.md)
- *The Golden Child* (1986), Fi1m 42, as The Old Man — [page](https://film.one/film/the-golden-child.md)

## Complete filmography (32)

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

- *3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain* (1998), as Grandpa Mori
- *Seven Years in Tibet* (1997), as Chinese 'Amban'
- *Poltergeist: The Legacy* (1996), series, as Lee Tzin-Soong
- *The Devil Takes a Holiday* (1996), as Chi Chi
- *Paper Dragons* (1996), as Master Chang
- *Jade* (1995), as Mr. Wong
- *The Stars Fell on Henrietta* (1995), as Henry Nakai
- *The Adventurers* (1995), as Uncle Nine
- *3 Ninjas Knuckle Up* (1995), as Grandpa
- *Due South* (1994), series, as Coo
- *Give and Take* (1994), as Johnny
- *3 Ninjas Kick Back* (1994), as Grandpa
- *The Joy Luck Club* (1993), as Old Chong
- *Cageman* (1992), as Sissy
- *3 Ninjas* (1992), as Grandpa
- *The Ice Runner* (1992), as Fyodor
- *Mystery Date* (1991), as Janitor
- *Forbidden Nights* (1990), as Ho
- *Tremors* (1990), as Walter Chang — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/tremors.md)
- *Fatal Vacation* (1990), as Grandpa
- *Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive* (1989), as Blind Man
- *Eat a Bowl of Tea* (1989), as Wah Gay
- *Prince of Darkness* (1987), as Prof. Howard Birack
- *The Last Emperor* (1987), as Chen Pao Shen — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-emperor.md)
- *Beauty and the Beast* (1987), series, as Dr. Wong
- *The Golden Child* (1986), as The Old Man — Fi1m 42, [page](https://film.one/film/the-golden-child.md)
- *Shanghai Surprise* (1986), as Ho Chong
- *Big Trouble in Little China* (1986), as Egg Shen — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/big-trouble-in-little-china.md)
- *Year of the Dragon* (1985), as Harry Yung
- *Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart* (1985), as Uncle Tam
- *Nightsongs* (1982), as Fung Leung
- *American Playhouse* (1982), series, as Fung Leung, Chin Gung, Uncle Tam, Wah Gay

## Gallery

- ![Actor Amy Hill helps actor Victor Wong get dressed in scene from "Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart," on location on Nob Hill/Chinatown in San Francisco, Californi (1983)](https://film.one/media/person/78138/gallery-f9f7be7bacab.jpg) Actor Amy Hill helps actor Victor Wong get dressed in scene from "Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart," on location on Nob Hill/Chinatown in San Francisco, Californi (1983) — Nancy Wong, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Amy_Hill_helps_Victor_Wong_get_dressed_in_scene_from_%22Dim_Sum-_A_Little_Bit_of_Heart%22.jpg/1280px-Amy_Hill_helps_Victor_Wong_get_dressed_in_scene_from_%22Dim_Sum-_A_Little_Bit_of_Heart%22.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Victor Wong](https://film.one/media/person/78138/gallery-e2383e5d93ac.jpg) Victor Wong — Nancy Wong, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Victor_Wong_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Actor Victor Wong and Laureen Chew in a scene from the 1985 film, "Dim Sum, a Little Bit of Heart" directed by Wayne Wang. Nancy Wong photo 1983, San Francisco, (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/78138/gallery-1eef1026eb05.jpg) Actor Victor Wong and Laureen Chew in a scene from the 1985 film, "Dim Sum, a Little Bit of Heart" directed by Wayne Wang. Nancy Wong photo 1983, San Francisco, (2015) — Nancy Wong, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Victor_Wong_and_Laureen_Chew_in_a_scene_from_the_1985_film_%22Dim_Sum%2C_a_Little_Bit_of_Heart%22.jpg/1280px-Victor_Wong_and_Laureen_Chew_in_a_scene_from_the_1985_film_%22Dim_Sum%2C_a_Little_Bit_of_Heart%22.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Actor Victor Wong thinking about what to make for dinner in an acquaintance's apartment in San Francisco, California 1983 Photo by Nancy Wong.](https://film.one/media/person/78138/gallery-30b9cd0f29cf.jpg) Actor Victor Wong thinking about what to make for dinner in an acquaintance's apartment in San Francisco, California 1983 Photo by Nancy Wong. — Nancy Wong, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Victorwong2.jpg/1280px-Victorwong2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© 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/victor-wong